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

and the largest collection of viola music in the world. It is located in the Harold B. Lee Library at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

. Scottish-American violist

William Primrose William Primrose (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 v ...

started the archive with the donation of his many materials on the viola. It was previously known as the William Primrose Viola Library and the Primrose International Viola Society's Archive.

History

The Primrose International Viola Archive was initially proposed in 1974 using the existing viola holdings of the Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) at

(BYU) along with contributions from Scottish-American violist

, forming the William Primrose Viola Library. BYU faculty violist emeritus David Dalton had studied viola under

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, and had established a close friendship with him. While helping Primrose to write his memoirs, Dalton suggested that the HBLL could preserve Primrose's papers. After meeting with library officials in 1974, the Primrose Viola Archive was established in 1979 when Primrose agreed to donate his viola sheet music and memorabilia to the library to start a national-scale 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, and Franz Zeyringer, founder of the International Viola Society. In 2005, Brigham Young University hosted the American Viola Society's Primrose International Viola Competition and Festival.

Holdings

The PIVA includes over 6,000 published scores, around 250 sound recordings, and hundreds of manuscripts and correspondence. It is considered "the largest viola collection in the world". 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 European classical music and film scores, who from 1933 worked as an émigré in Paris, London and New York. He sought throughout his life to introduce new approaches t ...

with a dedication to Primrose, a holograph score of

Efrem Zimbalist Efrem Zimbalist (April 21 .S. April 9 1889 – February 22, 1985) was a Russian and American concert violinist, composer, conducting, conductor and director of the Curtis Institute of Music. Early life Efrem Zimbalist was born on April 9, 1 ...

'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 Hunga ...

'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 serialism, serial composer, Rochberg abandoned the technique after his teenage son died in 1964, saying it had proved inadequate to expres ...

'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

{{authority control Violas Brigham Young University 1979 establishments in Utah Music archives in the United States