The violin octet is a family of stringed instruments developed in the 20th century primarily under the direction of the American
luthier Carleen Hutchins
Carleen Maley Hutchins (May 24, 1911 – August 7, 2009) was an American high school science teacher, violinmaker and researcher, best known for her creation, in the 1950s/60s, of a family of eight proportionally-sized violins now known as th ...
. Each instrument is based directly on the traditional
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
and shares its acoustical properties, with the goal of a richer and more homogeneous sound. Unlike the standard modern stringed instruments, the main resonance of the body of the violin octet instrument is at a pitch near the two middle open strings, giving the instruments a more balanced, clearer sound.
The instruments were proposed by composer
Henry Brant
Henry Dreyfuss Brant (September 15, 1913 – April 26, 2008) was a Canadian-born American composer. An expert orchestrator with a flair for experimentation, many of Brant's works featured spatialization techniques.
Biography
Brant was born i ...
in 1957 and the first octet was completed in 1967.
Instruments
The instruments of the violin octet are:
Note: While the ''Small Bass'' and ''Contrabass'' violins were designed and originally meant to be tuned in fifths, most bassists find the required extra shifting impractical. Th
New Violin Family Associationlists tunings for these instruments in fourths, while the Hutchins Quartet retains the original fifths tuning.
Bows
Carleen Hutchins did not design specific bows for the instruments of the violin octet. This is important research which still has not been completed. Players of these instruments use a variety of violin, viola, cello and double-bass bows, looking for the best fit they can at the moment.
Performing groups
Currently, there are three performing groups which play and record on the instruments of the violin octet. The Hutchins Consort (based in
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United Stat ...
) plays on Carleen Hutchins' instruments. The Hutchins Consort Quartet is a subset of the consort and plays on soprano violin, tenor violin, baritone violin and contrabass violin. The Albert Consort (based in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...
) uses a set of instruments made by Robert Spear and the New Violin Family Orchestra, organized by the associatio
Octavivo which also uses instruments made by Robert Spear.
Use in traditional roles
The instruments of the violin octet do not necessarily have to be used in the context of the consort and for playing music written especially for them. They can also be used as alternatives to members of the usual
violin family
The violin family of musical instruments was developed in Italy in the 16th century. At the time the name of this family of instruments was viole da braccio which was used to distinguish them from the viol family (viole ''da gamba''). The stand ...
: for example any
string quartet could be played by an ensemble consisting of two mezzo violins, one alto violin and one baritone violin, as an alternative to the two violins, viola and cello of the usual string quartet.
The best-known use of a member of the New Violin Family in this sort of role is that of an
alto violin by
Yo-Yo Ma
Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...
to perform and record
Béla Bartók's
Viola Concerto
A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Early examples of viola concertos include Telemann's concerto in G major and several concertos by Carl St ...
.
Notes
References
Carleen Hutchins' Instruments and Archives at the National Music MuseumHutchins Consort
a performing group that uses the violin octet
#Lipsett, Fred (2006)
Yahoo!Groups Viola list message 42682 "Alto Violin"
Retrieved March 24, 2006.
External links
;Associations
New Violin Family Association
Octavivo
(similar to the NVFA but on the East Coast; organizes the "New Violin Family Orchestra")
;Instrument makers
Robert J. Spear
New Violin Family instrument maker (Ithaca, NY)
Luthier Joris Wouters
New Violin Family instrument maker (Westerloo, Belgium)
* a list o
making instruments of the New Violin Family (all but one in the U.S.)
{{Authority control
Violin family instruments