Motherland (Bartok, Dvorak, Shor, Walton (David Aaron Carpenter, Viola)

Viola player David Aaron Carpenter performs both original works and arrangements of standard and contemporary repertory, represented by composer Alexey Shor (b. 1970). The Dvorák Cello Concerto (1894) is here transcribed for viola, Dvorak’s own instrument. Much of the concerto has a melancholy sensibility, filled with homesickness for his native Bohemia and his romantic yearning for Josefina, Countess Kounic, who died shortly after the work’s premiere. The Bartok Viola Concerto (1944-45) was composed for William Primrose, but was left unfinished, and had to be completed by Bartok’s student, Tibor Serly. Walton wrote his 1929 Viola Concerto for Lionel Tertis, who refused to perform it, objecting to the composer’s innovations in musical syntax. Kiev-born Alexey Shor contributes lovely pieces in singing Romantic Period style, written for his children and for orchestral accompaniment. Their titles telegraph their emotional content.