CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FOR VIOLA
Contemporary Classical Viola Music
The viola has become a powerful voice in contemporary classical music, with composers expanding its expressive range through new colors, extended techniques, and intimate lyricism. My works for viola reflect this evolution, offering pieces that explore the instrument’s warm resonance, introspective character, and dramatic potential. The sections below present my contributions to the modern viola repertoire across solo, chamber, vocal, and stage settings.
Contemporary Music for Viola
The viola has always felt to me like the inner voice of the ensemble — warm, human, and quietly expressive. Its sound carries a kind of introspective depth, and my contemporary viola music grows from that character: lyrical, understated, and emotionally resonant. For performers seeking new viola repertoire, modern chamber music, or contemporary stage and ensemble works featuring the viola, these pieces offer a wide palette of depth, color, and expressive possibility
UNACCOMPANIED VIOLA
VIOLA CHAMBER MUSIC
Duos with Viola
Duos with Viola
Quartets with Viola
Quintetss with Viola
V5 – Quintet for Vibraphone and String Quartet
for vibraphone and string quartet
17' | vibraphone, violins (2), viola and cello
Ensembles with Viola
Three Episodes for Chamber Ensemble
for chamber ensemble
12' | flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, percussion (1), piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass
VOCAL MUSIC WITH VIOLA
for soprano and ensemble
10' 30" | leggiero soprano (also plays small percussion instruments), flute, viola, cello and harp
STAGE MUSIC WITH VIOLA
for narrator and ensemble
31' | actress, violins (2), viola, cello double bass and piano
for actress and chamber ensemble / chamber orchestra
36' | actress, flute/piccolo, clarinet, percussion (1), two pianos and string quintet
OR
actress, flute/piccolo, clarinet, percussion (1), two pianos and string section
Sheet Music for Viola:
About Contemporary Viola Repertoire
The viola repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries includes a wide range of solo works, sonatas, chamber pieces, and concert works that have shaped the instrument’s modern identity. The list below highlights influential pieces that are frequently performed, studied, and recorded. This curated selection is offered as a resource for performers and teachers exploring contemporary classical viola music, alongside my own contributions to the repertoire.
Key 20th–21st Century Viola Repertoire
Solo Viola
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Luciano Berio – Sequenza VI – 1967
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Elliott Carter – Figment IV – 2007
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György Ligeti – Sonata for Solo Viola – 1991–1994
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Paul Hindemith – Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 25 No. 1 – 1922
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John Cage – One8 – 1991
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Toru Takemitsu – A Bird Came Down the Walk – 1994
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Krzysztof Penderecki – Cadenza – 1984 (Original for viola)
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Gérard Grisey – Prologue – 1976
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Igor Stravinsky – Elegy – 1944
Viola and Piano
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Dmitri Shostakovich – Viola Sonata, Op. 147 – 1975
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Rebecca Clarke – Viola Sonata – 1919
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Benjamin Britten – Lachrymae, Op. 48 – 1950
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Ernest Bloch – Suite Hébraïque – 1951
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Aram Khachaturian – Sonata for Solo Viola – 1976 (Note: This is an unaccompanied solo work)
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Paul Hindemith – Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 11 No. 4 – 1919
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George Rochberg – Viola Sonata – 1979
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Arnold Bax – Viola Sonata – 1922
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Sergei Prokofiev – Selected Pieces from Romeo and Juliet (arr. Vadim Borisovsky) – 1937
Viola Chamber and Multimedia Works
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Claude Debussy – Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp – 1915
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Karlheinz Stockhausen – Tierkreis – 1974–1975 (Variable instrumentation)
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Kaija Saariaho – Vent Nocturne – 2006 (viola and electronics)
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Garth Knox – Viola Spaces – 2009 (solo viola studies/concert pieces)
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Morton Feldman – The Viola in My Life (I–IV) – 1970–1971 (viola and ensemble/orchestra)
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Tristan Murail – C’est un jardin secret, ma sœur... – 1976 (solo viola)
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Steve Reich – Violin Phase – 1967 (frequently performed as Viola Phase)
Viola Concertos
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Béla Bartók – Viola Concerto – 1945 (Posthumously completed by Tibor Serly)
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Paul Hindemith – Der Schwanendreher – 1935
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William Walton – Viola Concerto – 1929 (Revised 1961)
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Alfred Schnittke – Viola Concerto – 1985
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Krzysztof Penderecki – Viola Concerto – 1983
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Bohuslav Martinů – Rhapsody-Concerto – 1952
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James MacMillan – Viola Concerto – 2013
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John Adams – The Dharma at Big Sur – 2003 (Written for electric 6-string violin; often adapted for viola)
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Kaija Saariaho – Graal Théâtre – 1994 (Viola version authorized by composer)
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Sofia Gubaidulina – Viola Concerto – 1996