Books › The Story of the Violin, 1914 › scan 95
Scan 95
The Story of the Violin, 1914
10 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Story of the Violin
3are strung over a bridge, while another set of seven very thin metal strings, tuned in unison with the above, lie in the hollow between the feet of the bridge and vibrate in sympathy¹ when the bow is drawn across the top strings. The tone of the viola d'amour is rich, mellow, and sympathetic—be it a little nasal (a feature common to all the old violas).
5It is interesting to note that Praetorius has ascribed the invention of the viola d'amour to the English. At all events the English must have been particularly enamoured of the charms of the viol kind of instrument, for England was the last country which yielded its viols to the irresistible claims of the instruments of the violin family.
7Till well into the middle of the eighteenth century viols were yet to be found in use, the viola da gamba or bass viol being the last to make room for the 'cello. Only the double-bass has been left to this day to tell in its own inimitable way of the past glories of its kind.
9¹ The principle of sympathetic strings is of very ancient origin. According to Carl Engel, the Hindoos and Persians employ them on several of their bowed instruments.
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