Viola Viola
2012, Bridge Records, Inc. 9387

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Program Notes
It is my belief that while we musicians have the privilege to explore art forms of profound beauty, we also have a responsibility to the world’s ongoing creative process.  Ever since the first time I heard Haydn’s “Sunrise” Quartet, I dreamed of a life in chamber music. In my mind, the viola in a chamber ensemble represents the most human figure: a voice that does not intend to be flashy or self-centered, but is rather the diplomatic glue that holds everyone together. It shines subtly and its unique timbre is unforgettable. Being a violist in a chamber music context is almost a philosophical way of life and a state of mind.

This CD is the brainchild of many projects and initiatives, and thus provides an opportunity for its listeners to enjoy the viola in a variety of contexts, each with its own texture and harmonic language. While I was a member of the Borromeo Quartet, the group had a longstanding working relationship with composer Steven Mackey.  I love his music for its fun and its unassuming brilliance.  Groundswell was a piece that was inspired by his honeymoon trip to Italy.  All 7 movements connect seamlessly as to suggest a journey; the trajectory of the piece evokes the act of hiking up a mountain, then running back down.  One can hear clear musical imitations of specific sounds from this trip: the honking horns of the Vespa scooters; Italian radio talk (as it might sound to a foreigner who doesn’t understand the language); footsteps running down a steep slope; gentle waves of the sea; and so on.  The central, fourth movement, Thin Air, captures that certain stillness one experiences only at the peak of a mountain.  It is reflective and quietly austere, in stark contrast to the work’s outer sections.

Next comes a new work written specifically for this recording, Romances by Danish Composer Poul Ruders.  This set of six rather delicate movements is light, whimsical and transparent. The listener is almost left begging for more.

British composer George Benjamin was featured in a Carnegie Hall “Perspectives” workshop in 2007.  One of the pieces programmed on his concerts was Viola, viola, a piece commissioned for the opening of a new concert hall in Tokyo.  It was written for violists Nobuko Imai and Yuri Bashmet in 1997.  I had the pleasure of working on the piece with my husband Misha Amory, violist of the Brentano String Quartet, a player who has inspired me in life.  Viola, viola presents a case where the viola is definitely not just a middle voice.  Rather, the composer appears to challenge the performers to repudiate this stereotype utterly.  The two parts are absolutely equal in terms of their technical demands.  The short, 9-minute piece has an incredibly exciting rhythmic drive throughout.  Mr. Benjamin constructs an aural world that is so full you can feel it bursting at the seams, ranging from tension-filled triple pianissimos to bombastic forceful triple fortissimos.  Performing and listening to this piece is an experience one does not forget easily.

Figment IV by Elliott Carter, a pithy and exciting movement that was a surprise gift for my former teacher, Samuel Rhodes of the Juilliard String Quartet.  I was truly honored to have had the chance of learning, performing and recording the piece in celebration of Mr. Carter’s 100th birthday.  This short solo composition starts with a rather firm statement of just two notes, an E-flat and a D-natural forming a major seventh.  This interval begs to be resolved to an octave; the tension that results throughout the composition amounts to an ever-redefined question mark.  The end of the composition shows that this question mark will remain unanswered.  It is even more emphatic than the opening, giving the listeners no doubt of its definition and intention.

Last but not least is “Remembrance” — a new work written by Taiwanese composer Shih-Hui Chen.  It was a small experiment on my part to have two versions of the same piece, one with orchestra and one with chamber ensemble.  The orchestral version is heard here.  Composer Shih-Hui Chen is has an unmistakeable and unique voice.  This piece captures the essence of nostalgia from a popular folk melody and reminds me of the old-world grandeur of a Chinese opera.

Each piece of music here highlights the viola in different combinations and contexts.  I feel it is such a privilege to be able to work with living composers and to hear them describe, in their own words, what these compositions mean to them.  The viola today is certainly no longer an instrument that is in the background.  Without trying to compete with other string instruments, it has come to possess a whole world of its own, which celebrates the instrument just for what it is.  Not a bigger violin, not a smaller cello, but an instrument that can hold its own.  An instrument that has a voice.

Track Listing

1-7
GROUNDSWELL | Steven Mackey (25:05)
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
American Modern Ensemble
Steven Mackey, conductor

8-13
ROMANCES | Poul Ruders (10:43)
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
Sarah Rothenberg, piano

14
VIOLA, VIOLA | George Benjamin (10:51)
Misha Amory, viola 1
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola 2

15
FIGMENT IV | Elliot Carter (03:05)
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola

16
REMEMBRANCE | Shih-Hui Chen (10:27)
Hsin-Yun Huang, viola
Evergreen Symphony Orchestra
Gernot Schmalfuss, conductor