Viola d’amore in the 17th and 18th centuries, part 1
Journal Title: Notes Muzyczny - Year 2015, Vol 2, Issue 4
Abstract
The viola d’amore is an instrument belonging to the group of string chordophones and it dates back to the 17th century. Its structure has the features characteristic of the viola da gamba but its playing technique and way of holding is closer to that of the violin. The culmination of its popularity was the 18th century. At the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, the viola d’amore was forgotten to reinvent itself in the 20th century. The development of historical performance allowed for rediscovering the rich 17th and 18th century literature written for this extraordinary instrument. The origin of the viola d’amore and the exact time when it was created are partly unknown. There are a number of hypotheses concerning this subject. Most probably, the instrument was created in Europe but was inspired with the instruments from the Far East. The attribute “d’amore” might suggest an Eastern origin but it almost certainly refers to the character of its sound, which is amorous, delicate, sweet and pleasant. Initially, the name viola d’amore was attributed to a violin or a small viola da gamba, which did not have sympathetic strings and had metal strings instead of gut ones. The most popular model of the Baroque viola d’amore was a viola-sized instrument with a structure characteristic of the viola da gamba. An earlier type of this instrument had different numbers of playing strings (from five to seven), usually metal ones. A later and more common viola d’amore is an instrument with gut playing strings and brass sympathetic strings located under the fingerboard. The number of strings in such a viola varied between ten and fourteen (five, six or seven playing strings and the same number of sympathetic ones). The most popular 18th century violas d’amore had twelve or sixteen strings (6/6 and 7/7). Peculiar types of the viola d’amore are the groups of instruments called “English violet” and “violetta marina”.<br/><br/>
Authors and Affiliations
Katarzyna Litwiniuk
Keywords
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