Musical Instrument: Viola
At first glance, this uninitiated listener can easily confuse this string-stringed instrument with a violin. Indeed, apart from the size, they look similar. But one has only to listen to its timbre - the difference is noticeable right away, the chest and at the same time surprisingly soft and slightly muffled sound, directed inward, resembles a contralto - soft and expressive.
When thinking about stringed instruments, alto is usually forgotten, preferring his smaller or larger counterparts, but the rich timbre and interesting story make you look more closely at it.
Viola, so to speak - is a philosopher's instrument, without attracting attention to himself, he modestly settled in an orchestra between a violin and a cello.
Read the history of the viola and many interesting facts about this musical instrument on our page.
Sound
Languid, eloquent, noble, velvety, sensitive, powerful, and sometimes veiled - this is how one can describe the diverse timbre of the viola. Its sound may not be as expressive and bright as that of a violin, but much warmer and softer.
The colorful timbre color is the result of the varied sound of each string of the instrument. The lowest in height string "C" has a powerful, resonant, rich tone, capable of conveying a sense of premonition and cause gloomy and gloomy moods. And the upper “la” in sharp contrast to other strings, has its own individual character: heartfelt and austere.
Many eminent composers used the characteristic sound of the alto quite figuratively: in the overture "1812" by PI Tchaikovsky - church chants; in the opera The Queen of Spades - the singing of the nuns in the 5th film, when a funeral procession is presented to Hermann; in D.Shostakovich's symphony "1905" - the melody of the song "You Fell as a Victim".
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Interesting Facts
- Such great composers as I.S. Bach, V.A. Mozart, L.V. Beethoven, A. Dvorak, B. Britten, P. Hindemit played alto.
- Andrea Amati was a very famous violin maker of his time, and in 1565, King Charles IX of France ordered him to make 38 instruments (violins, violas and cellos) for the musicians of the royal court. Most of these masterpieces were destroyed during the French Revolution, but one alto is preserved and can be seen at the Ashmola Museum in Oxford. It is larger, with a body length of 47 cm.
- Another noteworthy viola, on the crucifix of which was depicted, was made by the sons of Amati. The instrument belonged to the well-known violist LA. Bianchi.
- Violas and bows of the work of famous masters are extremely rare, so the viola made by A. Stradivari or A. Guarneri is more expensive than the violins of these same masters.
- Many outstanding violinists, such as: Niccolo Paganini, David Oistrakh, Nigel Kennedy, Maxim Vengerov, Yehudi Menuhin, perfectly combined and combined playing the viola with the violin.
- In the 60s, the American rock band "The Velvet Underground", the English rock band The Who, and nowadays Van Morrison, the rock band "Goo Goo Dolls", and "Vampire Weekend" give a prominent place to the viola in their arrangements songs and albums.
- Interesting tool names in different languages: French - alto; Italian and English - viola; Finnish - alttoviulu; German - bratsche.
- Y. Bashmet was recognized as the best violist of our time. For 230 years, he was the first to be allowed to play the instrument by V.A. Mozart in Salzburg. This talented musician actually outplayed the entire repertoire written for viola, which is about 200 pieces of music, of which 40 were composed and dedicated to him by modern composers.
- Yuri Bashmet still plays the viola, which he bought for 1,500 rubles in 1972. The young man earned money in discos, performing on the guitar songs from the repertoire of the Beatles. The instrument is more than 200 years old and it was made by the Italian master Paolo Tastore in 1758.
- The most numerous ensemble of viola players consisted of 321 performers and was assembled by the Portuguese Alto Viola Association in the concert hall "Suggia" in Porto, Portugal, on March 19, 2011.
- Viola players are the most popular characters of orchestral jokes and jokes.
Design
Outwardly, the viola is very similar to the violin, the only difference is that it is slightly larger than the violin.
Viola consists of the same parts as the violin: two decks - upper and lower, sides, neck, mustache, stand, podgrifnik, darling and others - a total of 70 elements in total. In the upper deck there are the same sound holes as the violin, they are usually called "efy". For the manufacture of viola are used only the best examples of well-aged wood, which are covered with varnish, made by masters according to their unique recipes.
The length of the viola body varies from 350 to 430 mm. Bow length - 74 cm and it is a little heavier than the violin.
Viola has four strings that are tuned to a fifth lower than the violin strings.
The dimensions of the viola do not correspond to its structure; for this, the optimum length of the instrument body must be at least 540 mm, and in fact only 430 mm and the largest one. In other words, the viola is too small in relation to its tuning - this is the reason for its majestic timbre and distinctive sound.
The viola has no such thing as "full", its size can vary from "just bigger than a violin" to massive violas. It is worth noting, the more viola, the more its rich sound. However, the musician chooses the instrument on which he is comfortable to play, it all depends on the build of the performer, the length of his hands and the size of the brush.
