Duos for Violin and Viola

About

These thirteen short works are NOT written in the style, but rather in the SPIRIT of Béla Bartók.

The first and last movements are elegies, both based on the chorale melodies, O Ewigkeit, du Donnerwort (Oh, Eternity, You Word of Thunder) and Das Alte Jahr Vergangen ist (The Old Year has Passed) both found in Reimenschneider’s 371 Harmonized Chorales.

The first movement is followed by five Lithuanian melodies: (i) Gegula Raiboji, (ii) Augo gireléj, (iii) A-a-a-a mažulyte, (iv) Aš paséjau linelius, and (v) Pasakyk mergela. I transcribed these melodies from field recordings released on the the compact disc, Lituanie - Le pays des chansons issued on the "Cocora, Radio France" label, in 1997. The original recordings were made between 1958 and 1995.

The seventh movement is an Irish folk melody (Molly Malone / "Cockles & Mussels"). The eighth (Dvazhdi Trizhdi) is Bulgarian and was transcribed by Lyuben Dossev (https://www.8notes.com/scores/9776.asp). Number 9, The Old Chisholm Trail, is African American, and I transcribed it from a field recording found on a Smithsonian-Folkways album: (https://folkways.si.edu/dom-flemons/old-chisholm-trail).

The Scottish melody, (Cailleach – An Airgid, number 10) comes from the Rough Guide to Scottish Music, Second Edition and my transcription was based on a performance by “Cliar” on a World Music Network (CD). Nana was transcribed from the Folkways Records LP, Children's Songs from Spain / Karen James & Isabelita Alonso, and Shto Mi e Milo is both a Macedonian and apparently, a Bulgarian folk melody. It was also transcribed by Lyuben Dossev (https://www.8notes.com/scores/9788.asp).

These short pieces may be performed separately, or in any order, but the order presented here, I believe, sounds best.

– Matthew de Lacey Davidson, 2024.