Upon the Viol (2013) by Richard Festinger
for cello

Upon the Viol was written in 2013 as a competition piece for the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. It was premiered in June of that year during the competition semi-finals in San Francisco by four young cellists competing for top honors. Cast in a single, 8-minute movement, Upon the Viol explores a wide variety of colors and moods. Shifting mercurially from the lyrical to the insistent, the natural to the mysterious, the restrained to the exuberant, from introspection to abandon, this brief work carries the listener along on a musical journey that traverses a remarkably great distance.