Is That You in Your Avatar? Part 4- Page 68
Is That You in Your Avatar? Part 4
#1678Hump Day
Posted: 4/25/07 at 2:11pm
Yes, chicolini, the very one. :)
(Although it's not really that neglected anymore...there are several people who have made their mark as very well-known viola soloists, and the repertoire for the instrument is expanding rapidly, with new concerti and sonatas being written all the time.)
Suzanne: I never use catalogs. I'd rather go in the store and see all the salespeople groveling and sucking up to you.
Julia: Pardon me, I never knew they were so solicitous at the K-Mart.
#1686Hump Day
Posted: 4/25/07 at 2:18pm
The viola is quite a bit larger (longer, wider, and thicker) than the violin. (A standard full-sized violin has a body length of 14 inches, and the viola varies from 15.5 to 18 inches)
The viola is also tuned a perfect fifth lower than the violin, midway in pitch between the violin and the 'cello. (They also have COMPLETELY different timbres...they sound nothing alike.)
I am a wind guy, chicolini, but I started as a string player (my very first instrument was the viola, at age 9), and I still do quite a bit of work as a freelance chamber and orchestra violist. In fact, I have a symphonic concert coming up on May 6th, as a violist with the Broadway Bach orchestra if anybody is free that day 
Suzanne: I never use catalogs. I'd rather go in the store and see all the salespeople groveling and sucking up to you.
Julia: Pardon me, I never knew they were so solicitous at the K-Mart.
Updated On: 4/25/07 at 02:18 PM
#1690Hump Day
Posted: 4/25/07 at 2:23pm
Isn't the viola great for extra cash? I pick up so many wedding gigs over the summer, because there are never enough full quartets to go around.
I started it at age 9 also and never looked back, despite countless Merle J. Isaac arrangements intended to break my spirit.
Don't be too sure I'm as crooked as I'm supposed to be.
#1694Hump Day
Posted: 4/25/07 at 2:28pm
It is indeed a nice extra-income instrument. It's also probably my favorite out of all the instruments I own to just play for fun when I'm at home...if I have nothing pressing to work on, and no performances coming up to get in shape for, my instinct is to play a few Bach suites or the slow movement of the Bartok Concerto. It's so soothing :)
Do you have a particularly large one? (tee. hee.)
I just got a new viola two years ago, and I took the plunge and got a 17.75" Gasparo da Salo copy...the sound is RIDICULOUS. I'm thinking of saving up for one of David Rivinus' "Pellegrina" violas, though.
Suzanne: I never use catalogs. I'd rather go in the store and see all the salespeople groveling and sucking up to you.
Julia: Pardon me, I never knew they were so solicitous at the K-Mart.
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