“If any contemporary violist continues to carry the torch of the composer-performer, it is Scott Slapin.”
Journal of the American Viola Society
“...brilliantly written... real lyricism... heartfelt’"
Fanfare
"Slapin is a real viola virtuoso..."
American Record Guide
“…a solid core of modern viola duo writing.”
Interlude
“Scott Slapin is great! It's hard to imagine better performances.”
20th Century Violin Virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci
0:00 Bach Sonata No. 1 Fugue
0:39 Slapin South Hadley Mass (Adagio)
1:45 Lane Sonata No. 3 (Wind in the Trees)
2:30 Hindemith Sonata Op. 25, Nr. 1 (mvt 4)
3:02 Slapin Sonata in C for two violas (Andante)
4:10 Slapin Adventures in Ancestry (Part 1)
5:20 Slapin Intermezzo for two violas
7:06 Paganini Caprice No. 3
7:50 Slapin Sonata in G for violin and viola (Allegretto)
8:31 Bach Partita No. 2 (Chaconne)
10:00 Kreisler Praeludium and Allegro
11:22 Slapin Lullaby
12:03 Paganini Caprice No. 10
12:35 Ernst The Last Rose of Summer
One of Scott's compositions
Scott with his Iizuka viola and violin and two paintings by William Sorrow
Scott with a painting by Emanuel Vardi
Click here to listen to the Slapin Anthology.
BIO
Scott Slapin is the composer of ten albums of Neo-Romantic music for viola, highlights of which can be heard on The Slapin Anthology. His published works include more than a dozen unaccompanied character pieces; thirty viola duos; chamber music; music for viola choir; concertos; educational materials; a mass “for the dead violist”; and a two-viola, one-act opera about Cremonus, God of the Viola, with commissions from the American Viola Society, the Primrose International Viola Competition, the Penn State Viola Ensemble, and the Wistaria String Quartet.
He has given countless recitals, premiered solo works at Carnegie's Weill Hall and international viola congresses, and written for and soloed with orchestras. His unaccompanied recitals have taken in (from memory) his own music, the complete solo viola works of Hindemith and Reger, and the Bach Sonatas, Partitas, and Suites (BWV 1001-1012). He is the soloist for the debut CD of Frank Proto's Soundscapes (2004); the first album produced by the American Viola Society, Premieres (2014); and for transposed-but-unarranged viola versions of the violin trilogy: Bach's Sonatas and Partitas, Paganini's 24 Caprices, and (at YouTube only) Ysaye's Six Solo Sonatas. His 1998 Sonatas and Partitas recording was the first complete recording of those works on viola, and he can be heard playing solo Bach, Paganini, and his own music on various soundtracks for film and TV.
Scott (b. 1974, NJ) studied violin/viola with Barbara Barstow and Emanuel Vardi and composition with Richard Lane. At eighteen, he was one of the youngest graduates of the Manhattan School of Music and the on-stage violist for Orpheus In Love, an Off-Broadway show about a viola-playing Orpheus. He played on contract in the NYC-area Sutton Ensemble, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Knoxville Symphony (as principal violist), the Philadelphia Virtuosi, the Louisville Orchestra, the New Orleans-based Louisiana Philharmonic, and the São Paulo (Brazil) State Symphony, sharing a stand with his wife Tanya Solomon in the last four. Scott and Tanya taught in Massachusetts at Mount Holyoke and Amherst colleges, respectively, and performed together for more than twenty years as the award-winning Slapin-Solomon Viola Duo.
Scott's playing has received critical acclaim in Fanfare, Strad, Musical Opinion, Mundo Clásico, and the American Record Guide, and his recital compositions have been performed by hundreds of violists internationally. A former artist in residence at the Montalvo Arts Center (CA) and the American Viola Society, he has been profiled in the Journal of the American Viola Society, Strings Magazine, and on radio programs worldwide.
Scott teaches viola, violin, and composition worldwide via Skype. His students span in ability from beginners to advanced professionals and have ranged in age from eight to eighty. He plays a viola and violin by Hiroshi Iizuka.
Listen to some of Scott's compositions (grouped by instrumentation) at YouTube:
- More than a dozen unaccompanied character pieces for viola
- Thirty viola duos
- Chamber music for strings
- music for viola choir
- concertos
- educational materials
- A mass "for the dead violist"
- A two-viola, one-act opera about Cremonus, God of the Viola
Some of Scott's other YouTube videos take in:
- Unaccompanied viola music (by Hindemith, Reger, Slapin, Proto, Dankner, Pigovat)
- Transcriptions for viola (by Bach, Paganini, Ysaye, Ernst, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Rossini, Mozart)
- Unaccompanied violin music (by Bach, Paganini, Slapin)
- Excerpts from many live recitals
- Duos from the Baroque to the present (Slapin-Solomon Viola Duo)
- Instructional videos for violists of all levels