Rebecca Clarke was born into a musical family in 1886. Her father played the cello and her mother the viola. Clarke and his brother were given violins so they could form a family string quartet. He studied violin at the Royal Academy of Music. After rejecting the proposal of a professor there, she continued her studies at the Royal College of Music in London, where she was the first composition student. She was studying violin at the time, but her composition professor, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, encouraged her to switch to the viola, both for her musical career and for 20th-century viola compositions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Clarke admired the English composers who studied with Stanford in the decade before she began her formal education with him. The list includes Frank Bridge, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams. His works are heavily influenced by British composers of the time, often compared to Debussy. Unable to afford to complete his studies, Clarke decided to begin his musical career in London. By this time all-female chamber ensembles had already started to become popular and she became one of the first professional orchestral players. Most of her music was written for the all-female chamber music ensemble in which she played and was heavily influenced by the female chamber music ensemble. trends in classical music of the 20th century. Most of Clarke's works feature the viola, as she was a professional musician for many years. The Viola Sonata was written in 1919 for a competition in which she placed second to Ernest Bloch, because it was not believed that a woman could write such an astonishing piece of music. In the article "'But Do Not Quite Forget': The Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1921) and the Viola Sonata (1919) Compared," by Bryony Jones, she identifies a cyclical approach to motifs, string techniques, to military motifs and harmonious language by combining different shades. This shows the influence of Debussy and Ravel in Clarke's composition and the effect of the First World War seen in the military motifs. Debussy's impressionistic qualities, lush textures and modernist harmonies are often mentioned in connection with Clarke's works. The Viola Sonata, published the same year as the Bloch and Hindemith Viola Sonatas, is an example of impressionism. It opens with a pentatonic theme, lush harmonies, emotionally intense nature and dense, rhythmically complex plot. The first movement, Impetuoso, begins with a viola fanfare, before becoming a harmonic melody. As expected of a 20th century sonata, the piece does not adhere to the tonal structures typical of a classical sonata. This piece is very chromatic at times, referencing Debussy's use of modes, diatonic keys and octatonic and whole tone scales. The modal introduction from bars 1-12 is an improvised line from the viola over a held chord from the piano. The introduction remains in E dorian until the beginning of the main theme in m.13. The use of folk song modes and influences throughout the movement became a practice strongly associated with British music. The introduction has two main functions: to present the two reasons and to establish the manner. The first motif recalls a military character with a dotted rhythm and an open fifth interval. The second motif exemplifies whole tone intervals. Meanwhile the piano opens with a ff chord, confirming E as the center of the note. The chord is sustained throughout the introduction without rearticulation. This allows the violist to establish their sound before playing.