Beaming with energy, Mr. Mönkemeyer received the award for his debut album "Ohne Worte," a bouquet of song arrangements for viola and piano launched by Sony Classical this spring.
The 31-year-old musician has gained a reputation as the new viola wonder with his impeccable technique and unheard of color and range. The artist has impressed the musical community worldwide and has enhanced the popularity of this most neglected yet amazing of instruments.
I had the pleasure to meet Mr. Mönkemeyer at a concert he gave with the Dresdner Kapellsolisten in the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic on Oct. 8.
To hear Mönkemeyer play is to realize that the viola is not just the violin’s bigger sister, but the mother of all strings. While the viola is sometimes unfairly stereotyped as possessing a nasal and lackluster sound, Mönkemeyer’s playing astounds as it bursts forth with brilliance, grace, and power.
Moreover, Mönkemeyer’s playing in the lower tonal ranges seems to expand to endless depths, while the sounds he creates in the upper ranges stretch up to the sky. In the middle range, rich and golden tones glow like the evening sun. When he plays arpeggios, you almost think that other instruments are playing along.
Mönkemeyer captivates his audiences with his humility and natural joy the moment he steps on stage.
Love at First Stroke
Mönkemeyer began studying the violin at the age of 8 but didn’t have the fateful encounter with the viola until he was 15 and a member of the German Youth Orchestra. As he tells it, "in the evenings we had a game—you had to take a sip of wine from the bottle after each mistake you made while sight-reading. The girl playing the viola validated all our [stereotypical] prejudices [about viola players] and got drunk first. So I gave it a try and took over her part.
"From that moment on, I fell hopelessly in love with this instrument and didn´t think one second more about playing the violin. I knew this was my sound.
"The viola sound is more mellow and soft, not as penetrating as the violin, and you can sing wonderfully with this instrument," Mönkemeyer explains. "It´s tonal range is between that of a male and female, creating a special androgynous quality that can´t be found in other string instruments. The tone is darker and more sensual ... in the middle."
For Mönkemeyer, the middle range, that which is often regarded as the problem area for the viola, is exactly where its greatest potential lies: "As humans, our vocal ranges are neither black nor white. We are always moving between the extremes of brightness and darkness, and it is the human vocal spectrum that is embodied in the viola sound."
For his first CD—viola arrangements of romantic art songs—he made use of the viola´s ability to communicate all these nuances. But he first needed to become inventive and arrange pieces for the viola, as the original repertoire for the instrument is sparse.
"My CD is selling incredibly well and due to that, I´m the first violist who has ever made it into the classical music charts!" Mönkemeyer chuckled. For him it means he was right to adapt familiar repertoire to his unusual instrument. "People need something like that."
A Passion for Bach
Bach cantatas are a basic pillar of Mr. Mönkemeyer’s recordings and concerts, so he explained more about his appreciation for the Baroque master.
"You can listen to him again and again. I´m always fascinated by how many worlds he opens up with one piece of music. Bach has accompanied me from childhood on and was actually the reason I began studying music."
At the age of 4 little Nils was completely fascinated by a recording of the "Brandenburg Concerti."
"I had a recorder (fipple flute) and was also fond of baroque wigs. I used some balls of wool to tinker one for myself. Then I dressed up in a sheet and paced through the garden, playing at being Bach. ...From the very beginning I was fascinated with Bach—he is so deeply human, and he kept believing in man’s highest potential despite his hard life.
"Half of his children died, and he also lost his first wife early on. Then he remarried and had financial problems all his life. His genius was not even recognized. People of his time were intimidated by him because he transcended the day’s conventions.
"When someone with such a tough life can stick to his highest values and communicate this through music so beautifully—that’s enormously impressive, not only as a musical testimony but also for what a human being is able to achieve," he said.
The tension between resignation and hope that Mönkemeyer finds in Bach, can be expressed very hauntingly by the viola.
Why Did the Viola Lose its Popularity?
The Classical period manifested as the peak era for the viola. First, there were the influential Stamitz brothers from Mannheim—both virtuosos on the instrument. And Mozart played the viola after he came to Mannheim. Antonio Rosetti also spent time there and took the opportunity to write a viola concerto.
Rosetti’s popularity as a composer was overshadowed by his addiction to gambling and poker. He lost enormous sums of money and was forced to travel back and forth through Europe under ever-changing names to escape from creditors. Identifying his works , therefore, has been problematic. (Mönkemeyer has made the world premiere recording of the Rosetti “Viola Concerto in G major. “)
But after this time, the viola faded in popularity and became known as an accompanying rather than a featured instrument.
Maybe it was the viola´s more introverted character that required sensitivity and inner peace to be appreciated, and that is what caused it to be forgotten when the modern age appeared. Mönkemeyer muses that one reason for this change was the appearance of the wild violin stars like Paganini. "They brought up a kind of musical culture which is certainly not suitable for the viola.
"You can´t make a Paganini sort of impact with [the viola] that causes people to faint and lie on the floor. Of course the musical depth of these showy pieces is also different. There is less human spirit in that kind of music," he said.
Another possible reason for the decline in popularity is related to the size of the viola itself. The body of the viola enlarged during the Romantic period: "Violas of the Classical period were comparatively small, [but] they were unsuitable for the Romantic period, as the distinctive sound needed a larger volume. This led to fewer people who were physically able to handle the instrument," Mönkemeyer explained. "But music historians are not clear on this point. I think it´s just more comfortable to play the violin, as it is not as bulky."
Mönkemeyer, who moved from the violin to the viola, had to acquire new technical skills. In his studies at Munich and Salzburg, it was especially important for him to develop his own tonal style. But first he had to improve his technical skills until they were mature enough to catch up with his musical ideas.
"Then I joined a lot of music competitions and was very fortunate to win a couple of them. And so it happened step by step, and now I am receiving the ECHO Klassik Award."
His next record, he promised, will be "something sentimental," fitting for the anniversary of Robert Schumann's 200th birthday in 2010—a mix of original viola compositions and adapted art songs.
Let´s see what we will hear from him in the future.
To listen to Nils Mönkemeyer’s music or read about him in German visit, www.nilsmoenkemeyer.de
