Gustav Strube(1867–1953)

The German-born composer, violinist, and conductor Gustav Strube was a prolific composer of viola music. His earliest works are two unpublished tone poems for viola and orchestra, Longing (1905) and Fantastic Dance (1906), both composed for Émile Férir. Several published works followed: an arrangement of his Berceuse (originally for violin and piano) in 1908, a Sonata in D Minor for Viola and Piano in 1925, and a Sonatina for Viola and Piano in 1943. The manuscript for this previously unpublished work is found in the Gustav Strube Collection at the Friedheim Library, Archives and Special Collections of the Peabody Institute, The Johns Hopkins University. Composed in 1933, Strube later reworked the piece for viola and small orchestra, renaming it Elegy.