String Festival Solos, Volume II: Viola Solo Book

Volume II arrives at a sweet spot in student development where players can handle real musical decisions. The progression from Handel's minuets through Clementi and into Rameau's Rigaudon and Drigo's Valse Bluette gives you pieces that demand genuine interpretation, not just accurate note-reading. These are teaching pieces that don't sound like teaching pieces.

This collection spans from courtly restraint to late-romantic warmth. You'll move between the clarity and symmetry of baroque minuets, the architectural elegance of classical sonatinas, and the dance rhythms that let students feel swing and momentum. There's room for both reflection and joy.

Viola students in grades 2-3 who are ready for more substance than simple scales and etudes. Teachers building programs that need reliable, audience-worthy recital material without the expense of multiple individual publications.

• Use the easier minuets and dances early in the year to establish stylistic consistency across your group. The Handel pieces reward discussion about baroque phrasing before rehearsal time gets tight.
• Shape the lyrical pieces (Spring Song, Valse Bluette) with rubato in mind. Student violists often rush through sustained passages; encourage them to breathe between phrases even when the phrasing mark extends longer.
• Layer in the sonatinas after winter break when students have stronger intonation control. The Clementi and Hook sonatinas benefit from careful listening to chord changes and voice leading.

Pull individual pieces for sectional recitals throughout the year rather than programming them all at once. The sonatinas work especially well in spring competitions and jury hearings where judges expect to hear substantive repertoire. Use the minuets and shorter dances as opener or closer selections in larger concerts where you need pieces that anchor a theme.

• Reading articulations and dynamic contrasts across multiple styles
• Shaping phrases in baroque dances and classical forms
• Adapting bow distribution for sonatina-length movements
• Listening to harmonic movement within tonal structures
• Sustaining tone quality during lyrically scored passages like Spring Song