Recording Bartolomeo Campagnoli's 41 Caprices for Solo Viola.
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Caprice no. 37
Caprice number 37 is about as pedantic as it gets for this book. We make our way through the circle of fifths with the same pattern, which explores eighths, sixteenths, and triplet eighths. Campagnoli even repeats C# as the key of D-flat when we make the transition to flat keys (mm. 16-20), - an interesting moment for the ear.
My favorite section was the arpeggios (bariolage) section at the end. This, at least, seemed to have some direction and interest in its chord development. Overall, it's an incredibly boring caprice, but it does get the job done on the technical side. Campagnoli gives lots of fingering, which is unusual for him. He wants the player to many different positions and keys, but always with the same finger/bow pattern. This proves to be quite challenging when you have to nail 5th position out of nowhere, like in measures 11 and 25.
I'll give him this: it's still better than playing the standard etude!
Caprice number 40 was difficult to learn but ultimately fun and rewarding. As musically simple as it is, I think it's one of the flashiest pieces in the book. (Case in point: my recording engineer, Stuart Breczkinsi, decided this one should be the background piece for the introductory video to my project.) The key of B Major makes the notes bright and cheerful on the viola. And the string crossing sections almost give it a fiddling/bluegrass feel (mm.27-37) . Of course, that style emerged from Baroque violin technique. Don't be fooled by the eighth notes: this one should fly off your fingers (and bow) as the Vivace assai marking requests. As with any fast piece, practice working up your speed in very short bursts, at times only a measure. Always remember to land on the next downbeat so you can thread your section practice together into longer fragments.
I couldn't think of a better way to end an epic book of caprices. Caprice number 41 is a grand bookend for a grand project. I used to think number 17 was my favorite, but this piece took the cake once I discovered it. It is joyful and stately. And the sonority it draws out of the instrument makes the solo viola sound like a chamber group. Perhaps it's the crescendo of energy and sound output. This can heard and also clearly seen in the music, at about measure 26 , going on to the end of the piece. Double-stops and bariolage, and sometimes both at once, make the viola into a mini-organ. This was my favorite section to play because I felt awash in sound. This piece mostly tries to be a fugue, but also reaches for something greater. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the fourth movement of Hindemith's Op.11, No.5 sonata (another favorite of mine). The Hindemith obviously came later, and is much longer and more fantastical. But both pieces give you the feeling that you have bee
Lighthearted and fun, Caprice no. 35 is an example of a piece that doesn't exactly scream viola. (To my non-violist readers: our instrument is usually trotted out for a slow, melancholy number.) I'm glad that Campagnoli expanded the realm of possibility for our instrument, even if his ideas didn't stick for the next 100+ years. I like how every section in this piece has its own special touch of buffoonery. Variation 3 (measure 17) mimics the beginning Theme, but the low register makes it rather burdensome, and a little silly. Variation 10 (measure 73) is supposed to sound sad, but the repeated returns to the "A" harmonic, and the little soprano run at the end (mm. 79-80) give it an air of mockery. And the da capo turn at the end goes from an over-deflated/defeated minor section, to a just-kidding, flippant ending. For just a few examples. So have fun with it, and enjoy the relative ease of this piece. No major technical curveballs here!
