The Viola in My Life: An Alto Rhapsody [With CD (Audio)] - Hardcover

Bernard Zaslav

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 083140096X ISBN 13: 9780831400965

Publisher: Science & Behavior Books, 2011

Synopsis

During the 1950s and the early 1960s Bernard Zaslav played viola in Broadway shows like Fiddler on the Roof, Once Upon a Mattress, and the Broadway revival of Porgy and Bess, while commissioning and per- forming works written by the most innovative composers of the time, like Milton Babbitt, Charles Wuorinen, and Ben Johnston for string quartet and the viola/piano Zaslav Duo with Naomi Zaslav. He made the first recordings of Charles Ives Quartets and many of the Dvorak String Quartets before joining the world-famous Fine Arts String Quartet, and touring with them all around the world. His life as a string quartet violist reached a zenith when he joined the Vermeer Quartet, and became one of the world's most celebrated string quartet musicians. Bernard Zaslav tells the story of his musical life and his travels from the perspective of a musician on the inside-literally, one of the inner voices of a string quartet. From the earliest days of his career he came into close musical and personal contact with iconic musicians, and he describes them and the musical world of the later 20th century with candid honesty, humility, and humor. This book is a document not only about the life of a string quartet musician, but a document about the professional, social, and artistic musical life that flourished in America during the pre-digital age. It was a time when a string quartet in residence was a university's crowning glory, a time when the audience for classical music was at its most sophisticated and its most demanding, and a time when the creation and performance of a new piece of music was something to be celebrated. Included with the book are two CDs of excerpts from his many recordings.

About this title

Product Description

CDs include excerpts from Zaslav's recordings: 1st CD (The Zaslav Duo), 2nd CD (String chamber music).

Edition details

• Publisher: Science & Behavior Books
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 083140096X
• ISBN 13: 9780831400965
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 456