Elegy, for Viola and Piano

The earliest extant composition by Wallingford Riegger, this Elegie for Viola and Piano was written in 1915 while he was living in Germany, making his living as a conductor. This Elegie is moody and sentimental, with no foreshadowing of Riegger's later dodecaphonic style. Instead the writing harkens back to romanticism. The form is ABA. The A-section in F sharp minor is full of passionate chromaticism and melancholy. The B-section in G-flat major is more hopeful, with flowing triplets, with the harmonies and reminiscent of the moonlight sonata, without quoting directly. The manuscript of the score was found in the New York Public Library Digital Collections, and included no dynamics in the viola part. Here I have copied the dynamics from the piano part into the viola part verbatim for ease of performance. Irma Servatius

Elegien, Duet

• Ewald · Directory «Musik für Bratsche», CH, 2013

• Manuskript

Elegy
for Viola and Piano
Playing score - download only‍‍‍‍