Mazas Elergy Op 73 for Viola and Piano

Mazas is known primarily for his violin études, which are standard teaching material across the grades. What is far less known is that he also wrote this Elégie for viola and piano, a substantial and genuinely virtuosic work that deserves a much wider audience than it currently has. At Diploma and Professional level, it makes serious demands, and it does so across a wide range of techniques rather than focusing on one area.

The cantabile playing that an Elégie demands runs throughout, but this is not a piece that settles for lyrical expression alone. Double stops in thirds and sixths appear regularly, asking for the kind of intonation control and left-hand strength that takes years to develop. Fast scale and arpeggio sections drive the more energetic passages, and string crossing runs through much of the faster writing. Putting all of that together within music that also needs genuine expressive depth is what makes this a Diploma-level piece: the technical demands and the musical demands are both present, and both uncompromising.

At 11 minutes it is a substantial recital work, with the breadth and variety to hold an audience throughout. For violists looking for serious repertoire that is genuinely unfamiliar, the Elégie is a significant find.

This is a new edition engraved from the original score, presented clearly for use in advanced study and professional performance.

See and hear the difference

Check the score and part preview images above, then watch the complete score video below. They'll give you a clear picture of the engraving quality and overall difficulty before you buy.

Key features

• Instrumentation: Viola and Piano
• Difficulty: Diploma / Professional
• Duration: approximately 11 minutes
• Style focus: cantabile tone, double stops in thirds and sixths, fast scales and arpeggios, string crossing
• Format: PDF download, full score and viola part

Who it's for

This suits conservatoire students and professional violists looking for a serious, extended recital work that is unlikely to be known to most audiences. It works well in diploma and professional recitals where something musically substantial and technically demanding is needed, and the double-stop writing makes it a useful advanced study piece for developing intonation and left-hand strength in a genuinely musical context. For violists who have exhausted the better-known Romantic repertoire and are looking further afield, the Mazas Elégie is worth the search.