The Austin, Texas-based group Viola by Choice, on the surface, is one of a large number of young ensembles attempting to present classical music in an accessible way. There isn't a lot of verbiage in the presentation of the album, and what there is speaks breezily of the hope that it "will encourage all to awaken, embrace, and share their inner viola." The music is presented in small chunks, with single movments of larger pieces, and the graphic design is contemporary. All this tends to conceal the fact that the contents of ...
Read More
The Austin, Texas-based group Viola by Choice, on the surface, is one of a large number of young ensembles attempting to present classical music in an accessible way. There isn't a lot of verbiage in the presentation of the album, and what there is speaks breezily of the hope that it "will encourage all to awaken, embrace, and share their inner viola." The music is presented in small chunks, with single movments of larger pieces, and the graphic design is contemporary. All this tends to conceal the fact that the contents of the program are actually fresh and innovative. Viola by Choice's innovation is to augment the relatively small and well-trodden corpus of solo viola music with works, like the second movement of the Brahms Sextet No. 1, Op. 18, that simply have unusually rich viola parts. The result is an unusual program of chamber music, ranging chronologically from Michael Haydn to the present day and diverse in every way, but held together by the presence of a consistent instrumental sound. The...
Read Less
Add this copy of Florilegium to cart. $64.56, good condition, Sold by Bonita rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Santa Clarita, CA, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Audio & Video Labs, Inc.
