The Primrose International Viola Archive (PIVA) is the official viola archive of both the

International Viola Society The International Viola Society, also called the "IVS" or "the Society," is an international organization dedicated to players of the viola. It is currently based in Dordrecht, the Netherlands, and sponsors annual International Viola Congresses. T ...

and

American Viola Society The American Viola Society (AVS) is an organization headquartered in Dallas, Texas that encourages excellence in performance, pedagogy, research, composition, and lutherie by fostering communication and friendship among violists of all skill levels, ...

. It is located in the

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

. Scottish-American violist

William Primrose William Primrose CBE (23 August 19041 May 1982) was a Scottish violist and teacher. He performed with the London String Quartet from 1930 to 1935. He then joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra where he formed the Primrose Quartet. He performed in ...

started the archive with the donation of his many materials on the viola.

History

Brigham Young University faculty violist emeritus David Dalton studied viola under

at Indiana University. While writing Primrose's memoirs, Dalton suggested that the Harold B. Lee library could preserve Primrose's papers. After meeting with library officials in 1974, Primrose decided to donate his memorabilia to the Harold B. Lee library as part of a project to start a national-scale viola archive. In 1979, the archive was established, and the library's existing viola holdings along with Primrose's contributions formed the Primrose Viola Archive. In 1981, the International Viola Society combined its archive in Austria with the Primrose archive, and the archive's name changed to the Primrose International Viola Archive. From 1983, the archive has collected newly published viola music and made a special effort to make its repository of viola music exhaustive. Notable donors include Jan Albrecht,

Paul Doktor Paul Doktor (March 28, 1917 in Vienna – June 21, 1989 in New York City) was a notable violist and orchestra conductor. The son of singer-pianist Georgine and violist Karl Doktor, at the age of five, Paul began violin studies with his father ...

, Ulrich Druner, Walter Lebermann, Rudolf Tretzsch,

Ernst Wallfisch Ernst Wallfisch (27 May 1920 in Frankfurt am Main – 8 May 1979 in Northampton, Massachusetts) was a prominent viola soloist, recording artist and pedagogue, primarily remembered along with his wife, pianist Lory Wallfisch, as partners of the Wall ...

, and Franz Zeyringer, founder of the International Viola Society. In 2005, Brigham Young University hosted the American Viola Society's

Primrose International Viola Competition The Primrose International Viola Competition (PIVC), also referred to as the Primrose Memorial Scholarship Competition (PMSC), is an international music competition for viola players sponsored by the American Viola Society and named for the 20th-cen ...

and Festival.

Holdings

The PIVA includes over 6,000 published scores, around 250 sound recordings, and hundreds of manuscripts and correspondence. The collection includes viola manuscripts from Primrose's collection, a viola manuscript by

Ernst Toch Ernst Toch (; 7 December 1887 – 1 October 1964) was an Austrian composer of classical music and film scores. He sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches to music. Biography Toch was born in Leopoldstadt, Vienna, into the family ...

with a dedication to Primrose, a holograph score of

Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. ( – February 22, 1985) was a concert violinist, composer, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist Sr. was born on April 9, 1888, O. S., equivalent to April 21, 1889, in the Greg ...

's "Sarasateana: Suite of Spanish Dances," Milhaud's second viola concerto with a dedication from the composer, the working manuscript for

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as H ...

's viola concerto, and the manuscript for

George Rochberg George Rochberg (July 5, 1918May 29, 2005) was an American composer of contemporary classical music. Long a serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the practice following the death of his teenage son in 1964; he claimed this compositional technique ...

's Viola Sonata. The collection also includes Primrose recordings and a Primrose photo archive.

Gallery

File:PIVA Cabinet.JPG, Display cabinets File:PIVA stacks.JPG, Viola music stacks File:PIVA handprint and music.JPG, Primrose's handprint and a reproduction of the Bartok score

References

External links

Primrose International Viola Archive
{{authority control Violas Brigham Young University 1979 establishments in Utah Archives in the United States Harold B. Lee Library-related music articles