Bartok - Concerto for viola

Concerto op. posthumous by Bela Bartok for viola and orchestra. Reduction for viola and piano

Prepared for publication from the composer's original manuscript by Tibor Serly
Viola part edited by William Primrose

The Bartók Viola Concerto, Sz. 120, BB 128 (see also Concerto for Viola and Orchestra), was one of the last pieces written by Béla Bartók of Hungary. He began composing the work while living in Saranac Lake, New York, in July 1945. The piece was commissioned by William Primrose, a respected violist of the 20th Century. Primrose requested this concerto because he knew that Bartók could provide a challenging piece for him to perform, stating that Bartók should not “feel in any way proscribed by the apparent technical limitations of the instrument.” Unfortunately Bartók was suffering from the terminal stages of leukemia when he began writing the viola concerto and he left only sketches at the time of his death.