Why doesn't the viola get the same love as the violin and cello?
October 22, 2020 8:18 AM Subscribe
I don't know anything about classical music, and yet the names Perlman, Du Pre, Ma, Rostropovich, and Heifetz are familiar to me because the violin and cello makes soloists world famous. Between the two instruments is the viola, which, while vital to an orchestra, seems largely disregarded as a solo instrument. Is it fair to say nobody gets world famous playing the viola, and that compared to kindred instruments, it's sort of disregarded?
There is a long history of this and jokes about viola players in particular. Wikipedia refers to this story:
The violinist Francesco Geminiani arrived in London in 1714, one of the many expatriate musicians who settled in England in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries ... As a young man Geminiani was appointed head of the orchestra in Naples, where according to English music historian Charles Burney he was "so wild and unsteady a timist, that instead of regulating and conducting the band, he threw it into confusion", and was demoted to playing the viola.posted by exogenous at 8:24 AM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Yeah, though a lot of composers were violists and mid-century there was William Primrose who was...you know, not as famous as Heifetz but famous as classical musicians go in the last hundred years.
I guess I'd say: In orchestral and chamber music, the viola is often an inner voice, so when you hear the piece, you don't go away humming the viola part.
It's a good question, though. Certainly the stars in the opera world tend to be the higher voices, though plenty of people became world famous singing baritone and mezzo.
posted by less of course at 8:37 AM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
I guess I'd say: In orchestral and chamber music, the viola is often an inner voice, so when you hear the piece, you don't go away humming the viola part.
It's a good question, though. Certainly the stars in the opera world tend to be the higher voices, though plenty of people became world famous singing baritone and mezzo.
posted by less of course at 8:37 AM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Because now one knows what it is. I spent years explaining what my 'big' violin was. Almost as many years as I spent explaining that my mandolin wasn't a banjo.
And it's a tricky instrument. Good violas are hard to find, many have wolf notes and can be tricky to produce good tones in the upper range.
Having said that, viola players stick together and my theory is that the slight oddness of their instrument results in interesting music. Violas attract interesting people, John Cale being one of them.
posted by BrStekker at 8:41 AM on October 22, 2020 [6 favorites]
And it's a tricky instrument. Good violas are hard to find, many have wolf notes and can be tricky to produce good tones in the upper range.
Having said that, viola players stick together and my theory is that the slight oddness of their instrument results in interesting music. Violas attract interesting people, John Cale being one of them.
posted by BrStekker at 8:41 AM on October 22, 2020 [6 favorites]
Also, anecdotally, if you're really a bad musician (hello!) you often end up moving from violin to viola. I don't think a lot of really ambitious musicians pick the viola, if only because the rep is so limited. If you're dreaming of being a concert player, you probably aren't like "one day, I will wow the world with my blistering reading of the Walton concerto."
posted by less of course at 8:43 AM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by less of course at 8:43 AM on October 22, 2020 [2 favorites]
Okay, I asked my pianist friend, who is married to a violinist who runs a string quartet, and this is their answer:
"I haven’t read the thread yet but the short answer is that the viola is problematic for its inadequate size — it should really be midway in size between the violin and the cello (because of its musical range) however then there’s nowhere to put it! Too big for the shoulder, too little for placing between the knees! So its sound is slightly funky and "wrong" - less pure. In the hands of an excellent violist though it’s really badass."
There are apparently alternate instrument designs that try to resolve this:
"Basically one of the rounded bottom quadrants bulges out to create more space and therefore more cavity for resonance."
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:40 AM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
"I haven’t read the thread yet but the short answer is that the viola is problematic for its inadequate size — it should really be midway in size between the violin and the cello (because of its musical range) however then there’s nowhere to put it! Too big for the shoulder, too little for placing between the knees! So its sound is slightly funky and "wrong" - less pure. In the hands of an excellent violist though it’s really badass."
There are apparently alternate instrument designs that try to resolve this:
"Basically one of the rounded bottom quadrants bulges out to create more space and therefore more cavity for resonance."
posted by Lawn Beaver at 9:40 AM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
I played viola until I was about 22, in youth and college orchestras. The simple answer is that there are usually dozens of violins in a symphony, and maybe a handful of violas. Supply and demand.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:23 AM on October 22, 2020
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 10:23 AM on October 22, 2020
Hi! viola player since age 10 here. I don't play professionally, but at my best I'm pretty badass :)
Historically the viola was the instrument the bad violinists picked up to make sure they would always have work. The low standard of playing meant that not a lot of solo repertoire was written, and it was a kind of lowly instrument. This changed in the early 20th century, with players like William Primrose and Lionel Tertis, who had loads of pieces written for them. These days there are a few players who make careers as solo violists. Examples in the UK are Lawrence Power and Timothy Ridout, and Antoine Tamestit in France. Look them up on youtube for an idea of the breadth of the modern repertoire.
