# Late-Romantic viola excerpts

c. 1880–1910

This late-romantic viola selection contains 3 excerpts. Begin with Strauss: Don Juan, opening: The standard opening request at viola auditions. Fast, high, and written in a register where the viola has to project without turning thin. The period label groups these works for discovery; it does not prescribe one tempo, articulation or sound for every composer.

For viola, read the actual clef and register before reusing a familiar violin finger pattern. Listen to the inner part in context: a line that feels secondary alone can provide the rhythm or harmony that makes the orchestral texture clear.

The recorded technique tags in this selection include tone-poem, audition, fast, bravura, solo. Choose one relevant passage, read its specific practice notes below, and set one listening target before a complete run. Tags describe the library entries, not a required exam syllabus.

Late-romantic scores push the section higher, louder, and further into divisi. Excerpts from this period are the backbone of professional audition lists precisely because they test range, sustained intensity, and tenor and treble clef reading all at once.

- [Strauss: Don Juan, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/viola/strauss-don-juan-viola), The standard opening request at viola auditions. Fast, high, and written in a register where the viola has to project without turning thin. Audition; Late-Romantic; Alto clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Strauss: Don Quixote, Sancho Panza solo](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/viola/strauss-don-quixote-viola), The extended solo viola part representing Sancho Panza. Standard at principal viola auditions and a test of character playing. Audition; Late-Romantic; Alto clef. Standard audition excerpt.
- [Mahler: Symphony No. 10, Adagio, opening](https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/viola/mahler-10-adagio-viola), The unaccompanied viola line that opens the Adagio, the whole section alone, unsupported, at a very slow tempo. Audition; Late-Romantic; Alto clef. Standard audition excerpt.

Canonical source: https://arcosounds.com/repertoire/viola/era/late-romantic