Tchaikovsky Serenade Melancholique for viola and piano transcribed by Alan Arnold.

The 'Arpeggione' was a guitar-like instrument tuned in the same way as the guitar but held between the knees and played with a bow. The instrument possessed a warm quality and it was this attribute which Schubert exploited in the sonata which he wrote for it in 1824. Schubert's manuscript on which this edition is based contains an alternative violin part which dates from the same period. To avoid an excess of leger lines and clef changes Schubert wrote the arpeggioned part almost exclusively in the treble clef which the performer was expected to read an octave lower than written. The work was edited for the viola when it came into its own as a solo instrument around the turn ofthe century.

Inspired by the concept of the serenading lover. In two colourful sections. Advanced Level.

The accompaniment CD for the folio featuring: Adagio (Schubert) ? Allegretto (C.P.E. Bach) ? Andante (Mozart) ? Boston Fancy (Hornpipe) ? German Dance (Dittersdorf) ? I'm Just A-Goin' over Jordan ?March (Beethoven) ? Menuetto (Handel) ? O Mensch Bewein Dein Sunde Gross ? Romance ? Shenandoah ? Tambourin ? Theme and Variations (Marais) ? Verborgenheit (Wolf) ? Von Ewiger Liebe (Brahms)? Were You There?

According to Elgar the concert overture came to him in a single moment of inspiration while visiting Italy with his family in the winter of 1904. It was given its premiere by the Hallé Orchestra in March of that year with the central Viola serenade winning particular acclaim. Elgar then adapted the work as a song then for Viola and Piano and then for other instruments.At the time this piece was written Elgar had achieved universal renown with his Enigma Variations and The Dream of Gerontius and was established not only as a composer at the peak of British music of that time but also as a major Romantic composer. The Italianate rendering of the work is a nod to thepiece?s beginnings on the Adriatic coast. The work is full of the unrequited yearning of Elgar?s lyric work and a very effective sonatina for performance.