Viola Concerto (Erdélyi restoration and orchestration)

Following Bartók’s death, Tibor Serly, a compatriot friend and fellow composer, undertook
the difficult task of deciphering the manuscript and preparing it for performance. Both Serly
and Primrose worked together to prepare the score which Boosey & Hawkes published in
1950. We owe them a debt of gratitude for their faith in the importance of this masterpiece.
The Viola Concerto, initially dismissed as an unfinished sketch, has become a staple of the
viola repertoire.
My motivation in undertaking this critical restoration was the discovery that the Boosey &
Hawkes publication contained many divergences from Bartók’s manuscript. Whilst we have
no power to bring Bartók back to give us his definitive version, I believe we must follow
as closely as we can the notes he did write. What remains is a very powerful and concise
concerto, the “swan-song” of Béla Bartók.
This edition is intended to serve as a basis for practical performance. Virtually all indications
of tempo, mood, expression and articulation are editorial, and the occasional slurs supplied
by the composer are not distinguished in this full score. Some of the sections which were
left blank in the manuscript and filled by Serly have been retained but thoroughly revised.
In my piano reduction (PE066), those few markings that were supplied by the composer are
identified in parentheses, and a detailed critical apparatus is included so that comparison
may be made with the work as it appears in the original manuscript draft. Thus, informed
decisions may be taken by the performer with regards to the editorial suggestions made
throughout the score.
The choices of instrumentation presented in this score evolved over a period of ten years. I
have studied all of Bartók’s works involving orchestra, examining the first drafts of many of
these and immersing myself in identifying with the composer’s process of orchestration. In
the Viola Concerto I see thematic links to such earlier compositions as the Violin Concerto
No.1, Bluebeard’s Castle, The Miraculous Mandarin, Dance Suite, Rhapsody No.2 for violin
and orchestra, Cantata Profana, String Quartet No.5, Music for Strings, Percussion and
Celesta, Violin Concerto No.2, Concerto for Orchestra and Piano Concerto No.3. All these
works, even the string quartet, have had some particular influence on my orchestrating the
Viola Concerto.
During those ten years I made a number of variants of the score, and I am grateful for the
support of several conductors and orchestras who kindly gave me a great deal of rehearsal
time and the incomparable opportunity to try out different ideas of instrumentation which
PE065 – iv