posted by altolinguistic at 12:00 PM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
Historically the viola was the instrument the bad violinists picked up to make sure they would always have work. The low standard of playing meant that not a lot of solo repertoire was written, and it was a kind of lowly instrument. This changed in the early 20th century, with players like William Primrose and Lionel Tertis, who had loads of pieces written for them. These days there are a few players who make careers as solo violists. Examples in the UK are Lawrence Power and Timothy Ridout, and Antoine Tamestit in France. Look them up on youtube for an idea of the breadth of the modern repertoire.
posted by altolinguistic at 12:00 PM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
Yeah, I have orchestra teacher friends who’ve had to assign kids to viola in order to balance out the parts. It seems to be a trickier instrument to play well than the violin.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:02 PM on October 22, 2020
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:02 PM on October 22, 2020
It's a bit chicken and egg. As Lawn Beaver says, the viola is a technical compromise, and as a result it does eg not carry across the orchestra in the same way as a violin or cello can. Which means it is trickier to write for as a solo instrument. Less repertoire means fewer players means less repertoire means fewer players.
However, there are a plenty of solo violists, Kim Kashkashian is probably the most famous currently, and there are about as many famous solo violists at a time as there are solo oboists (Heinz Holliger, Nicholas Daniels) or flautists (James Galway) or classical trumpeters (Alison Balsom). It's really the piano, violin and cello that are outliers, and again it's a chicken and egg of repertoire and performers.
I learned to play the viola as a child, and can also easily play the violin to nearly the same standard. Technique is very similar, some things are easier on the violin, others on the viola. It's a comparable difference to eg oboe and cor anglais, different sizes of recorder, or bassoon and contrabassoon. Obviously the viola is by far the superior instrument, you can tell by listening with your ears ;) My favourite viola piece is Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for Viola and Piano.
posted by plonkee at 1:12 PM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
However, there are a plenty of solo violists, Kim Kashkashian is probably the most famous currently, and there are about as many famous solo violists at a time as there are solo oboists (Heinz Holliger, Nicholas Daniels) or flautists (James Galway) or classical trumpeters (Alison Balsom). It's really the piano, violin and cello that are outliers, and again it's a chicken and egg of repertoire and performers.
I learned to play the viola as a child, and can also easily play the violin to nearly the same standard. Technique is very similar, some things are easier on the violin, others on the viola. It's a comparable difference to eg oboe and cor anglais, different sizes of recorder, or bassoon and contrabassoon. Obviously the viola is by far the superior instrument, you can tell by listening with your ears ;) My favourite viola piece is Rebecca Clarke's Sonata for Viola and Piano.
posted by plonkee at 1:12 PM on October 22, 2020 [4 favorites]
One attempt as Lawn Bear mentions to create a viola that projects like a violin is the alto violin designed by Carleen Hutchins. It's played upright like a cello.
I wonder if you don't lose too much of the smoky-voiced timbre that makes the viola unique when you want it to sound like its more penetrating smaller sibling.
posted by bertran at 3:15 PM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I wonder if you don't lose too much of the smoky-voiced timbre that makes the viola unique when you want it to sound like its more penetrating smaller sibling.
posted by bertran at 3:15 PM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I also came here to point out the mismatch between the physical viola size/shape and the pitch range it sits in.
One thing I would add is that the violin, being both higher pitched and louder, can be made to stand out in an ensemble setting better (note that cello, while more popular than viola, doesn't have the range of solo repertoire that the violin does either). Up to a certain point, higher-pitched loud instruments always get more glory than larger/lower members of the same family. In the violin family things are a bit weird because of viola geometry as already alluded to.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:10 PM on October 22, 2020
One thing I would add is that the violin, being both higher pitched and louder, can be made to stand out in an ensemble setting better (note that cello, while more popular than viola, doesn't have the range of solo repertoire that the violin does either). Up to a certain point, higher-pitched loud instruments always get more glory than larger/lower members of the same family. In the violin family things are a bit weird because of viola geometry as already alluded to.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:10 PM on October 22, 2020
I should have played viola because I was complete crap with instruments, but they always have more violins so I was "third violin," which is about the same thing :P
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:28 PM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:28 PM on October 22, 2020 [1 favorite]
I know an orchestra violist, and when I asked her the same question, she told me that it's more physically demanding than the violin, and reading viola clef is kind of a hassle. Also that violins are very standardized in size, but there's more variation with the viola, especially with old ones. Violas also cost more, and so do the strings, and the cases, which creates a barrier to entry for baby violists.
That said, in my observation a lot of violinists low-key love the viola, and 5-string violins are fairly popular these days. They don't have quite the same tonality, but they do have that low C string and can technically play viola parts.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 1:33 AM on October 25, 2020
That said, in my observation a lot of violinists low-key love the viola, and 5-string violins are fairly popular these days. They don't have quite the same tonality, but they do have that low C string and can technically play viola parts.
posted by Nibbly Fang at 1:33 AM on October 25, 2020
« Older Outdoor Thanksgiving: what will I need? | Are you a superfan of something? What's that like? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
Cello=tenor.
Viola=alto. The "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" of classical music voices.
posted by notsnot at 8:24 AM on October 22, 2020 [12 favorites]