I am thinking very very seriously about taking up the viola and would like to hear some really good viola music.

It is not so important that I hear different schools of playing, I suspect, as I probably won't be able to tell the difference! But I'd like to hear a range of sounds, types of music, etc.

I'd also really like to hear something which would allow me to hear the viola compared to the violin (which I play a little)

I don't know a huge amount about music, am just getting into it all really, so please assume I know NOTHING!

Thanks!

Some of my favourites are:

Romanze - the Romantic Viola
Brahms viola sonatas - any version
Viola Rarities
Bach cello suites on viola - any version
Hoffmeisters Complete Works for Viola

etc etc!!

I got all via Amazon Marketplace sellers.

The Walton viola concerto is fantastic. There are several cds which pair the viola and violin concertos (ideal for your comparison of the two instruments). Nigel Kennedy's and Menuhin's recordings are particularly good, in my opinion.

Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for Viola - it exploits the tone and sound of the viola well.

I have a cd with that on, and a bunch of other early-mid 20th century works called Portrait of the Viola, the artist is Canadian, I think his name is Stephen Dann. Anyway, it's good if you like that sort of thing, and also lots of the pieces are not that well known.

Agree with the Brahms and Walton suggestions. Note also Brahms 2 songs for alto and viola and Walton's suite for viola and small orchestra.

Then there are the Mozart duos for violin and viola, sinfonia concertante (for violin and viola) and Kegelstatt trio.
Bach's Brandenburg no. 6 (for 2 violas).
Lots of wonderful string quartets - but Dvorak and Britten make particularly good use of the viola.
Speaking of Britten (who was no mean violist) - Lachrymae is one of my all time favourites and not just in terms of viola pieces. I have a lovely recording by Kim Kaskashian on an album called Elegies which also includes superb works by Vieuxtemps and Wieniawski. Then there's Britten's Elegy, written when he was 14 I think.
Shostakovich Viola Sonata (one of his last ever pieces) is stunning. Get the recording by Nobuko Imai and anything else by her.
The Hindemith sonatas are an acquired taste but I like them a great deal.
If you really want to push the boats out, there's the Berio Sequenza.

Oh and if you pay attention to Mahler and Sibelius symphonies there are some great passages for viola which demonstrates what it is about it that blows those violins and cellos off the platform.

thank you all so much!

it is great to hear that there is lots of good viola music out there

Ok am off to itunes now

Yes yes yes!

Check out the live recording of Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Zubin Mehta and the Israel Phil.

InCREDible. I dare you not to cry.

Also anything with Nobuko Imai.

:-)

Mmm, she's the viollist on 'Romanze', if my memory serves me correctly.

No, its Yuko Inoue with Kathron Sturrock. One of my favorite CDs

ok I have started with the unaccompanied bach cello pieces trans for viola, nobuko imai

wow

Mine too! And whichever Japanese violist it is, she's blinkin' good!

I am a huge fan of Nobuko Imai, and Bach's cello suites are among my favorite pieces of music, but actually my favorite recording of the cello suites on the viola is Patricia McCarty's.

Oh just remembered a CD I have and don't listen to much. Rivka Golani playing Lionel Tertis' transcription of the Elgar Cello Concerto. I think the most noteable thing about the transcription is that it is "at pitch" rather than being shifted up an octave as you might expect. That resulted in having to tune down the C string to B - which according to Tertis pleased and amused Elgar when he played it to him.

I play the viola as well and I've noticed Plonkee mentioned Rebecca Clark. Her viola music is lovely so definitely would second that. However, I would also recommend listening to some of Frank Bridge. Enjoyable pieces for the viola

am liking patricia macarthy a lot

I can't find the lionel tertis recordings on itunes sadly. I love the elgar cello concertos (I mean, everyone does, really, I suppose) and it would be interesting to hear it on the viola.

Thinking on it, the viola attracts me because it sounds like a cello, but is clearly easier to get on the bus

im playing that tomorrow....


anyhoo, I'd say the bach cello suite are some of my favourite viola pieces