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{{more citations needed|date=January 2017}}

The '''viola sonata''' is a [[sonata]] for [[viola]], sometimes with other instruments, usually [[piano]].  The earliest viola sonatas are difficult to date for a number of reasons:
*in the [[Baroque music|Baroque]] era, there were many works written for the [[viola da gamba]], including sonatas (the most famous being [[Johann Sebastian Bach]]'s [[Sonatas for viola da gamba and harpsichord (Bach)|Three Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord]], now most often played on the [[cello]]){{Citation needed|date=August 2015}}<!--Once doubtless true, but over the past 50 years increasingly played on the viola da gamba. Are they really still played mostly in transcription?-->
*in the [[Classical music era|Classical]] era and early [[Romantic music|Romantic]], there were few works written with viola specifically in mind as solo instrument, and many of these, like those of the Stamitz family, may have been written for the [[viola d'amore]], like most of their viola works—though it is now customary to play them on the viola; it was more typical to publish a work or set, like [[George Onslow (composer)|George Onslow]]'s opus 16 cello sonatas, or [[Johannes Brahms]]'s [[Clarinet Sonatas (Brahms)|Two Clarinet Sonatas]] in the late 19th century, that specified the viola as an alternate.  Two early exceptions were the [[Viola Sonata (Mendelssohn)|viola sonata]] of [[Felix Mendelssohn]] (1824, posthumously published in 1966) and the opus 1 sonata of the composer [[Ernst Naumann]] (1832–1910), published in 1854.
* The viola returned to a solo role in the 20th century. [[Max Reger]] wrote three sonatas for either clarinet or viola at the beginning of the century. [[Paul Hindemith]], himself a viola virtuoso, composed works several sonatas for viola solo, and others for viola and piano such as the [[Viola Sonata, Op. 11 No. 4 (Hindemith)|Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 11 No. 4]] in 1919. [[Rebecca Clarke (composer)|Rebecca Clarke]] composed the [[Viola Sonata (Rebecca Clarke)|Sonata for viola and piano]] the same year. [[Arnold Bax|Bax]]'s [https://imslp.org/wiki/Viola_Sonata%2C_GP_251_(Bax%2C_Arnold) Viola Sonata], written (like Walton's concerto) for the great English viola player [[Lionel Tertis]] in 1923, is one of his most-played and oft-recorded chamber works. [[Mieczysław Weinberg]] wrote four viola sonatas between 1971 and 1983. The [[Viola Sonata (Shostakovich)|Sonata for Viola and Piano]], Op. 147, is the last composition by [[Dmitri Shostakovich]], completed in July 1975 and dedicated to [[Fyodor Druzhinin]].<ref>Donald Maurice, "Schostakovich's Swansong," ''Journal of the American Viola Society'' 16, no. 1 (2000): 13.</ref> [[György Ligeti]] wrote his [[Viola Sonata (Ligeti)|Sonata for Solo Viola]] between 1991 and 1994.
* In the 21st century, [[Graham Waterhouse]] wrote a viola sonata entitled ''[[Viola Sonata (Waterhouse)|Sonata ebraica]]'' , completed in 2013.<ref name="Preisser">{{cite web
| last = Preisser
| first = Martin
| url = http://www.tagblatt.ch/nachrichten/kultur/Die-Bratsche-in-juedischer-Klage;art482582,4455947
| title = Die Bratsche in jüdischer Klage
| publisher = Tagblatt
| date = 11 December 2015
| language = de
| access-date = 13 May 2017
}}</ref>

==Work list==

*[[Malcolm Arnold]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 17 (1947)
*[[Granville Bantock]]
**Sonata in F for Viola and Piano "Colleen" (1919)
*[[Jan Zdeněk Bartoš]]
**Sonatina for Viola and Piano, Op. 46
*[[Marion Bauer]]
**Sonata for Viola, Op. 22 (1932)
*[[Arnold Bax]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano in G (1921–1922)
**Fantasy Sonata for Viola and Harp (1927)
*[[Jack Beeson]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1953)
*[[Arthur Benjamin]]
**Sonata in E minor (1942)
*[[Lennox Berkeley]]
**Sonata in D minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 22 (1945)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wise Music Classical - Home |url=https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.wisemusicclassical.com |language=en}}</ref>
*[[Valentin Bibik]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola No. 1, Op. 31 (1977)
**Sonata for Solo Viola No. 2, Op. 136 (1999)
**Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 1, Op. 72 (1988)
**Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 2, Op. 137 (2000)
*[[Easley Blackwood Jr.]]
