Hans Werner Henze's output is primarily dominated by large-scale, representative musical genres with a richly differentiated instrumental tonal palette: opera and other forms of musical theatre works, ballet, solo concertos and cantatas and also music for large-scale orchestra or chamber ensemble. In contrast, the chamber music works which Henze has composed throughout his entire compositional career right up to the present day have always remained somewhat on the sidelines. Many of these chamber music works had been composed for specific occasions, chiefly to honour figures who had accompanied him on longer or shorter stretches of his journey through life.

Henze composed An Brenton in July 1993 for an event commemorating the Australian violinist Brenton Langbein who had just died. The violinist had been a long-standing leader of the Collegium Musicum Zurich, the orchestra established and conducted by Paul Sacher, and was subsequently also the leader of the Basel Chamber Orchestra [Basler Kammerorchester].He additionally held a violin class at the Music Academy in Basel for a substantial period of his career. Interestingly enough, this piece is not composed for the violinist's instrument, but instead for solo viola. The work was given its first performance on 15 July 1993 by Jurg Dahler, one of the two viola players of the Chamber Musicians of Zurich [KammermusikerZurich]. This ensemble had been formed by Langbein in 1962: it frequently included compositions by Henze in its programmes and had given the premiere of Henze's music for Volker Schlondorffs Film Der junge Torless in its transformation as the Fantasia of the same name for string sextet (1967) in 1968. Langbein was the soloist in the first performance of Henze's Violin Concerto No. 2 in 1972 which had been commissioned by Paul Sacher. Henze had already made acquaintance with Langbein during the 1960s.

Charles Dancla (1817-1907) is considered to be the last great representative of the French Violin School. He was a composer, solo violinist at the Paris Opera and professor at the Paris Conservatoire and wrote numerous educational works for violin, including his well-known three-volume work Little School of Melody'. He knew, in a unique way, how to implement the principle 'no music without technique, no technique without music' in his teaching material. This is the case in his easy melodic studies Op. 84 which are available here in an arrangement for viola for the first time. These studies are perfectly suited for young beginners after the second year, but also for adult players, false beginners or those switching instruments. Most of them can be effectively used as little performance pieces, providing an excellent foundation for every advanced etude or concert piece.
Each study is preceded by new or revised exercises which either deal with specific problems relating to the playing technique, like change of string, spiccato, martele, chromaticism, change of position, octaves, or double stops, or present the tonal material of the respective study in a condensed, playful form.
Those who prefer Dancla's somewhat easier original preliminary exercises will find them in the appendix.
A little dictionary of the musical and technical terms in this volume shall make their meaning accessible to young players in particular.

German.

This volume of studies is intended not only as a supplement to the ".Viola Method". but also, in the coise and varying difficulties of its contents, to be of value to every student of the Viola.
These studies which have been extracted from the multitude of excellent etudes for the Violin for their varying technical problems have been chosen with special regard for their suitability to the Viola. The order in which the student works at these studies is left to his, or his teacher's discretion, and therefore as it is not proposed that the book is worked through from beginning to end but that each technical problem is overcome by the most suitable exercise.
Unklike hitherto existing collections the technique of the instrument is divided under 7 main headings.
As the bowing exercises are in no way exhaustive space has been left for the student or teacher to devise his own.

This virtuosic arrangement of the world-famous movement from 'Carmina Burana' is suitable both as an effective encore and competition piece. Printed with two versions in each edition, it is designed as a study in thirds or in tenths both for the violin and the viola.

'Apparently the viola is just a somewhat larger violin, simply tuned a fifth lower. In reality though, there is a world of difference between the two instruments.' - The composer lends weight to his argument with this impressive 'real' viola piece: extreme high notes are avoided, indeed, one movement is played exclusively on the C string.

ISBN 9781619118720.

Hymns Made Easy for Viola is a collection of favorite traditional hymns with guitar accompaniment, suitable for church, teaching or recreational settings. The material includes viola parts and bowing indications in first position, with guitar chord names written above the staff. All the arrangements in this book are compatible with Hymns Made Easy for Violin and Hymns Made Easy for Cello.