Viola excerpt · Audition repertoire
Mahler, Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major
I. Adagio
The unaccompanied viola line that opens the Adagio, the whole section alone, unsupported, at a very slow tempo.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Viola
- Composer
- Gustav Mahler
- Work
- Symphony No. 10 in F-sharp major
- Movement
- I. Adagio
- Era
- Late-Romantic (c. 1880–1910)
- Composed
- 1910
- Clef
- Alto clef
- Level
- Audition, professional standard
- Audition list
- Yes, standard excerpt
How to practise it
The bow style, the trouble spots, and the stylistic decisions that come up most often on this excerpt.
Bowing
Long, sustained bows with imperceptible changes. Any bump breaks a line that is already fragile.
Where it goes wrong
There is no harmony underneath, so intonation has no external reference. This is the excerpt where a drone in practice pays for itself.
Style
Searching and unsettled rather than warm. The line wanders deliberately; do not resolve it prematurely.
Tags
Work on the technique underneath
Arco's viola curriculum builds the bow strokes, positions, and clef reading this excerpt assumes, with recorded viola playback throughout.