Editing Viola (section)

=== Twentieth century and beyond ===
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In the earlier part of the 20th century, more composers began to write for the viola, encouraged by the emergence of specialized soloists such as [[Lionel Tertis|Tertis]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lionel Tertis |url=https://www.thestrad.com/lionel-tertis/3548.article |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=The Strad |language=en}}</ref> Englishmen [[Arthur Bliss]], [[Edwin York Bowen]], [[Benjamin Dale]], and [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] all wrote chamber and concert works for Tertis. [[William Walton]], [[Bohuslav Martinů]], and [[Béla Bartók]] wrote well-known viola concertos. Hindemith wrote a substantial amount of music for the viola; being himself a violist, he often performed his own works. [[Claude Debussy]]'s [[Sonata for flute, viola and harp (Debussy)|Sonata for flute, viola and harp]] has inspired a significant number of other composers to write for this combination.

[[Charles Wuorinen]] composed his virtuosic ''Viola Variations'' in 2008 for Lois Martin. [[Elliott Carter]] also wrote several works for viola including his ''Elegy'' (1943) for viola and piano; it was subsequently transcribed for clarinet. [[Ernest Bloch]], a Swiss-born American composer best known for his compositions inspired by Jewish music, wrote two famous works for viola, the ''Suite 1919'' and the ''[[Suite Hébraïque]]'' for solo viola and orchestra. [[Rebecca Helferich Clarke|Rebecca Clarke]] was a 20th-century composer and violist who also wrote extensively for the viola.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Her Life {{!}} Rebecca Clarke Society |url=https://www.rebeccaclarke.org/her-life/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |language=en-US}}</ref> Lionel Tertis records that Elgar (whose cello concerto Tertis transcribed for viola, with the slow movement in scordatura), [[Alexander Glazunov]] (who wrote an ''Elegy'', Op.&nbsp;44, for viola and piano), and [[Maurice Ravel]] all promised concertos for viola, yet all three died before doing any substantial work on them.

In the latter part of the 20th century a substantial repertoire was produced for the viola; many composers including [[Miklós Rózsa]], [[Revol Bunin]], [[Alfred Schnittke]], [[Sofia Gubaidulina]], [[Giya Kancheli]] and [[Krzysztof Penderecki]], have written [[viola concerto]]s. The American composer [[Morton Feldman]] wrote a series of works entitled ''The Viola in My Life'', which feature [[concertante]] viola parts. In [[spectral music]], the viola has been sought after because of its lower overtone partials that are more easily heard than on the violin. Spectral composers like [[Gérard Grisey]], [[Tristan Murail]], and [[Horațiu Rădulescu]] have written solo works for viola. Neo-Romantic, post-Modern composers have also written significant works for viola including [[Robin Holloway]] Viola Concerto Op. 56 and Sonata Op. 87, [[Peter Seabourne]] a large five-movement work with piano, ''Pietà'', [[Airat Ichmouratov]] [[Viola Concerto No.1 (Ichmouratov)|Viola Concerto No. 1]], Op. 7<ref>{{cite web |title=Ichmouratov: Viola Concerto No.1/Piano Concerto |url=https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205281 |website=www.chandos.net |access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref> and [[Three Romances for Viola, Strings, and Harp]], Op. 22.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ichmouratov: Orchestral Works |url=https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%2020141 |website=www.chandos.net |access-date=29 September 2023}}</ref>