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Another notable peculiarity in the text of the sonata is occasional indications of

positions and strings on which a performer is advised to play melodic phrases. Most

of the time, these indications are written either next to expressive melodic themes

and phrases or in the episodes in which these melodies gain a dramatic character due

to intensive harmonic and rhythmical work.244 These indications require the use of

high positions on low strings instead of the standard low positions on the middle

strings that have an open exposed sound.

244 _{In the first section, these indications are printed in the themes of the first subject group in bb. 2,} 6, 14-15, 24, 124, 126, 128 and in the cadenza; in the middle sections in bb. 253, 288, 290 and 368. There are none in the recapitulation as the composer expected the performer to duplicate the fingering and positions of the first subject from the first section.

169 Example 4.4.3a Vasilenko, Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 46, fragment, First section/Exposition, bars 124-128 (Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe

muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo, 1925), 11. Reproduced by

permission of the Library of the Union of Composers of the

Russian Federation, Moscow.

This unusual repositioning implies that the composer was looking for a

distinctive colour and timbre effect of a rich, deep and expressive tone production. It

is interesting to compare this feature with Vasilenko’s perception of viola qualities

described in his book about instrumentation. He emphasized that the viola does not

possess exceptional qualities in the middle register due to a certain nasal effect in its

timbre. In his opinion, the high register exhibits broad expressive possibilities,245 the

qualities that Vasilenko unreservedly demonstrated and enhanced in the sonata.

245 _{Sergei Vasilenko, Instrumentovka dlia simfonicheskogo orkestra (Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe} muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo, 1952), vol. 1, 60.

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Especially in Piangendo, all solo episodes and the coda have either long leaps within

the range of two to three octaves or ascending arpeggiated passages, similar to the

components characteristic of violin virtuoso compositions.

Example 4.4.3b Vasilenko, Sonata for Viola and Piano, op. 46, fragment, Fourth section/Coda, bars 499-503 (Moscow:

Gosudarstvennoe muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo, 1925), 33.

Reproduced by permission of the Library of the Union of

Composers of the Russian Federation, Moscow.

Here they frequently reach the top notes of the viola’s playing range. This

feature became distinctive of viola music towards the second half of the twentieth

century, but was hardly ever employed in the music in the early 1920s. Moreover,

Vasilenko’s further comments give an explanation of his particular choice of a solo

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justification of his use of the viola instead of the traditional choice of the violin or

cello.246

[…] Violas are superb as solo instruments. For example, in melodies of oriental character they reveal a certain acuteness and, at the same time, charm and

expressiveness of tone, which are characteristic features of folk instruments of the East. Its timbre reminds one of the cor anglais. However, if a melodic line has a fast tempo and contains difficult technical elements then one should indeed give his preference to the viola. […]247

Even the harsh critics of Vasilenko emphasised the beauty and self-

expression of his melodic lines in the sonata. Thus Nikolai Miaskovskii writing in an

article ‘Na kontsertakh sovremennoi russkoi muzyki’ [At Concerts of Contemporary Russian Music] in the magazine Muzykal’naia kul’tura [Music Culture] in 1924,

made a positive remark after his unjustified criticism of the ‘prehistoric’ language of

the sonata that the clarity and candour of themes were the best features in this

composition. Furthermore, he specifically pointed to the beauty of the viola in the

second section that has melodies of oriental character, which unpredictably

correlated with the judgment of Vasilenko with regard to the usage of the viola

246 _{Rogal’-Levitskii left deeply appreciative and inspiring words about Vasilenko, which perhaps do} not convey specific details, but emphasize the elegance and diversity of instrumental and melodic approach in the sonata and the originality of Vasilenko’s instrumental choice. ‘The viola sonata was born in this colourful exquisite oriental aroma, in this fantastic chaos of boundless perception of the mysterious exotic and in this amazing play of various instrumental timbres. It is difficult to say precisely what thoughts guided the author and explain his existence among this bright layer of the Orient [...]. His passion towards everything exquisite, beautiful and extraordinary directed his instrumental choice towards the viola rather than the violin or cello.’ Dmitrii Rogal’-Levitskii, Sergei

Vasilenko i ego al’tovaia sonata (Moscow: Muzykal’nyi sektor, 1927), 9.

247_{Sergei Vasilenko, Instrumentovka dlia simfonicheskogo orkestra (Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe} muzykal’noe izdatel’stvo, 1952), vol. 1, 60.

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above. ‘The sincerity of music reaches its culmination of expressiveness in lyrical

moments, in particular in the slow second section.’248 Thus, the opinions of these

two antagonists differed with regard to the definition and stylistic content of true

contemporary music, but complemented each other on the exceptionally melodious

nature and eloquence of instrumental tone in the sonata. Vasilenko, in his turn, did

not restrict his melodies to the upper register of the viola that in his opinion was

especially remarkable, but used freely all four octaves of the viola’s capacity. His

most lyrical theme of the second subject and the second theme in the second section

are written in the low and middle registers of the viola. They require sensitive

control over the vibrato in order to maintain the intimacy and introversion of the

music throughout. Moreover, Vasilenko used a mute in the second section, which

imparted a special mysterious, velvety and mellow sonority to the timbre.

4.5 Conclusion

The depth of knowledge of instrumental colours, their combinations, technical and

sonorous possibilities as well as the professionalism in their application allowed

Vasilenko to employ, operate and mix contradictory idioms with dynamism and

expression. He modified his language according to the requirements of the new

musical epoch and enriched his viola sonata with the instrumental advantages and

inventions of the twentieth century. Writing in October 1919, his contemporary

Boris Asaf'ev commented that Vasilenko ‘does not look behind and he cannot look

248 _{Nikolai Miaskovskii, Sobranie materialov v dvukh tomakh [Collection of Materials in Two} Volumes] (Moscow: Muzyka, 1964), vol. 1, 231.

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ahead. Therefore, he will not discover any new paths but he is always modern.’249

Asaf'ev was right to a degree due to Vasilenko’s close bond with the traditions of

earlier Russian composers and folk music and his inspiration drawn from the Silver-

Age aesthetics, but his musical language was also moderately influenced by

Debussy and Skriabin, of which more in the fifth chapter. The modernism that

Asaf’ev described can be distinguished in the modernist approach to the one-

movement sonata form, the experiments with polyrhythm and poly-metre, the

moderate modifications in the harmonic language with freely used seventh and ninth

chords and unusual chromatic modulations – not extending to a continuous atonality,

but bringing a degree of nonconformity and novelty to the tonal plan.

The range and complexity of styles and string techniques in Vasilenko’s

works for viola and piano allow one to describe them as unique examples of

Russian compositions for the viola with a diversity of harmonic and rhythmic

language, an exquisite palette of sound colour and a considered approach to the

form, articulations and dynamics. Rena Moisenko described Vasilenko’s writing as

‘exotic, aesthetic and excessively refined’,250 which also applies to his viola works.

The composer often explored beyond the traditional limits of the technical and sonic

potential of the instrument, placing it on a par with the violin. Thus, he challenged

the whole conception of the tradition that regarded the viola as inferior to the violin

and other instruments of the string family.This innovative style launched new

standards in viola performance and expanded its repertoire. Vasilenko’s most

important achievement in this sonata was the enhancement of the viola with a quasi-

249 _{Boris Asaf'ev, O muzyke XX veka [On the Music of the Twentieth Century] (Leningrad: Muzyka,} 1982), 111.

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orchestral range of colours, and an equal intensity of musical and technical material

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