Today, viola is becoming an increasingly recognized tool. Manufacturers continue to experiment with various forms to maximize its unique sound qualities and create new ones. For example, an electric viola does not have an acoustic enclosure, since there is no need, because the sound appears with the help of amplifiers and microphones.
Application and Repertoire
Viola is mainly used in a symphony orchestra and, as a rule, it includes from 6 to 10 instruments. Earlier, the alto was very unfairly called the “Cinderella” of the orchestra, because despite the fact that this instrument has a rich timbre and a sophisticated sound, it did not receive much recognition.
Viola timbre perfectly with the sound of other instruments such as violin, cello, harp, oboe, French horn - they are all part of the chamber orchestra. It should also be noted that viola occupies an important place in the string quartet, along with two violins and a cello.
Despite the fact that viola is mainly used in ensemble and orchestral music, it is also gaining popularity as a solo instrument. The first who brought the instrument to the big stage were English viola players L. Tertis and W. Primrose.
The names of such outstanding performers as Y. Bashmet, V. Bakaleynikov, S. Kacharyan, T. Zimmerman, M. Ivanov, Y. Kramarov, M. Rysanov, F. Druzhinin, K. Kashkashyan, D. Shebalin, U Primrose, R. Barshai and others.
Compared to other instruments, the library of notes for viola is not very large, but lately more and more compositions have come out from the pen of composers. Here is a small list of solo works that were written specifically for viola: concerts by B. Bartók, P. Hindemith, W. Walton, E. Denisov, A. Schnittke, D. Millau, E. Kreutz, K. Penderecki; sonatas of M. Glinka, D. Shostakovich, I. Brahms, N. Roslavets, R. Schumann, A. Hovaness, I. David, B. Zimmerman, H. Henz.
Popular pieces for viola:
V.A. Mozart: Symphony-Concerto for Violin, Viola and Orchestra (listen)
A. Vietan - Sonata for Viola and Piano (listen)
A. Schnittke - Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (listen)
Game tricks
Do you know what effort it takes to play the viola? His big body plus the length of the neck require a considerable strength and dexterity from the musician, because the performance on this instrument is difficult even physically. Due to the large size of the game’s viola technique, compared to the violin, it is somewhat limited. Positions on the neck are located further, which requires a large stretch of the fingers of his left hand from the performer.
The main method of picking up the viola is "arco" - moving the bow along the strings. Pizzicato, Kollegno, Martle, Detail, Legato, Staccato, Spiccato, Tremolo, Portamento, Ricochet, Flageolets, Mute, and other techniques that violinists, subservients and viola players use, but require certain skill from the musician. One more fact should be noted: the viola players, for the convenience of writing and reading notes, have their own key, the alto, however they must be able to read the notes in the treble clef too. This causes some difficulties and inconvenience when playing from a sheet.
Education on viola in childhood is impossible, because the tool is large. On it begin to be engaged in the last classes of music school or on the first year of music school.
Alto history
The history of the viola and the so-called violin family are closely related. In the past, classical music viola, although it was neglected in many aspects, played a rather important role.
From the ancient manuscripts of the Middle Ages, we learn that India was the birthplace of string-stringed instruments. Tools traveled with traffickers to many countries of the world, first came to the Persians, Arabs, peoples of North Africa and then in the eighth century to Europe.
Violin Violin family appeared and began to develop around the years 1500 in Italy from the previous stringed instruments. The form of the viola, as they say today, was not invented, it was the result of the evolution of previous instruments and experiments of different masters to achieve the ideal model.
Some argue that viola preceded the violin. The weighty argument supporting this theory is contained in the name of the tool. First viol, then viol + ino - small alto, alto soprano, viol + one - large alto, bass alto, viol + on + cello (smaller than violone) - smaller bass alto. It is logical, One way or another, but the first who made the violin instruments were the Italian masters from Cremona - Andrea Amati and Gasparo da Solo, and brought them to perfection, precisely with the existing form, Antonio Stradivari and Andrea Guarneri. The instruments of these masters have survived to the present day and continue to delight listeners with their sound. The design of the viola has not changed significantly since the times of its appearance, therefore, our usual appearance of the instrument is the same as several centuries ago.
Italian masters made large violas that sounded amazing. But there was a paradox: the musicians refused large altos and chose smaller instruments for themselves - it was more convenient to play them. Performing the orders of the performers, the masters began to make violas, which were a little larger than a violin and were inferior in beauty to the sound of former instruments.
Alto is an amazing tool. Over the years of its existence, he still managed to turn from an unnoticeable "orchestral Cinderella" into a princess and rise to the same level as the "Queen of the Scene" - the violin. Eminent viola players, breaking all the stereotypes, proved to the world how beautiful and popular this instrument was, and the composer K. Gluck initiated this by instructing the main melody in the Alceste opera on the viola.
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