Viola Da Braccio (instrument)
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Viola da braccio (from Italian "arm viola", plural ''viole da braccio'') is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the
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 standa ...
, in distinction to the
viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...
("leg viola") and the viol family to which the latter belongs. At first "''da braccio''" seems to encompass the entire violin family. Monteverdi's '' Orfeo'' (printed 1609) designates an entire six-part
string section The string section of an orchestra is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the violin family. It normally consists of first and second violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. It is the most numerous group in the standard orchestra. In ...
"''viole da brazzo''", apparently including bass instruments held between the knees like the
cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
and
bass violin Bass violin is the modern term for various 16th- and 17th-century bass instruments of the violin (i.e. '' viola da braccio'') family. They were the direct ancestor of the modern cello. Bass violins were usually somewhat larger than the modern ce ...
. His '' Selva morale'' (1641) contains a piece calling for "''due violini & 3 viole da brazzo ouero 3 Tronboni''" (2 violins & 3 viole da braccio or
trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
s), reflecting a general shift in meaning towards the lower instruments. Eventually it came to be reserved for the alto member, the
viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...
. A famous example is Bach's Sixth Brandenburg Concerto (1721), combining two viole da braccio with two viole da gamba. The German word for viola, ''Bratsche'', is a relic of this last use.


Differences from viola da gamba

The families of the ''viola da braccio'' and the ''viola da gamba'' differ in size and form, the string tuning (''viola da braccio'' in fifth tuning – ''viola da gamba'' in fourth tuning) as well as in the posture (''viola da braccio'' = arm position, exception: ''bass-viola da braccio'' – ''viola da gamba'' = knee position) as well as in the bow position (''viola da braccio'' = overbow grip – ''viola da gamba'' = underbow grip).


History and development

Over the centuries of history in the violin and viola da gamba families, there had been a constant development into the present form of the modern instruments known to us as violins, violas and cellos.Geschichte der Viola in The
double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...
, however, developed from both the
violone The term violone (; literally 'large viol', being the augmentative suffix) can refer to several distinct large, bowed musical instruments which belong to either the viol or violin family. The violone is sometimes a fretted instrument, and may ...
and the ''bass-viola da gamba''.Geschichte der Bassinstrumente in The first instruments of the ''viola da braccio'' family were built in Italy about 1530. After an early form with three strings, a four-stringed version without string frets was developed with tuning in fifths. In this family, there were also different sizes and tunings, with different names based on pitch. There were soprano, alto, tenor and bass ''viola da braccio''. The alto viola da braccio's tuning is comparable to today's viola. The tuning for this alto viola da braccio was first recorded in the 16th century first (f-c'-g'-d") but was later tuned lower and is now the same tuning as modern violas. The tenor viola da braccio’s tuning was first tuned a minor third higher (B-f-c'-g') and later tuned lower and is now comparable to
tenor violin A tenor violin (or tenor viola) is an instrument with a range between those of the cello and the viola. An earlier development of the evolution of the violin family of instruments, the instrument is not standard in the modern symphony orchestra. ...
’s tuning. The soprano viola's tuning corresponded to today's violin, and the bass viola's tuning is the same as a modern-day cello's tuning.


See also

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Fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...


References

{{Authority control Renaissance instruments Italian inventions Violin family instruments