Filling the Eighteenth-Century Void for Violists: A Study of Mozart’s “Viola” Concerto, K. 622.

Until such players as Lionel Tertis improved the status of their instrument in the twentieth century, violists have had to rely to a considerable extent on arrangements to help redress the void which exists in viola literature (when compared with the extensive repertory of many other instruments), a gap that is particularly apparent in the eighteenth century. One such example is the arrangement of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, K. 622 for solo viola. During the twentieth century, a small number of arrangements were made of this composition for viola; however, among the most interesting is an anonymous arrangement made only eleven years after the composer’s death, in 1802, by the German publishing firm Johann Anton André. This paper identifies the extant sources for the original clarinet version of the work, followed by an examination of the 1802 André arrangement. A comparison of the latter with an arrangement for viola by Lionel Tertis dating from the 1940s will also be made, with each version discussed in light of the culture, techniques and performance practices of its period, alongside a consideration of the overall feasibility of this work for the viola