Wieniawski: Reverie (Altviool en Piano)

In addition to the numerous violin pieces in H. Wieniawski's compositional output there is only one piee for viola and piano, ''Reverie'', which is without opus number. The ''Dream'' ost probably comes from that period whenWieniawski stayed in London (1858-1859) and, apart from his regular concert activities, took part in chamber concerts, which were very popular at that time. During one of the Beethoven-Quartett-Society concerts a quartet of fouroutstanding virtuosos (Ernst, Joachim, Wieniawski and Piatti, the cellist) performed together. Wieniawski, who played the viola on that occasion, presumably concluded that there were too few original compositions for thisbeautifulinstrument and decided to write a short viola piece himself. He endowed it with a lyrical character and the stamp of fervour, characteristic of his other compositions. (S. Kamasa)