viola

viola, stringed musical instrument, the tenor of the violin family. It is built in proportions similar to those of the violin but is slightly larger and is tuned a fifth lower. The four strings of the viola are tuned C–G–D′–A′, beginning with the C below middle C.

The viola produces a deeper and warmer tone than that of the violin and often serves a middle voice in ensembles. The modern symphony orchestra contains from 6 to 10 violas. The viola is also an integral member of the string quartet and larger chamber music ensembles.

Structural features

The viola has a hollow, wooden body with a curved, hourglass shape similar to that of the violin. Its structure includes an arched top (soundboard) and back, two f-shaped sound holes, a neck with a fingerboard, and a scroll at the end of the pegbox. Four strings run from the tailpiece across a curved bridge to tuning pegs, and the instrument is played with a bow strung with horsehair.

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Britannica Quiz

Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz

The viola is typically constructed from carefully selected tonewoods that enhance both strength and resonance. The soundboard is usually made of spruce, while the back, ribs, and neck are commonly fashioned from maple; fittings such as the fingerboard, pegs, and tailpiece are often made of ebony or other dense hardwoods. Inside the hollow body are structural elements that influence sound production, including the soundpost—a small wooden dowel positioned beneath the treble side of the bridge that transmits vibrations between the top and back plates—and the bass bar, which reinforces the soundboard and supports lower-frequency resonance.

Historical developments

In the 18th-century orchestra the viola usually doubled cello parts. Christoph Willibald Gluck, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Joseph Haydn gave it distinctive treatment, and it gradually assumed an independent orchestral role. Hector Berlioz included a long viola solo in his Harold in Italy; in Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote the viola carries the theme of Sancho. The viola also gained in prominence through the viola sonatas of Paul Hindemith, Béla Bartók’s viola concerto, and violists such as William Primrose and Walter Trampler. It was frequently used in 20th-century chamber music ensembles (e.g., by Arnold Schoenberg and Pierre Boulez).

The viola d’amore is a viol-violin hybrid played like a violin. It is of 18th-century origin, has six or seven melody strings and several sympathetic strings, and is unfretted. A 17th-century violin with five wire strings was also called viola d’amore. The viola da braccio, or viola da brazzo (Italian: “arm viol”), was the original name for violin-family instruments, in contrast to the viola da gamba (“leg viol”), or viol, family.