Name | Viola |
---|---|
Italian name | Viola |
Names | ; |
Image capt | A viola shown from the front and the side |
Background | string |
Hornbostel sachs | 321.322-71 |
Hornbostel sachs desc | Composite chordophone sounded by a bow |
Range | |
Related | *Violin family (violin, cello)
|
Musicians | *List of violists |
Articles | }} |
The viola ( or ) is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.
Experiments have tended to increase the size of the viola, in the interest of improving the instrument's sound. Hermann Ritter's 'viola alta', which measured about , was intended for use in Wagner's operas. The Tertis model viola, which has wider bouts and deeper ribs to promote a better tone, is another slightly 'non-standard' shape that allows the player to use a larger instrument. Many experiments with the acoustics of a viola, particularly increasing the size of the body, have resulted in a much deeper tone, making it resemble the tone of a 'cello. Since many composers wrote for a traditional-sized viola, particularly in orchestral music, changes in the tone of a viola can have unintended consequences upon the balance in ensembles.
More recent (and more radically shaped) innovations have addressed the ergonomic problems associated with playing the viola by making it shorter and lighter, while finding ways to keep the traditional sound. These include the Otto Erdesz 'cutaway' viola, which has one shoulder cut out to make shifting easier; the 'Oak Leaf' viola, which has two extra bouts; viol-shaped violas such as Joseph Curtin's 'Evia' model, which also utilizes a moveable neck and a maple-veneered carbon fibre back, to reduce weight: violas played in the same manner as cellos (see vertical viola); and the eye-catching "Dalí-esque" shapes of both Bernard Sabatier's violas in fractional sizes - which appear to have melted - and David Rivinus' 'Pellegrina' model violas.
Other experiments that deal with the "ergonomics vs. sound" problem have appeared. The American composer Harry Partch fitted a viola with a cello neck to allow the use of his 43-tone scale. Luthiers have also created five-stringed violas, which allow a greater playing range. Modern music is played on these instruments, but viol music can be played as well.
The viola's four strings are normally tuned in fifths: the lowest string is C3 (an octave below middle C), with G3, D4 and A4 above it. This tuning is exactly one fifth below the violin, so that they have three strings in common—G, D, and A—and is one octave above the cello.
Each string of a viola is wrapped around a peg near the scroll and is tuned by turning the peg. Tightening the string raises the pitch; loosening the string lowers the pitch. The 'A' string is normally tuned first, typically to a pitch of 440 Hz or 442 Hz. The other strings are then tuned to it in intervals of perfect fifths, sometimes by bowing two strings simultaneously. Most violas also have adjusters, also called 'fine tuners', that are used to make finer changes. These permit the tension of the string to be adjusted by rotating a small knob at the opposite or tailpiece end of the string. Such tuning is generally easier to learn than using the pegs, and adjusters are usually recommended for younger players and put on smaller violas, although pegs and adjusters are usually used in conjunction with one another. Adjusters work best, and are most useful, on metal strings. It is common to use one on the 'A' string, even if the others are not equipped with them. Some violists reverse the stringing of the C and G pegs, so that the thicker C string does not turn so severe an angle over the nut, although this is uncommon.
Small, temporary tuning adjustments can also be made by stretching a string with the hand. A string may be tuned down by pulling it above the fingerboard, or tuned up by pressing the part of the string in the pegbox. These techniques may be useful in performance, reducing the ill effects of an out-of-tune string until an opportunity to tune properly.
The tuning C-G-D-A is used for the great majority of all viola music. However, other tunings are occasionally employed, both in classical music, where the technique is known as scordatura, and in some folk styles. Mozart, in his Sinfonia Concertante for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in E flat, wrote the viola part in D major and specified that the viola's strings were to be raised in pitch by a semitone: his intention was probably to give the viola a brighter tone so as to avoid it being overpowered by the rest of the ensemble. Lionel Tertis, in his transcription of the Elgar cello concerto, wrote the slow movement with the 'C' string tuned down to B flat, enabling the viola to play one passage an octave lower. Occasionally the 'C' string may also be tuned up to D.
The 1960s also saw the beginning of several research publications devoted to the viola, beginning with Franz Zeyringer's Literatur für Viola, which has undergone several versions, the most recent being in 1985. In 1980, Maurice Riley produced the first attempt at a comprehensive history of the viola in his History of the Viola, which was followed with a second volume in 1991. The IVS published the multi-language Viola Yearbook (from 1979 to 1994): several other national sections of the IVS publish newsletters. The Primrose International Viola Archive at Brigham Young University houses the greatest amount of material that is related to the viola, including scores, recordings, instruments and archival materials from some of the world's greatest violists.
