Viola (The Art of the)

What follows sounds like the beginning of a viola joke, but it is nothing but the truth. What have Joseph Haydn and the viola in common? The answer is that they were both the beginning and the end. Both were marginalised by the next generation and laughed at. Both have been rehabilitated in more recent times. So, as Haydn established the symphony, the string quartet, the piano sonata and the oratorio in their modern forms without, since his time, any improvements in these forms, so the viola is also the origin and centre of the rich and dazzling history of string instruments.

From the viola the violin, a 'little viola', developed, and the violone, a 'big viola', a sort of double bass, the smaller form of which is the cello, the 'little violone'. Etymology is also on our side. 'Viola' comes from the Latin word vitulari (to celebrate). The German word Geige (violin) comes from the Middle High German gige, related to the German gicksen (to squeak) that today is reserved for our colleagues in the brass. Cello, as we have said, is a simple diminutive.

In spite of its tempestuous and spectacular career, we have for a long time been swept aside by the instruments mentioned and banished to the orchestral basement. To start with early history, string instruments, in Asia, where almost all elements of civilisation had their origin, developed from plucked instruments. In the beginning there were bows, a stick from the ends of which a cord was stretched. The first resonance chamber was the mouth, with an implement held in front. Later men had recourse to gourds, seashells, tortoise-shells, coconut-shells and wooden boxes, stretched strings across them and put the bow to a new use, the one we have today. The Indian ravanastron, a functioning string instrument, dates from five thousand years before Christ; from the North African rebab came the pear-shaped European rebec. The French vielle with four strings and F-holes was related to the later form of the viola.

In the Middle Ages the fiddle (like viola derived from the Latin vitulari) was the favourite instrument, played by wandering musicians and performers to kings and to peasants. From the sixteenth century there arose in the North Italian cities of Milan, Brescia, Cremona and Venice makers such as Andrea and Nicola Amati, Gasparo da Salò, Andrea Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari, who set standards in instrument-making that up till today have never been exceeded.

There were two viola prototypes from which all later instruments developed (with the viola d'amore, that continued into the Romantic period for special effects, between the two):

The viola da braccio (the last word from the Italian for arm, the derivation of the German word for viola, Bratsche), flat, with arched bouts, F-holes and four strings over a curved bridge, and neck set at the same plane as the body; it was played held horizontally. From this the violin developed.

The viola da gamba was, as its name suggests, supported by the knees and was larger, with flat back and C- or F-holes. It has from five to seven strings on a flat bridge. Although the cello in sound and structure belongs to the violin family, it is played, inevitably, because of its size, held downwards, da gamba, held between the legs.

In the sixteenth century there were alto and tenor instruments of different sizes, but similar in tuning to c - g- d' and a', the tuning of the modern viola. The body length of from 40 to 42 centimetres is today unchanged. We have then the phenomenon that principle string instruments have hardly changed during the last four hundred years. The last changes in details of construction were made at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when it became necessary to produce a greater volume of sound for large concert halls. The tension of the lighter strings was increased, the angle of the neck to the body was slightly tilted back and the neck lengthened.

The choice, however, was stark, and music history seldom stood on the side of the viola: in the seventeenth century, with the development of Baroque opera, the viola da gamba disappeared, as its weaker, lighter tone could no longer meet the orchestral requirements of large rooms. The next to go was the tenor viola, which had to give way to the cello. The alto viola and the ever more dominant cello were finally established as part of the standard orchestral complement.

At the end of the eighteenth century there appeared the first tutors for the viola. They were still aimed at violinists and in fact the instrument itself had disappeared far into the background. While its nimble descendant the violin shone as a solo instrument, the viola provided backing. A few concertos for the viola were written by Georg Philipp Telemann, Carl Stamitz, himself a famous virtuoso on the instrument, and above all by Mozart, who gave it equal importance with the violin in his Sinfonia concertante. Berlioz, who described the viola as melancholy and passionate, wrote his Harold en Italie, a symphony with solo viola.

For a long time the viola played a supporting rôle in the orchestra, but in chamber music held its own. As always it was Haydn who led the way here as well (String Quartets, Op. 33). Mozart gave the instrument a leading part in his quintets, with the full sound of the central parts, with two violas, raising these works over the quartets in public favour. Beethoven, himself trained as a viola-player, gave it an honourable position in his quartets. Schubert's Death and the Maiden in its darkness and despair is also an important work for the viola. Schumann, with his Märchenbilder (Fairy Tale Pictures) and Märchenerzählungen (Fairy Stories), felt a particular affinity with the instrument, while Brahms wrote his clarinet sonatas with alternative scoring for viola.

In the twentieth century the viola came into its own. Since Richard Strauss it has been equal to the violin in the technical difficulties it encounters. Hindemith, himself a famous virtuoso, became the godfather of all viola players. Britten dedicated works to the viola player William Primrose, Stravinsky and Shostakovich wrote major works for the instrument. Henze, Takemitsu, Bruno Maderna and Kancheli brought its definitive emancipation.
- Heinrich Koll

"These three experienced plays have an excellent rapport. Balances are finely judged; dynamics are excellent. The ethos is mellifluous and affectionate. Inui plays a full part, ensuring rhythmic snap when required, and strong chording elsewhere. This is all fluent and elegant, and very pleasing." MusicWeb