Viola
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- For other uses of the word, see Viola (disambiguation).
The viola (in French, alto; in German Bratsche) is a stringed musical instrument played with a bow which serves as the middle voice of the violin family, between the upper lines played by the violin and the lower lines played by the cello, and double bass.
The viola has an extremely rich sonority, much more full-bodied than the violin, dark-toned and earthy. Being frequently used for playing inner harmonies, the viola does not enjoy the wide solo repertoire of the violin, and though its deep mellow voice has a unique beauty, the viola is often underrated. In the right hands, it is capable of expressing both a mournful, penetrating melancholia and a dignified, joyous voice, singular and delightful in its restrained clarity. There are very powerful soloists who play the viola with tremendous volume and energy, as well as very challenging pieces of music for viola which demand flair and the entire range of emotions one might expect to be drawn from any instrument.
The form of the viola
The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin but is larger in size and more variable in its proportions. Unlike the violin, the viola does not have a standard "full size," because a viola of the ideal size for the best tone quality would not fit on the player's shoulder. Violists compensate by playing the largest instrument practicable for their bodies, and viola makers often compensate by tweaking the proportions or shape of the instrument in order to make a viola with a shorter string length and lighter weight which still has a large enough sounding box. It is increasingly common to see professional violists playing on instruments which, at first glance, bear little resemblance to the traditional shape of violins (see External Links). On average, the "full size" viola's body length is between one and four inches greater than the full size violin's.Playing the viola
While it may appear to be similar to the violin's, the technique required for playing viola has subtle but important differences. The most notable of these spring from the size of the viola.
- When a player switches from violin to viola (or vice versa), the viola will generally have a larger body as well as a longer string length. The most immediately noticeable accommodations a player must make are to use wider-spaced fingerings, a wider and more intense vibrato in the left hand, and to place the bow farther away from the player's body (right arm). The player must also bring the left elbow farther forward or around, so as to reach the lowest string. This allows the fingers to be firm and create a clearer tone.
- The viola is usually strung with thicker strings than the violin. This, combined with its larger size and lower pitch range, results in a tone much more mellow and deep. However, a thicker string gauge also means that the viola "speaks" more slowly than its soprano cousin. Practically speaking, if a violist and violinist are playing together, the violist has to begin moving the bow a fraction of a second sooner than the violinist does to produce a sound that starts at the same moment as the violinist's sound.
- The viola bow is slightly shorter (74.0 rather than 74.5 cm) than that of the violin, with a wider band of horse-hair, particularly noticeable near the frog (or 'heel' in the UK). Viola bows (70 to 74 g) are heavier than violin bows (58 to 61 g). Bowing technique differs from violin bowing in that more weight must be applied to pull sound from the strings.
Tuning
The viola's four strings are tuned in fifths: the C an octave below middle C is the lowest, with G, D and A 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.
Violas are tuned by turning the pegs near the scroll, around which the strings are wrapped. Tightening the string will raise the note (make it sharper) while loosening the string will lower the note (making it flatter). The A string is tuned first, typically to 440 Hz (see pitch). The other strings (D,G,C) are then tuned to it in intervals of perfect fifths, bowing two strings simultaneously. Some 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 end of the string, at the tailpiece. Such tuning is generally easier to learn than using the pegs, and adjusters are usually recommended for younger players. Adjusters work best, and are most useful, with higher tension metal strings. It is common to use one on the A-string even if the others are not equipped with them. The picture on the right shows normal stringing of the pegs. Some violists reverse the stringing of the C and G pegs, so the thicker C string does not turn so severe an angle over the nut.
Small, temporary tuning adjustments can also be made by stretching a string with the hand. A string may be flattened by pulling it above the fingerboard, or sharpened 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 the arrival of a rest or other 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 (for example, tuning the C string up to D), both in classical music (where the technique is known as scordatura) and in some folk styles.
