Viola Sonata

The Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147, is the last composition by Dmitri Shostakovich. It was completed on July 5, 1975, weeks before his death. It is dedicated to Fyodor Druzhinin, violist of the Beethoven Quartet. Background Surviving rough drafts of the sonata's first movement, which use a bass clef instead of an alto, suggest that Shostakovich may have originally conceived the work for cello. According to Sofia Khentova, the viola sonatas of Mieczysław Weinberg and Grigory Frid had been the impetus for Shostakovich to compose his own. His Viola Sonata also marked a return to an idea that the composer had expressed in the mid-1930s of writing a cycle of works for instruments not usually considered ideal for solo roles. Shostakovich first announced his intention to compose the Viola Sonata in May 1975 to the management of Leningrad's Glinka Maly Hall. In response to their proposal for a concert that would simultaneously open its 1975–76 season and commemorate his 69th birthday, he requested a program of his sonatas for cello, violin, and viola; the latter to be completed in the summer. On the morning of July 1, 1975, Shostakovich telephoned Druzhinin to tell him that he had an idea for a Viola Sonata. He called again later in the day asking whether certain double stops played in rapid succession were possible on the viola. Druzhinin encouraged the composer to write as he pleased and said that violists would stretch their techniques to play whatever he asked them to. In the final days before completing the sonata, Shostakovich complained about the inability of his right hand to remain still enough for writing and had also telephoned Druzhinin on July 4 warning him that he was considering delaying further work as a result of his declining health. Despite these challenges, he announced to the violist on July 5 that he had completed the score and that it had been dispatched to the Union of Soviet Composers for copying. After unexpected delays in its preparation, Druzhinin received the fair copy of the score from the composer's wife on August 6. Shostakovich died on August 9.