Viola concerto
A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Throughout music history, especially during the Baroque, Classical, Romantic eras, viola was viewed mostly as an ensemble instrument. Though there were a few notable concertos written for the instrument in this time period, these instances were quite rare and the instrument continued to be ignored. However, during the 20th century, the instrument was revitalized thanks to the work of a number of violists and composers, which led to the commission and composition of many more viola concertos, expanding the repertoire significantly. Early History of the Viola Concerto 
Early examples of violas taking solo roles in orchestral settings include Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, scored for two solo violas, Georg Philipp Telemann's Concerto in G major, and Carl Stamitz's Viola Concerto in D major. Arguably, one of the first concertante works to use the viola without caution was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante, scored for solo violin and viola. Although not much work was written for the viola alone in the Classical or Romantic periods, with only a few example concerto-like pieces emerging such as Max Bruch's Romanze, Hector Berlioz's Harold en Italie, or Johann Nepomuk Hummel's Potpourri, the viola concerto would see significant growth from the late 1800s. Revitalization of the Viola Concerto 
A number of violists and composers are credited with revitalizing the viola concerto and expanding its repertoire, with much of it centralized in Britain in the early 1900s. British violist Lionel Tertis is often credited with popularizing the viola as a solo instrument in the early 20th century through advocating for the composition of new pieces, as well as arranging works for the viola. A number of works were dedicated to Tertis including concertos by William Walton and York Bowen, and other concertante works such as Arnold Bax's Phantasy for Viola and Orchestra. Tertis also commissioned pieces such as Ralph Vaughan William's Flos Campi and Gustav Holst's Lyric Movement for Viola and Small Orchestra, in addition to gaining permission to transpose works for the viola, such as Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto and Frederick Delius's Caprice and Elegy for Cello and Orchestra. William Primrose was also an important figure in establishing the role of the viola as a soloist, having a number of concertos dedicated to him by composers like Quincy Porter and Darius Milhaud. He also commissioned works as well, with the most famous being Béla Bartók's posthumously completed Viola Concerto. Other contemporary composers, such as Alfred Schnittke and Krzysztof Penderecki, have also composed pieces for Viola and Orchestra. Orchestrations of accompaniments from chamber works into concertante works have also become more popular, with more well known transcriptions being those of Shostakovich's Viola Sonata or Rebecca Clarke's Viola Sonata. List of viola concertos

 Samuel Adler
 Viola Concerto (1999)
 Julia Adolphe
 Unearth, Release (2016)
 Airat Ichmouratov
  Concerto No. 1 for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 7 (2004)
 Concerto No. 2 "Rennsteig" for Viola and String Orchestra with Harpsichord, Op. 41 (2015)
 Miguel del Aguila
 Concierto en Tango (2014)
 Kalevi Aho
 Viola Concerto (2006)
 Necil Kazım Akses
 Viola Concerto (1977)
 Malcolm Arnold
 Viola Concerto with Small Orchestra, Op. 108 (1971)
 Henk Badings
 Viola Concerto (1965)
 Johann Sebastian Bach
 Brandenburg Concerto No. 6 (Solo parts for two violas)
 Simon Bainbridge
 Viola Concerto (1976)
 Lubor Bárta
 Viola Concerto (1957)
 Béla Bartók
 Viola Concerto, Sz. 120, BB 128 (1945)

 Stanley Bate
 Viola Concerto, Op.46 (1944–6)
 Sadao Bekku
 Viola Concerto (1971)
 William Henry Bell
 Viola Concerto "Rosa Mystica" (1916)
 Jiří Antonín Benda
 Viola Concerto in F major (about 1775)
 Valentin Bibik
 Viola Concerto No. 1, Op. 53 (1984)
 Viola Concerto No. 2, Op. 104 (1994)
 Boris Blacher
 Viola Concerto (1954)
 Herbert Blendinger (b.1936)
 Concerto for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 38 (1982)
 Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra, Op. 16 (1962)
 York Bowen
 Viola Concerto (1908)
 Tim Brady
 Viola Concerto (2012)
 Joly Braga Santos
 Viola Concerto Op. 34

 Max Bruch
 Concerto for Clarinet, Viola, and Orchestra, Op. 88 (1911)
 Revol Bunin
 Viola Concerto, Op. 22 (1953)
 Willy Burkhard
 Viola Concerto, Op. 93 (1953/54)
 Diana Burrell
 Viola Concerto "...calling, leaping, crying, dancing..."  (1994)
 Britta Byström
 Viola Concerto "A walk after dark" (2013)
 Cristian Carrara
 Viola Concerto "The Waste Land" (2016)
 Henri Casadesus
 Concerto in B minor in the style of George Frideric Handel
 Concerto in C minor in the style of Johann Christian Bach
 Concerto in D major in the style of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
 Gyula Dávid
 Viola Concerto (1950)
 Brett Dean
 Viola Concerto (2004)
 Edison Denisov
 Viola Concerto (1986)
 Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf
 Viola Concerto in F major
 Iván Erőd
 Viola Concerto, Op. 30 (1979–1980)
 Cecil Forsyth
 Viola Concerto in G minor (1903)
 Benjamin Frankel
 Viola Concerto, Op. 45 (1967)
 Kenneth Fuchs
 Viola Concerto "Divinum Mysterium" (2010)
 Srul Irving Glick
 Concerto for Viola and Strings
 Steven Gellman
 Viola Concerto (2004)
 Mikhail Goldstein
 Viola Concerto in C Major

