Viola excerpt · Audition repertoire
Smetana, The Bartered Bride, overture
Sustained fast fugal string writing at a tempo that leaves no margin. A stamina and clarity test.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Viola
- Composer
- Bedřich Smetana
- Work
- The Bartered Bride, overture
- Era
- Romantic (c. 1820–1880)
- Composed
- 1866
- 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
A short on-string stroke that stays identical for a long stretch, consistency is the difficulty, not the notes.
Where it goes wrong
The entry has to be immediately in tempo and in character; there is no room to settle in.
Right-arm fatigue degrades the sound before accuracy fails. Practise the whole passage, not the opening.
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.