Viola d'amore

Viola d'Amore from the mid eighteenth century (Library of Congress collection)

The viola d'amore (Italian: love viol) is a 7- or 6-stringed musical instrument with sympathetic strings used chiefly in the baroque period. It is played under the chin in the same manner as the violin.

Structure and sound

The viola d'amore shares many features of the viol family. Like viols, it has a flat back and intricately carved head at the top of the peg box, but unlike viols, it is unfretted, and played much like a violin, being held horizontally under the chin. It is about the same size as the modern viola.

The viola d'amore usually seven playing strings, which are sounded by drawing a bow across them, just as with a violin. In addition, it has seven sympathetic strings located below the main strings and the fingerboard which are not played directly but vibrate in sympathy with the notes played. A common variation is six playing strings, and instruments exist with as many as fourteen sympathetic strings alone. Despite the fact that the sympathetic strings are now thought of as the most characteristic element of the instrument, it is thought that some early examples may have lacked them.

Largely thanks to the sympathetic strings, the viola d'amore has a particularly sweet and warm sound. [Leopold Mozart]], writing in his Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule, said that the instrument sounded "especially charming in the stillness of the evening."

Range

The viola d'amore was normally tuned specifically for the piece it was to play - cf. scordatura. Towards the end of the 18th century the standard tuning became: A, d, a, d', f#', a', d''

Viola d'Amore from 1760

Use

The instrument was especially popular in the late 17th century, although a specialised viola d'amore player would have been highly unusual, since it was customary for professional musicians to play a number of instruments, especially within the family of the musician's main instrument. Later, the instrument fell from use, as the volume and power of the violin family became preferred over the delicacy and sweetness of the viol family. However, there has been renewed interest in the viola d'amore in the last century. The viola players Henri Casadesus and Paul Hindemith both played the viola d'amore in the early 20th century, and the film composer Bernard Herrmann made use of it in several scores. It may be noted that, like instruments of the violin family, the modern viola d'amore was altered slightly in structure from the baroque version.

The viola d'amore can regularly be heard today in musical ensembles that specialise in historically accurate performances of Baroque music on authentic instruments.

Some works from the baroque period

• Heinrich Biber: Harmonia artificiosa - ariosa
• Antonio Vivaldi: five concertos (one for viola d'amore and lute)
• Johann Sebastian Bach: used in aria no.19 of the Johannes Passion and in some cantatas
• Jean-Marie Leclair : trio sonata for flute, viola d'amore and continuo
• Attilio Ariosti : some divertissements, used also in cantatas
• Joseph Haydn : divertimento for viola d'amore, violin and violoncello
• Karl Stamitz : three concertos, some sonatas and a quartet.
• Georg Philipp Telemann: Concerto in E major for flute, oboe d'amore, viola d'amore, strings and continuo
• Carl Stamitz: 3 solo concertos and a sonata in D major for viola d'amore and violin or viola.

Some modern works

• Henri Casadesus (1879-1947) : Concerto for viola d'amore and strings
• Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) : Small sonata for viola d'amore
• Frank Martin (1890-1974) : Sonata da chiesa for viola d'amore and organ

The viola d'amore is also used in:

• 'Les Huguenots' by Giacomo Meyerbeer (1836)
• 'Le jongleur de Notre-Dame' by Jules Massenet (1901)
• 'Madame Butterfly' by Giacomo Puccini (1904)
• 'Palestrina' by Hans Pfitzner (1912)
• 'Katya Kabanova' by Leoš Janáček (1919) - the viola d'amore represents the title character.

External Links

• viola d'amore.com - The hidden world of the viola d'amore
• viola d'amore society of America
• Orpheon Foundation, Vienna, Austria