Covered assets : tenured heads of Music Institutions Composers for viola pieces

Abstract

What does writing for viola solo mean for a composer? From where does this particular will to give voice to this particular instrument come? Nowadays, we can state that the viola has gained its full redemption in the universe of classic music after centuries of jokes about its performers. So, then, what happens when the particular inspiration to write viola pieces is merged with the figure of the Dean, namely the one who is in charge of the top of the chain of a music institution? This research document aimed to take a better look at these particular works, namely, being written for viola by a composer or a performer who has been head of a renowned music institution at some point in his lifetime. Among the wide variety of the standard repertoire for string instruments, only a few pieces seem to fulfil those characteristics, therefore the specific sample selection followed a qualitative approach. Results revealed a recognizable influence of those pieces on the development of viola technique throughout the centuries, and the rising of the figure of the Dean in parallel lock-step with the furtherance of music schools themselves. In this everlasting path of mankind, where art represents the supreme human conceptualization of beauty, this little branch of knowledge seems to remain unknown, so this project is a starting point for additional investigations in the future.