 Evgeny Golubev
 Viola Concerto, Op. 57 (1962)
 Morton Gould
 Viola Concerto (1943)
 Ignatz Gspan
 Concerto in C major for Viola and String Orchestra (18th century)
 Sofia Gubaidulina
 Viola Concerto (1996)
 John Harbison
 Viola Concerto (1988)
 Hans Henkemans
 Viola Concerto (1954, premiered 1956)
 Jacques Hétu
 Viola Concerto Op.75
 Jennifer Higdon
 Viola Concerto (2015)
 Franz Anton Hoffmeister
 Viola Concerto in B flat major
 Viola Concerto in D major
 Robin Holloway
 Viola Concerto (1984)
 Gordon Jacob
 Viola Concerto No. 1 (1925)
 Viola Concerto No. 2 (1979)
 Michael Jarrell
 Viola Concerto "Emergences-Résurgences" (2016)
 Giya Kancheli
 Viola Concerto Mourned by the Wind (1986)
 Nigel Keay
 Viola Concerto (2000)
 Aaron Jay Kernis
 Viola Concerto (2014)
 Erland von Koch
 Viola Concerto, Op. 33 (1946 rev. 1966)
 Joseph Martin Kraus
 Viola Concerto in C Major
 Viola Concerto in E-flat Major
 Samuel de Lange
 Viola Concerto (1900)
 Victor Legley
 Viola Concerto, Op. 78 (1971)
 Ulrich Leyendecker
 Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (2008)
 Peter Lieberson
 Viola Concerto (1992)
 Zdeněk Lukáš (born 1928) (Kabeláč student)
 Viola Concerto (1983) 
 Peter Machajdík
 Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra "Behind the Waves" (2016)
 Concerto for Viola and String Orchestra "Between the Waves" (2021)
 James MacMillan
 Viola Concerto (2013)
 Jef Maes
 Viola Concerto (1943)
 Bohuslav Martinů
 Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (1952)
 Darius Milhaud
 Viola Concerto No. 1, Op. 108 (1929)
 Viola Concerto No. 2, Op. 340 (1955)
 Paul Müller-Zürich
 Viola Concerto in F minor, Op. 24 (1934)
 Nico Muhly
 Viola Concerto (2015)
 Gösta Nystroem
 Viola Concerto "Hommage à la France" (1940)
 Krzysztof Penderecki
 Viola Concerto (1983)
 Allan Pettersson
 Viola Concerto (1979)
 Walter Piston
 Viola Concerto (1957)
 Mikhail Pletnev
 Viola Concerto (1997)
 Quincy Porter
 Viola Concerto (1948) ()
 Behzad Ranjbaran
 Viola Concerto (2014)
 Alessandro Rolla
 Concertino in E-flat major for Viola and Orchestra (or String Quartet), BI. 328/546
 Viola Concerto in C major, BI. 541
 Viola Concerto in D major, BI. 542
 Viola Concerto in D major, BI. 543
 Viola Concerto in E-flat major, BI. 544
 Viola Concerto in E-flat major, BI. 545
 Viola Concerto in E-flat major, BI. 547
 Viola Concerto in E major, BI. 548
 Viola Concerto in F major, BI. 549
 Viola Concerto in F major, BI. 550
 Viola Concerto in F major, BI. 551
 Viola Concerto in F major, BI. 552
 Viola Concerto in F major, BI. 553
 Viola Concerto in F major, BI. 554
 Viola Concerto in B-flat major, BI. 555
 Julius Röntgen
 Triple Concerto for Violin, Viola, Cello, and Strings in B-flat major (1922)
 Triple Concerto for Violin, Viola, and Cello (1930)
 Hilding Rosenberg
 Viola Concerto (1942, 1964, 1945)
 Miklós Rózsa
 Viola Concerto, Op. 37 (1979)
 Edmund Rubbra
 Viola Concerto in A minor, Op. 75
 Ahmet Adnan Saygun
 Viola Concerto (1977)
 Alfred Schnittke
 Viola Concerto (1985)
 Joseph Schubert
 Viola Concerto in C major
 Viola Concerto in E-flat major
 Peter Seabourne
 Viola Concerto (2020)
 Tibor Serly
 Viola Concerto (1929)
 Ragnar Soderlind
 Viola Concerto "Nostalgia delle radici" (2003)
 Anton Stamitz
 Concerto in B-flat major
 Concerto in F major (1779)
 Concerto in G major
 Concerto in D major
 Carl Stamitz
 Concerto No. 1 in D major (1774)
 Concerto No. 2 in B-flat/A major
 Concerto No. 3 in A major
 Johann Stamitz
 Multiple viola concertos
 Frank Stiles
 Viola Concerto (1955)
 Toru Takemitsu
 Viola Concerto "A String Around Autumn" (1989)
 Cengiz Tanç
 Viola Concerto (1986)
 Josef Tal
 Viola Concerto (1953)
 Georg Philipp Telemann
 Viola Concerto in G major, TWV 51:G9
 Haukur Tomasson
 Viola Concerto, "Echo Chamber" (2015)
 Joan Tower
 Viola Concerto, "Purple Rhapsody" (2005)
 Johann Baptist Wanhal
 Viola Concerto in C major
 Viola Concerto in F major
 William Walton
 Viola Concerto in A minor (1928–29, revised in 1961.) Viola Concerto No. 1 in G major
 Viola Concerto No. 2 in C major
 Viola Concerto No. 3 in C major
 Jörg Widmann
 Viola Concerto (2015)
 John Williams
 Viola Concerto (2009)
 John Woolrich
 Viola Concerto (1993)
 Carl Friedrich Zelter
 Viola Concerto E-flat major