**Sonata No. 1, Op. 1 (1953) <ref name="Woolf2005">{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/Aug05/Blackwood_sonatas_90000081.htm|last=Woolf|first=Jonathan|title=Review: Easley Blackwood - Chamber Music|publisher=MusicWeb International|date=August 2005|access-date=2016-02-16}}</ref>
**Sonata No. 2, Op. 43 (2001) <ref name="Woolf2005"/>
*[[Arthur Bliss]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1933)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2003/Oct03/Bliss_piano_quartet.htm|last=Sutton|first=Kevin|title=Review: BLISS - Oboe Quintet/Piano Quartet/Viola Sonata |publisher=MusicWeb International|date=October 2003|access-date=2016-02-16}}</ref>
*[[Luigi Boccherini]]
**Sonata Viola (or Cello) and Continuo in C minor, G.18
*[[York Bowen]]
**Sonata No. 1 in C minor, Op. 18 (1911?)<ref name="Freyhan">{{cite web|url=http://www.stringsmagazine.com:80/issues/strings88/Reviews.shtml|last=Freyhan|first=Michael|title=Romantic Revival: Rediscovering the Viola Music of York Bowen|publisher=Strings Magazine|issue=88\date=August/September 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629064553/http://www.stringsmagazine.com/issues/strings88/Reviews.shtml|archive-date=2006-06-29|access-date=2016-07-15}}</ref>
**Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 22 (1911)<ref name="Freyhan" />
*[[Johannes Brahms]]
**Sonata in F minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 120 No. 1 (1894)
**Sonata in E{{music|flat}} major for Viola and Piano, Op. 120 No. 2 (1894){{Efn|Composer's adaptation of the two [[Clarinet Sonatas (Brahms)|Clarinet Sonatas]]}}
*[[James Francis Brown]]
**Sonata for Viola (1995)<ref>Tirimo, F. (no date) Works - Viola Sonata. Available at: http://www.jamesfrancisbrown.com/works/work.asp?workid=286&order=catdate (Accessed: 13 October 2015)</ref>
*[[Arthur Butterworth]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1986, though sketched 1949)
*[[Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco]]
**Sonata for Viola and Harp, Op. 144
*[[Paul Chihara]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1996)
*[[Rebecca Helferich Clarke|Rebecca Clarke]]
**[[Viola Sonata (Rebecca Clarke)|Sonata for Viola and Piano]] (1919)
*[[Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf]]
**Sonatas for Viola and Piano
*[[Felix Draeseke]]
**Sonata in C minor (1892)
**Sonata in F (1901&ndash;2){{Efn|Both composed for Hermann Ritter's viola alta}}
*[[Lorenzo Ferrero]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (2000)
*[[Jacobo Ficher]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 80 (1953)
*[[Ross Lee Finney]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano
*[[Lillian Fuchs]]
**''Sonata pastorale'', for Solo Viola
*[[Robert Fuchs (composer)|Robert Fuchs]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano in D minor, Op. 86
*[[Harald Genzmer]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola (1957)
**Sonata for Viola and Piano
**Sonatine for Viola and Piano
*[[Roberto Gerhard]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1946){{Efn|Later reworked as his Cello Sonata.}}
*[[Mikhail Glinka]]
**Sonata in D minor for Viola and Piano (incomplete) (1835)
*[[Hilding Hallnäs]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 19 (1943)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Souvenirs from Gothenburg |url=http://hem.fyristorg.com/m.bengt.andersson/english.htm |access-date=2023-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050912001740/http://hem.fyristorg.com/m.bengt.andersson/english.htm |archive-date=2005-09-12 }}</ref>
*[[Hans Werner Henze]]
**Sonata for Viola (1979)
*[[Kurt Hessenberg]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 94
*[[Jennifer Higdon]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1990)
*[[Paul Hindemith]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 11 No. 5 (1919)
**Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 25 No. 1 (1922)
**Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 31 No. 4 (1923)
**Sonata for Solo Viola (1937)
**[[Viola Sonata, Op. 11 No. 4 (Hindemith)|Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 11 No. 4 (1919)]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 25 No. 4 (1922)
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1939)
*[[Vagn Holmboe]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola
*[[Arthur Honegger]]
**Sonata for Viola (1920)
*[[Alan Hovhaness]]
**Campuan Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 371 (1982)<ref>{{Cite web |title=ALAN HOVHANESS works Part 2: Music on the Web(UK) |url=http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2000/feb00/hovanessworks2.htm |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.musicweb-international.com}}</ref>
**Sonata for Solo Viola, Op. 423
*[[Bertold Hummel]]
**Sonatina No.1, Op. 35b (1969)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bertold Hummel work commentaries |url=http://www.bertoldhummel.de/english/commentaries/opus_35B.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.bertoldhummel.de}}</ref>
**Sonatina No.2, Op. 52b (1973)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bertold Hummel work commentaries |url=http://www.bertoldhummel.de/english/commentaries/opus_52B.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.bertoldhummel.de}}</ref>
*[[Johann Nepomuk Hummel]]
**Sonata in E-flat for Viola and Piano, Op. 5, No. 3
*[[Miriam Hyde]]
**Sonata in B minor for Viola and Piano (1937)
*[[Gordon Jacob]]
**Sonata No. 1 (1949)
**Sonata No. 2 (1978)
*[[David Johnstone (composer)|David Johnstone]]
**Sonatango for Solo Viola (2007)
*[[Paul Juon]]
**Viola Sonata in D, Op. 15 (1901)
**Viola Sonata in F minor, Op. 82 (1923){{Efn|Transcription of Clarinet Sonata}}
*[[Aram Khachaturian]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola
*[[Friedrich Kiel]]
**Sonata, Op. 67 in G minor
*[[Luigi von Kunits]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1917)
*[[Ernst Krenek]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola
*[[Libby Larsen]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (2001)
*[[Victor Legley]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 13 (1943)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-06-30 |title=LEGLEY, Vic |url=http://www.cebedem.be/composers/legley_vic/en.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060630061734/http://www.cebedem.be/composers/legley_vic/en.html |archive-date=2006-06-30 }}</ref>
*[[Lowell Liebermann]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op.13 (1984)
*[[György Ligeti]]
**[[Viola Sonata (Ligeti)|Sonata for Solo Viola]] (1991–94)
*[[Bohuslav Martinů]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1955)
*[[Felix Mendelssohn]]
**[[Viola Sonata (Mendelssohn)|Sonata for Viola and Piano in C minor]] (1824)
*[[Darius Milhaud]]
**Sonata No. 1 for Viola and Piano, Op. 240 (1941)
**Sonata No. 2 for Viola and Piano, Op. 244 (1944)
*[[José Pablo Moncayo]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1934)
*Paul Müller-Zürich
**Sonata for Solo Viola (1979)
*Jacques Murgier
**Sonata for Solo Viola
*[[Ernst Naumann]]
**Sonata in G minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 1 (1854)
*[[Ludvig Norman]]
**Sonata in G Minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 32 (1869)
*[[George Onslow (composer)|George Onslow]]
**Three sonatas for Viola (or cello), Op. 16
*[[George Perle]]
**Sonata for Viola Solo, Op. 12
*[[Max Reger]]
**Sonatas in A{{music|flat}} major and F{{music|sharp}} minor for Viola and Piano, [[Max Reger works#49|Op. 49 Nos. 1 and 2]] (1900){{Efn|Alternate versions of Clarinet Sonatas.}}
**Sonata in B{{music|flat}} major for Viola and Piano, [[Max Reger works#107|Op. 107]] (1908-9)
*[[George Rochberg]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1979)
*[[Alessandro Rolla]]
**Sonatas for Viola with Continuo
*Johannes Röntgen
**Sonata for Viola and Piano
*[[Julius Röntgen]]
**Sonata in C minor for Viola and Piano (1924)
**Sonata in A{{music|flat}} major for Viola and Piano (1925)
**Sonata in A minor for Viola and Piano (1925)
*[[Nino Rota]]
