Dávid was a professional violist himself, playing in various orchestras between 1938 and 1945. This practical experience gives the concerto a particularly idiomatic feel for the instrument.
The by Gyula Dávid is a staple of the intermediate-to-advanced viola repertoire, often utilized as a bridging work before moving on to "The Big Three" (Bartók, Hindemith, Walton) . Dávid, a violist himself, wrote this work shortly after the end of World War II while serving as a conductor for the Hungarian National Theatre. Finding the Score Gyula David Viola Concerto Imslp
Gyula Dávid (his surname is also often written in the Western order, David Gyula) was born in Budapest on May 6, 1913. He is an integral part of the generation of Hungarian composers who followed in the footsteps of Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály. Dávid entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, where he studied composition with Albert Siklós and, notably, , graduating in 1938. His work with Kodály extended beyond the classroom; Dávid assisted his teacher in collecting folk songs, and one song he gathered from the village of Karád was later used by Kodály himself for his composition Karádi nóták . Dávid was a professional violist himself, playing in
Gyula Dávid belonged to the influential generation of Hungarian composers who studied directly under and Albert Siklós at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest. Dávid had a deeply intimate relationship with the viola; he served as a professional violist with the Budapest Municipal Orchestra from 1940 to 1943. This firsthand orchestral experience gave him an innate understanding of the viola's unique resonance, technical limitations, and lyrical potential. Dávid, a violist himself, wrote this work shortly
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The standard viola part with piano reduction (Catalog ID: EMB627) can be ordered online through sheet music distributors like Ficks Music, Forsyth Music Shop , or Shar Music .
The (1950), often referred to in Hungarian as Brácsaverseny , is widely regarded as one of the most significant 20th-century additions to the viola repertoire, particularly within the Eastern European tradition . Composed in 1950 by the Hungarian composer Gyula Dávid (1913–1977), this three-movement concerto is celebrated for its lyrical intensity, structural clarity, and profound emotional depth, often drawing on the spirit of Hungarian folk music without direct quotation.