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Scan 334
Grove's dictionary of music and musicians, 1904
36 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 285. See the scan on archive.org.
1VIOLA DA BRACCIO
3Paris, 1726; Stadlman, Vienna, 1736; Maréchal, Paris, 1786; Negell, 1744, etc. E. H-A.
5VIOLA DA BRACCIO. The Tenor Viol. It had originally six strings, tuned as follows:—
7The sixth string was generally dropped in the 18th century, and the instrument thus approximated in compass to the common Viola or Tenor Violin, which has now superseded it. It was sometimes confounded with the Viola da Spalla. [See VIOLIN FAMILY.] E. J. P.
9VIOLA DA GAMBA. [1. See GAMBA, vol. ii. p. 140; and for the tablature used during the latter half of the 17th century see LYRA VIOL, vol. ii. pp. 792; and ante, p. 5b.] 2. Under the incorrect title of Viol di Gamba it designates an organ stop of 8 ft. pitch, with open pipes, in the choir organ. Considering its imitative aims, it is troubled with a most inappropriate slowness of speech, and in the lower octaves can hardly be used alone. W. P.a.
11VIOLA DA SPALLA (Shoulder Viol), a viol intermediate between the Viola da Gamba and the smaller viols that came into vogue about 1700; particularly employed for church processions. The performer carried the instrument before him. Mattheson (Das Neu-eröffnete Orchester) calls it a shoulder-viol that 'has a particularly grand effect in accompaniment from its penetrating and pure tone. A bass can never be more distinctly and clearly brought out than by this instrument. It is fastened by a ribbon to the chest and thrown over the right shoulder, but has nothing which can stop or prevent in the smallest degree its resonance.' From Mattheson's description it would seem that the Viola da Spalla was held violoncello-wise, and attached to the performer so as to prevent the instrument from slipping while he walked. It was a method which survived after the violoncello had driven out the larger viols, and which has been seen by the writer adopted by itinerant performers on the continent of Europe within the last thirty years. E. H-A.
13VIOLA DI BORDONE. [See BARYTON.]
15VIOLA DI FAGOTTO (Bassoon Viol). A name sometimes given to the VIOLA BASTARDA. E. J. P.
17VIOLA POMPOSA. A small Violoncello with an additional treble string, tuned thus:—
19It was invented by Sebastian Bach, and is probably identical with the 'Violoncello piccolo' of his scores. The sixth of his solos for the Violoncello was written for this instrument. [See p. 303 a.] E. J. P.
21[Jean George Pisendel, violinist, leader of the Elector of Saxony's band (1714) played the Viola Pomposa excellently. The instrument was particularly adapted for playing accompaniments.]
23VIOLIN FAMILY
25VIOLET. A name sometimes given to the Viola d'Amore. L. Mozart calls the Viola d'Amore with chromatic sympathetic apparatus the 'English Violet': a singular denomination, for, as in the case of the Corno Inglese, the instrument appears never to have been made, and seldom used in this country. E. J. P.
27VIOLETTA. The French version of 'La Traviata,' by M. E. Duprez; produced at the Théâtre Lyrique, Oct. 27, 1864.
29VIOLETTA MARINA. A name found occasionally in the scores of Handel and his contemporaries. Dr. Burney (Hist. of Mus.) calls it a 'Viol d'Amour,' with sympathetic strings. Pietro Castrucci, who led Handel's opera band for some years, was especially famous as a performer on this instrument, and, in fact, is credited with its invention. He gave a concert at the Great Room, in Panton Street, on Thursday, March 29, 1748, when he, in particular, played a solo on a fine instrument called the 'Violetta Marina.' In Handel's opera 'Orlando,' there is an air directed to be accompanied by 2 Violette marine con violoncelli pizzicato, played 'Per Gli Signori Castrucci,' i.e. Pietro, and his brother Prospero. E. H-A.
31VIOLETTA PICCOLA. Michael Praetorius mentions this instrument amongst the viols he enumerates in his Syntagma musicum, 1614-20. He calls it 'Cant Viol de Gamba (Violetta Piccola),' and mentions four kinds, some with six, some with five, four, and three strings. It answered in tone 'partly to the Tenor and partly to the Violin.' A Violetta Piccola was shown at the Special Exhibition of Musical Instruments, held at South Kensington Museum in 1872. E. H-A.
33VIOLIN DIAPASON. An organ stop of 8 ft. pitch, in scale between the Open Diapason and the Dulciana. The pipes are open, and have a slot near the top. It is usually in the Swell Organ. W. P.a.
35VIOLIN FAMILY, or Bow-Instruments. (Angl. Sax. Fiddles.) These generic terms include the early Rebec, Rubebe, Gigue, Viols of all kinds, and the instruments composing the modern string-quartet, viz., the Violin, the Viola (or Tenor), and the Violoncello (or Bass). The Violone (or Double Bass) is the sole survivor of the great Viol family (cf. BASS VIOL), which were the immediate predecessors of the modern Bow instruments. These are portable instruments of different sizes constructed on the common principle of a resonant wooden case pierced with two sound-holes, and fitted with a movable bridge, over which gut strings attached to a tailpiece are stretched by means of pegs. The strings are stopped with the left hand on a finger-board, and set in vibration with a bow held in the right. Being the only instruments with strings in common orchestral use, they are usually called 'stringed instruments,' and collectively 'the strings';
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