**Viola Sonata in G (1934–35, revised 1970)
**Viola Sonata in C major (1945)
*[[Anton Rubinstein]]
**Sonata in F minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 49 (1855)
*[[Philipp Scharwenka]]
**''Sonate fantasia'' in G minor for Viola and Piano, Op. 106 (1899)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-05-24 |title=NYVS 2005-2006 Season Concerts and Programs |url=http://www.nyvs.org/events/past/200506season.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070524055132/http://www.nyvs.org/events/past/200506season.html |archive-date=2007-05-24 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Records International Catalogue March 2003 |url=http://www.recordsinternational.com/archive/RICatalogMar03.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=www.recordsinternational.com}}</ref>
*[[Peter Sculthorpe]]
**Sonata for Viola and Percussion
*[[José Serebrier]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola (1955)
*[[Alexander Shchetynsky]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola (1987)
*[[Vissarion Shebalin]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano
*[[Dmitri Shostakovich]]
**[[Viola Sonata (Shostakovich)|Sonata for Viola and Piano]], Op. 147 (1975)
*[[David Stanley Smith (composer)|David Stanley Smith]]
**Viola Sonata, Op. 72 (1934)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Collection: The David Stanley Smith Papers {{!}} Archives at Yale |url=https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/6/resources/10675 |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=archives.yale.edu}}</ref>
*[[Carl Stamitz]]
**Sonata for Viola{{Efn|Originally for Viola d'amore.}}
* Constantinos Stylianou
** Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 1 in F minor (2019)
** Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 2 in E flat major (2020)
*[[Eduard Tubin]]
**Viola Sonata (1965)
**Four Sonatas for Viola and Piano, Op. 5 (in C major, D, F and C)
*[[Octavio Vazquez]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 1 (1992)
**Sonata for Viola and Piano No. 2 (2002)
*[[Henri Vieuxtemps]]
**[[Viola Sonata No. 1 (Vieuxtemps)|Sonata in B{{music|flat}} major for Viola and Piano]], Op. 36 (1862)
**''Sonate inachevée'' (Allegro et scherzo) for Viola and Piano, Op. 60 (Op. 14 posthumous) (1884)
*[[Andrei Volkonsky]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 8 (1955–56)
*[[Johann Baptist Wanhal]]
**Viola Sonata in E{{music|flat}}
*[[Graham Waterhouse]]
**''[[Viola Sonata (Waterhouse)|Sonata ebraica]]'' (2013)
*[[Mieczysław Weinberg]]
**Sonata for Solo Viola No. 1, Op. 107 (1971)
**Sonata for Solo Viola No. 2, Op. 123 (1978)
**Sonata for Solo Viola No. 3, Op. 135 (1982)
**Sonata for Solo Viola No. 4, Op. 136 (1983)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-03-28 |title=Vainberg - Oeuvres par Genres |url=http://claudet.club.fr/Vainberg/Genres.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060328015241/http://claudet.club.fr/Vainberg/Genres.html |archive-date=2006-03-28 }}</ref>
*[[George Balch Wilson]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1952)
*[[Richard Edward Wilson]]
**Sonata for Viola and Piano (1989)

== See also ==
*[[Viola repertoire]]
* [[Viola concerto]]

== Notes ==
<references group="lower-alpha" />
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.draeseke.org/essays/viola_alta.htm The history of Draeseke's Viola Alta Sonatas]
* [http://www.classical.net/music/composer/works/mendelssohn/chamber.html A Mendelssohn Chamber Worklist with Dates]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20041104195148/http://www.schott-music.com/autoren/KomponistenAZ/show,3547.html Schott's page for Nino Rota]
* [http://presence.or.at/IVS/fr/VlaKlav.htm A Viola Sonata Repertoire Page]
* [http://www.ne.jp/asahi/rumi/viola/vfc/vfcenglish.html Viola fan club with list of recordings and works]

{{Sonatas}}
{{Violin family}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:Viola sonatas| ]]