The Voice of the Viola in Times of Oppression

The viola is surely not the most assertive instrument among the string family. It reaches neither the extreme height of the violin nor the rumbling depth and the strength of the cello and contrabass. It's role is more integrating than leading or polarizing; and in brilliance, maneuverability and sound projection the violin wins hands down. But if a composer wants to express his feelings with maximum intensity and depth, he chooses the viola remarkably often. The loss of a loved one, a repressive political system, persecution and war were more than once the motivation for the composing of music with the viola as the most important voice for expressing the underlying emotions. The dark, somewhat veiled sound of the instrument makes it particularly suited to such a role. The Polish-Russian Jewish composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg fled during the Nazi invasion. Dick Kattenburg was picked up in 1944 during a razzia and he died, only 24 years old, in Auschwitz. Max Vredenburg, being a Jewish arti