Viola

I bought a viola. It was time.

My new viola

A viola is like a violin, but the strings are tuned C, G, D, A, where a violin’s strings are G, D, A, E, making a viola a fifth lower. In a string ensemble, like a quartet or string orchestra, its function is that of the alt/contralto in a choir, the first voice "under" the soprano. Indeed, in Dutch, the instrument is called altviool. In German, it's called a bratsche, after the sound it makes when you accidentally sit on one.

Its default key is different too. Where violin parts use a G key, viola parts mostly use a C key, and occasionally the G key in higher fragments.

The same note (C) in a C (viola) and a G (violin) key

The shiny instrument in the picture above is built in 2009 by Jay Haide. It was bought by someone living in the greater Amsterdam area who had received violin lessons as a kid, but never continued playing since. He told me that during the Corona pandemic, like so many of us, he was looking for a new hobby and bought this viola. It didn’t work out for him, so he put it up for sale at Marktplaats.nl. He sold it to me some weeks ago for a price that I could well afford.

Whereas my violin has a black tailpiece and black tuning pegs, those on this viola are a light brown colour. The chin rest is attached in the middle. Each string has a fine tuner. On my violin I only have a fine tuner on my E string, as tuning higher strings needs more precision. On a violin this would mean it's a study violin.

The dust became visible in the picture only

The sound of the instrument is of that of a very good study viola, and more than I had expected for the price I bought it for. There are ample layers of depth in its tone that can be reached quite easily.

The strings that the previous owner had used, are not of my favourite kind, and they were a bit worn too, showing darker streches here and there, so I replaced them. Replacing all four strings on a viola (or any string instrument for that matter) means having to do a lot of tuning while rehearsing, especially the first days, but after a week they kept their tuning quite well, even overnight.

The bow that came with the viola was black and rather light. I found I have to use more pressure than is comfortable to reach the deeper sound of especially the lower strings. I also bought another, heavier, bow, but when rehearsing for a longer period, that bow's weight itself felt more exhausting than putting the pressure on the original bow. It's good that I have both now so that I can choose.

My default musical instrument is a violin, but last May, during rehearsals of an orchestra project, I was approached by someone in our violin group. She told me she and some friends were looking for a new viola player for their octet (2 violins, viola, cello, double bass, French horn, bassoon and clarinet). They had organised a very interesting upcoming project, and she asked if I would be interested. Their plan was to play Franz Schubert’s Octet in F Major, as well as a new arrangement by Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen of Schubert’s “Moments Musicaux”, six lovely pieces originally for piano. The latter would be the Dutch premiere of the arrangement.

Normally, when preparing for a project, I go to imslp.org or archive.org to see if I can find the sheet music before obtaining the official ones. With a new piece, there wouldn’t be any there. What I did find, was a viola adaptation of Carl Flesch’s violin scale book I remember painstakingly having to work my way through, long ago, when I still had violin lessons. I didn’t know that even existed.

There will be a single concert, on Sunday afternoon, November 22, in the Amstelkerk in Amsterdam.