Imitating Interpretation. Three Inspirations to Interpreting Hoffmeister’s Viola Concerto in D Major

Sammanfattning

The aim of this thesis was to research some of the many possible ways to interpret the first movement of Hoffmeister's Viola Concerto in D Major, excluding the many possible Cadenzas. The work includes studying recordings played by three concert violists, recording attempts of imitating them and making personal choices on what ideas work the best. The work explores the following questions: What are some ways concert violists interpret the first movement of Hoffmeister’s viola concerto? How would I personally like to develop my interpretation of the piece?The research method was mostly auditive. Many recordings were listened to, and the preferred ones were studied and their ideas imitated on audio files. It is notable that preferences for interpretation are subjective and thus this thesis aims only to explore one individual's preferences in this specific piece of music. The material used was three recordings, all different in style, to study and imitate on record to help find my personal favourite ways to interpret the concerto. The Urtext edition of the concerto was used as the score to reduce the sheet music to its most bare form so that no editorial markings affected the visual part of the work.Based on observations, the results indicate there are many good ways to interpret any piece of music, and it is up to the player to make educated choices on how to bring those preferences out in playing.