There are a few Baroque and Classical concerti, such as those by Telemann (one of the earliest viola concertos known), Franz Anton Hoffmeister and Carl Stamitz. Hector Berlioz's Harold in Italy was written for solo viola and orchestra.
The viola plays an important role in chamber music. Mozart succeeded in liberating the viola when he wrote his six string quintets, some of which are considered to be his greatest works. The quintets use two violas, which frees them (especially the first viola) for solo passages and increases the variety and richness of the ensemble. Mozart also wrote for the viola in his Sinfonia Concertante in which the solo viola and violin are equally important, a set of two duets for violin and viola, and the Kegelstatt Trio for viola, clarinet, and piano. The young Felix Mendelssohn wrote a little-known viola sonata in C minor (without opus number, but dating from 1824). From his earliest works, Brahms wrote music that prominently featured the viola. Among his first published pieces of chamber music, the sextets for strings Op.18 and Op.36 contain what amounts to solo parts for both violas. Late in life he wrote two greatly admired sonatas for clarinet and piano, his Op.120 (1894): he later transcribed these works for the viola (the solo part in his horn trio is also available in a transcription for viola). Brahms also wrote 'Two Songs for Alto with Viola and Piano', Op. 91, 'Gestillte Sehnsucht' ('Satisfied Longing') and 'Geistliches Wiegenlied ('Spiritual Lullaby') as presents for the famous violinist Joseph Joachim and his wife, Amalie. Dvořák played the viola and apparently said that it was his favorite instrument: his chamber music is rich in important parts for the viola. Another Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana, included a significant viola part in his quartet "From My Life": the quartet begins with an impassioned statement by the viola. It should also be noted that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven all occasionally played the viola part in chamber music.
The viola occasionally has a major role in orchestral music, for example in the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar. Another prominent example is the Richard Strauss' composition 'Don Quixote' for solo cello and viola and orchestra.
While the viola repertoire is quite large, the amount written by well-known pre-twentieth century composers is relatively small. There are many transcriptions of works for other instruments for the viola and the large number of 20th-century compositions is very diverse. See 'The Viola Project' at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where Professor of Viola Jodi Levitz has paired a composer with each of her students, resulting in a recital of brand-new works played for the very first time.
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 Giacinto Scelsi, Gerard Grisey, Tristan Murail, Horatiu Radulescu and György Ligeti have written solo works for viola.
The viola is also an important accompaniment instrument in Hungarian and Romanian folk string band music, especially in Transylvania. Here the instrument has three strings tuned g — d' - a (note that the a is an octave lower than found on the standard instrument), and the bridge is flattened with the instrument playing chords in a strongly rhythmic manner. In this usage, it is called a kontra or brácsa (pronounced "bra-cha").
There are few truly well-known viola virtuosi, perhaps because little virtuoso viola music was written before the twentieth century. Pre-twentieth century viola players of note include Alessandro Rolla, Antonio Rolla, Chrétien Urhan, Casimir Ney, Louis van Waefelghem, and Hermann Ritter. The most important viola pioneers from the twentieth century were Lionel Tertis, William Primrose, Paul Hindemith, Théophile Laforge, Cecil Aronowitz, Maurice Vieux, Vadim Borisovsky, Lillian Fuchs, Frederick Riddle, Walter Trampler, Ernst Wallfisch, and Emanuel Vardi, the first violist to record the 24 Caprices by Paganini on viola. Many noted violinists have publicly performed and recorded on the viola as well, among them Eugène Ysaÿe, Yehudi Menuhin, David Oistrakh, Pinchas Zukerman, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin and Nigel Kennedy.
Among the great composers, several preferred the viola to the violin when playing in ensembles, the most noted being Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Numerous other composers also chose to play the viola in ensembles, including Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Antonín Dvořák, and Benjamin Britten. Among those noted both as violists and as composers are Rebecca Clarke and Paul Hindemith. Contemporary composer and violist Kenji Bunch has written a number of viola solos.
Instruments may be built with an internal preamplifier, or may put out the unbuffered transducer signal. While such raw signals may be fed directly to an amplifier or mixing board, they often benefit from an external preamp/equalizer on the end of a short cable, before being fed to the sound system.
Category:String instruments Category:Bowed instruments Category:Continuous pitch instruments Category:Violists
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