Unfinished Sonata for Viola and Piano by Mikhail Glinka. Manuscripts of Glinka and performance edition of Vadim Borisovsky.

Abstract

Thanks to Vadim Borisovsky, the Unfinished Sonata for Viola and Piano (or Violin) by Mikhail Glinka has become one of the viola repertoire's most frequently performed works. This earliest truly remarkable Russian composition for viola and piano was found, reconstructed, and edited by Borisovsky in 1931. Borisovsky’s mission was not limited only to editions of fingering and dynamics in the viola part. Glinka left his work unfinished and three of his manuscripts that have survived are different with none of them being fully completed. This Sonata was published for the first time in 1932 and was republished with various editorial additions at least six times in the USSR and Russia. An urtext is valuable not only for musicologists but also for performers and students, for the transparency between the original work of the composer and his editor. It guides one in his/her interpretation that reflects the composer’s rhetoric, his timbre palette, tempos and phrasing. A brief overview of Glinka’s manuscripts and Borisovsky’s edition, as offered in this chapter, would assist in understanding Glinka’s instrumental heritage as well as his editorial goals and compromises.