Pièces de Concours – Volume 1

The three-volume edition Pièces de concours for viola and piano is a real treasure trove in the scarce Romantic viola repertoire: Even today, it is common practice at the Conservatoire de Paris that all instrumentalists perform at their final examination a compulsory contemporary piece, the 'pièce de concours', which, with its technical, virtuoso and lyrical demands, shall demonstrate the skills of the new 'masters'. The first of these examination pieces dates from 1896, the year which saw the first viola class at the Paris Conservatoire. Today, many of these pieces have fallen into oblivion. Only George Enescu's Konzertstück (1908) and Concerto in G-Dur by Hans Sitt (1899) respectively have become part of the standard viola repertoire. In the present edition, 'modern' fingerings and bowing indications have been added to the pieces in order to make it easier to access these works and facilitate sight-playing.