Konsert för viola och orkester

“In all likelihood, some passages will prove to be uncomfortable or unplayable,” wrote Bela Bartók in a letter to his client, the Scottish violist William Primrose. He went on to explain that the sketch of the concerto was almost complete, only requiring a little further “mechanical labour”. Shortly after, Bartók died of leukaemia at the age of 64. The concerto is considered to be his final work.

His student and countryman Tibor Serly (1901-1978) took it upon himself to complete the work, although this proved to be far from simple mechanical labour; in fact, the score was a mess. Bartók had composed on loose sheets of unpaginated note paper, often containing other sketches. The task of compiling the concerto took Serly three years and it was not until 2 December 1949 that it was finally performed, over four years after the composer’s death. The work consists of three continuous movements, beginning with a sedate viola theme that succeeds in being both melancholy and eerie. The second movement starts in prayer and contemplation before growing in intensity. Although the finale requires a technical tour-de-force of the soloist, they are granted a few brief respites in the form of beautiful orchestral interplay with just a touch of nostalgia.