24 Caprices , for Viola

Caprices for solo violin have a long tradition; the list of collections in which virtuoso violinist-composers archived testimonies of their virtuoso violin art ranges from Locatelli to Paganini, from Gaviniès to Dont. Among them is the French violinist Pierre Rode (1774-1839) who added his 24 Capricen in Form einer Etüde für Violine allein to this genre. Even today, they still form part of the indispensable repertoire of violin students, particularly since, notwithstanding the purely technical side, they are also attractive pieces of music. As a teacher at the famous Paris Conservatoire, Rode, together with Pierre Baillot and Rodolphe Kreutzer, laid the foundations for comprehensive violin didactics and methodology: the 24 Caprices are important contributions to this music-educational work. The present new edition is based on the first edition of Paris of 1820, providing the original score, especially two variants of fingering, a 'normal version', and a version specifically designed for small hands. Technical as well as musical challenges make Rode's Caprices a fascinating study and performance object.

Viola solo

• Schott, 2010