Viola - Organizations and Research

Organizations and Research

A renewal of interest in the viola by performers and composers in the twentieth century has led to increased research devoted to the instrument. Paul Hindemith and Vadim Borisovsky made an early attempt at an organization in 1927 with the Violists' World Union. But it was not until 1968, with the creation of the Viola-Forschungsgellschaft, now the International Viola Society (IVS), that a lasting organization would take hold. The IVS now consists of twelve sections around the world, the largest being the American Viola Society (AVS), which publishes the Journal of the American Viola Society. In addition to the journal, the AVS sponsors the David Dalton Research Competition and the Primrose International Viola Competition.

The 1960s also saw the beginning of several research publications devoted to the viola, beginning with Franz Zeyringer's Literatur für Viola, which has undergone several versions, the most recent being in 1985. In 1980, Maurice Riley produced the first attempt at a comprehensive history of the viola in his History of the Viola, which was followed with a second volume in 1991. The IVS published the multi-language Viola Yearbook (from 1979 to 1994): several other national sections of the IVS publish newsletters. The Primrose International Viola Archive at Brigham Young University houses the greatest amount of material that is related to the viola, including scores, recordings, instruments and archival materials from some of the world's greatest violists.

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