Viola music
Historically, the viola was used less often for solo concerti and sonatas than the violin and the cello. This was often attributed to its sound, which, being mellower and less brilliant than that of the violin, is less suited to virtuoso display. As the violist was usually also a violinist, the brighter instrument was usually picked as the solo instrument.Music written for the viola differs from that of other instruments in that it primarily uses alto clef, which is otherwise rarely seen. Viola sheet music also frequently employs the treble clef for higher registers.
In orchestral music prior to the middle of the 19th century, the viola part is frequently limited to the filling in of harmonies with little melodic material assigned to it. When the viola gets melodic parts in music of that era, it might be duplication in unison or octaves of whatever other strings are playing. A notable exception would be J.S. Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6, which was written for viola (I & II), 'cello, viola de gamba (I & II) and continuo, placing the two violas in the primary melodic role.
A rare example of a piece written before the 20th century which features a solo viola part is Hector Berlioz's Harold in Italy, though there are also a few Baroque and Classical concerti, for example those by Telemann (one of the earliest viola concertos known) and Carl Stamitz.
The viola plays an important role in chamber music. In the string quartet, the function of the viola can be comparable to its function in the orchestra; filling in the inner harmonies. Mozart succeeded in liberating the viola somewhat when he wrote his six string quintets, which are widely considered to include some of his greatest works. The quintets use two violas, which frees the instrument (especially the first viola) for solo passages and increases the variety and richness of the ensemble. Johannes Brahms wrote two greatly admired [sonatas] for viola and piano, his Opus 120 (1894); these Brahms transcribed from the originals for the clarinet. Brahms also wrote Two Songs for Alto with Viola and Piano (Zwei Gesänge für eine Altstimme mit Bratsche und Pianoforte), Op. 91, "Gestillte Sehnsucht" or "Satisfied Longing" and "Geistliches Wiegenlied" or "Spiritual Lullaby," which was a present for the famous violinist Joseph Joachim and his wife, Amalie. Antonín Dvořák played the viola, and was alleged to have said it was his favorite instrument; his chamber music is rich with important parts for the viola. Another Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana, included a significant viola part in his quartet "From My Life"; indeed the quartet begins with an impassioned statement by the viola.
The viola has also occasionally had a major role in orchestral music. An example of this is in the sixth variation of the Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar, called "Ysobel".
While the viola repertoire is quite large, the amount written by well-known pre-twentieth century composers is relatively small. Violists therefore choose to play arrangements of works originally written for the violin, cello or other instruments. Many solo viola pieces are transcribed from violin or cello.
In the earlier part of the 20th century, more composers began to write for the viola, encouraged by the emergence of specialised soloists such as Lionel Tertis. Englishmen Arthur Bliss, York Bowen, Benjamin Dale, and Ralph Vaughan Williams all wrote chamber and concert works for Tertis. William Walton and Béla Bartók both wrote well-known viola concertos. One of the few composers to write a substantial amount of music for the viola was Paul Hindemith, who was a violist himself, often playing the premiere. Debussy's Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp has inspired a significant number of composers to also write for this combination. Elliot Carter writes well for the viola. His Elegy is one of many fine compositions employing the viola, subsequently transcribed for clarinet. Ernst Toch wrote an Impromptu (opus 90b) for solo viola. Rebecca Clarke was a 20th century composer who also wrote extensively for the viola. Lionel Tertis records that Edward Elgar (whose cello concerto Tertis transcribed for viola, with the slow movement in scordatura), Alexander Glazunov (who wrote an Elegy, op. 44, for viola and piano), and Maurice Ravel all promised concertos for viola, yet all three died before substantial work on them. In the latter part of the 20th century a substantial repertoire has been produced for the viola with many composers writing viola concertos, however most of these works struggle to establish themselves in the repertoire receiving only a limited number of performances.
Although rare, the viola is sometimes used in contemporary popular music, mostly in the avante-garde. The influential group Velvet Underground famously used a viola, as do some modern groups such as Defiance, Ohio and others. Jazz music has also seen its share of violists, from those used in string sections in the early 1900s to a handful of quartets and soloists emerging in from the 1960s onward.
