24 Caprices for Viola solo: Fingering and bowing by the composer

The 24 Caprices for solo Viola are adapted from the original solo Violin version "24 Caprices en Forme d'Études" by the French violinist Pierre Rode (1774-1830), this version has used as its main source the first Paris edition of 1819, Jacques-Joseph Frey, legal successor of the Magasin, unfortunately no manuscript has survived. This beautiful clean edition has only the composer's bowings and fingerings and ample blank space for personalised annotations, and gives solo violists, students and amateurs the opportunity to perform the caprices more comfortably, as the page turns are optimised due to the way the musical text was arranged on paper. We avoided as much as possible the use of the G clef, even though necessary in some of the cases in order not to overload the score with additional lines and being used strictly in large interval leaps, however, in most of the phrases that have notes per joint degree we kept the C clef. These études have gained a very important place in the study and development of viola learning both in conservatories and music universities, although in most cases, they are approached after the "42 Etudes de Kreutzer". Rode writes formidable technical demands on the right hand with the use of legato and high complications in string crossings, although, in the left hand, difficulties abound in position changes, trills and double strings. Unlike Paganini's "24 Caprices", it makes no use of left-hand pizzicato, overtone phrases or continuous tenths, thus offering greater accessibility as a method of learning to play the viola. Some possible solutions have been bracketed by the publisher, Roisber Narvaez Verlag, the best choice for musicians. Read more