List of other works for viola and orchestra 

 Airat Ichmouratov
 Fantasy on D. Shostakovich's Opera "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 12 (2006)
 3 Romances for Viola, String Orchestra, and Harp, Op. 22 (2009)
 Arnold Bax
 Phantasy for Viola and Orchestra (1920)
 Hector Berlioz
 Harold en Italie (1834)
 Ernest Bloch
 Suite for Viola and Orchestra (1919)
 Suite Hébraïque (1951)
Johannes Brahms
 Sonata for Viola and Orchestra (1894)
Max Bruch
 Romance for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 85
Rebecca Clarke
 Sonata for Viola and Orchestra (1919)

 Benjamin Dale
 Romance
Gyula Dávid
 Music for Viola and Orchestra (2011)
Cornelis Dopper
 Nocturne for Viola and Orchestra (1937)
 Iván Erőd
 Koncertant Fantasy for Viola and String Orchestra, Op. 35 (1980–1981)
 Morton Feldman
 The Viola in My Life IV (1971)
Geoffrey Gordon
 Meditation and Allegro for Viola and Ensemble (2010)
Sofia Gubaidulina
 Two Paths: A Dedication to Mary and Martha for Two Viola Soloists and Orchestra (1998)
Paul Hindemith
 Kammermusik No. 5 for Viola and Chamber Orchestra
 Konzertmusik for Viola with Chamber Orchestra
 Der Schwanendreher
 Trauermusik for Viola and Strings
Gustav Holst
 Lyric Movement for Viola and Small Orchestra (1933)
 Alan Hovhaness
 Talin for Viola and Strings, Op. 93, No. 1 (1951–52)
 Herbert Howells
 Elegy for Viola, String Quartet and String Orchestra, Op. 15 (1917)
 Johann Nepomuk Hummel
 Potpourri for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 94
Joseph Jongen
 Suite, Op. 48 (1915)
Darius Milhaud
 Concertino d'été, Op. 311 (1951)
 Air (from Sonata No. 1), Op. 242 (1944)
 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra
Thea Musgrave
 Lamenting with Ariadne for Viola and Chamber Orchestra
Niccolò Paganini
 Quartet 15 for Viola and Orchestra (1820)
 Sonata per la Grand Viola (1834)
 Joseph de Pasquale
 Theme and Variations for Viola, String Orchestra, and Harp (1954)
 Variations for Viola, String Orchestra, and Harp (1984)
Alessandro Rolla (1757–1841)
Introduction and Divertimento in F major for Viola and Large Orchestra (incomplete), BI. 329
 Divertimento in F major for Viola and Orchestra d'Archi, BI. 330
 Rondo in G major for Viola and String Orchestra, 2 Oboes, and 2 Horns, BI.331
 Divertimento in G major for Viola and Orchestra, BI. 332
 Adagio and Thema with Variations in G major for Viola and Orchestra, BI. 333
Antonio Rolla (1798–1837)
 Variazioni Brillanti in F major for Viola and Orchestra, Op. 13 (1822)
Julius Röntgen
 Introduction, Fugue, Intermezzo and Finale for Violin, Viola, Cello
Robert Schumann
 Märchenbilder for Viola and Orchestra (1851)
 Peter Sculthorpe
 Elegy for Viola and Strings (2006)
Tibor Serly
 Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (1929)
 Rhapsody for Viola and Orchestra (1948)
 Dmitri Shostakovich
 String Quartet No. 13 for Viola and Orchestra (1970)
 Sonata for Viola, Percussion, and Orchestra (1975)
Leó Weiner
 Ballad for Viola and Orchestra
John Woolrich
 Ulysses Awakes (1989)
Ralph Vaughan Williams
 Suite for Viola and Orchestra
 Suite Flos Campi for Viola, Chorus and Orchestra
Bernd Alois Zimmermann
 Antiphonen für Viola und 25 Instrumentalisten

Notes

See also

Viola sonata
String instrument repertoire

References

External links
 Viola website, hosting information about the viola. Michael Haydn page with Many Classical and Early-Romantic Worklists
 Viola Fan Club and Repertoire List
Viola in music – The role of viola in music. Information, description of works, videos, free sheet music, MIDI files, RSS update.