The viola is also an important accompaniment instrument in Hungarian and Romanian folk string band music, especially in Transylvania. Here the instrument usually has four strings tuned g - d' - a - c (note that the a is an octave lower than found on the classical instrument), and the bridge is flattened with the instrument usually playing triads in a strongly rhythmic manner.
Violists
There are only a few really well known viola virtuosi, likely owing to the bulk of the music featuring the instrument having been written in the twentieth century. Among the better known violists from the twentieth century are Lionel Tertis, Paul Hindemith, William Primrose, Joseph de Pasquale, Lillian Fuchs and Walter Trampler. More recent well-known violists include Yuri Bashmet, Kim Kashkashian, Hong-Mei Xiao, Garth Knox, Robert Vernon, Chris Bennett, Lynne Ramsey, Thomas Riebl, Gerard Causse, Misha Amory, Roberto Diaz, Wolfram Christ,Tabea Zimmermann, Nobuko Imai, Rivka Golani, Paul Neubauer, Karen Dreyfus, Tatiana Trono, Patricia McCarty and, from the younger generation, Roland Glassl, Viacheslav Dinerchtein, Cathy Basrak, Paul Coletti, Jennifer Stumm, Tania Davis and Antoine Tamestit.Among the great composers, several preferred the viola to the violin when playing in ensembles, notably J. S. Bach and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Numerous other composers also chose to play the viola in ensembles, including Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Antonín Dvořák, Benjamin Britten, and Rebecca Clarke.
The term violist is not universally used in English; some players, generally British, prefer viola player.
The viola in popular music
The viola sees limited use in popular music. It was sometimes part of popular dance orchestras in the period from about 1890 to 1930, and orchestrations of pop tunes from that era often had viola parts available. The viola largely disappeared from pop music at the start of the big band era. With the Charlie Daniels Band, Charlie Daniels has played viola instead of violin for some of the fiddling "Redneck Fiddlin' Man".John Cale, a classically trained violist, played the instrument to great effect (amplified and often distorted) on two Velvet Underground albums, The Velvet Underground and Nico and White Light/White Heat.
Dave Swarbrick of the English Folk-Rock group Fairport Convention has been known to contribute viola among other stringed instruments to the band, most notably on the Liege & Lief album on the track "Medley..." where he plays violin with an overdubbed viola playing the same part an octave lower.
The viola has made a slight comeback in modern pop music; aided and abetted by string groups, Bond and Wild. In her latest album, Lonely Runs Both Ways, Alison Krauss uses the viola in many of her songs.
Most people will recall the melody presented by the Viola in the pop hit, Dust in The Wind.
Electric Violas
-->An electric viola will usually have the same dimensions as a violin, which makes it hard to differentiate between an electric violin and an electric viola without hearing the open strings. The smaller size is easier to handle, and size matters less in terms of sound amplification and tone quality. On an acoustic/electric viola the common issues of a weak C string sound can be avoided [link] even on a 1/2 size viola , having the same size as a 4/4 violin. Electric instruments having five, six, or even seven strings, with the highest string being an E, are usually called violins.
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.
Viola jokes
Instrument jokes are a vibrant part of musical folk tradition. There are derogatory jokes about all of the orchestral insruments; they are somewhat similar to the lawyer joke or the blonde joke. Viola jokes tend to be more prominent than those for other instruments. The viola joke's main premise is that violists are not very good technical musicians.A typical viola joke goes something like this: "How is lightning like a violist's fingers? ... Neither strikes the same place twice."
There are also jokes about viola jokes, e.g.: "Why are viola jokes so short? ... So that violinists can understand them."
Audio examples
- [Improv for four violas] ([file info])
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- * Problems listening to the file? See [Media helpmedia help].
See also
External links
- [Viola Forums] for All Violists. Many posts about composers, repertoires, recordings. Free to join!
- [David Dalton article] on the viola's place in history
- [Rivinus]- Luthier's site with pictures of his oddly shaped violas
- [Viola web site, with links to viola societies]
- [Primrose International Viola Archive] library website
- [Viola jokes]
- [] pieces for viola mp3
Listening
- [Bowed Radio] (podcast focusing on new music for bowed string instruments)
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