The history of the viola / by Maurice W. Riley.

Author/creator Riley, Maurice W.
Format Book
Publication Info[Ann Arbor, MI?] : [Maurice W. Riley?], ©1980 (Ann Arbor, Mich. : Braun-Brumfield)
Descriptionxxiii, 396 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Subjects
Viola--History.
Violists--Biography.

Contents The viola in the 16th century. Origin and evolution of the viola ; Gaudenzio Ferrari ; Andrea Amati, an apprenticeship of Gasparo da Salo? ; Gasparo Duiffoprugcar ; Written evidence in the early 16th century ; Did the viola precede the violin? ; Conclusion -- Early Cremonese and Brescian violas. Cremona and the Amatis ; The Stanley Solomon Amati viola ; An Andrea Amati viola ; The Amati family ; The Walter Trampler Amati viola ; The brothers-Amati violas ; The Henry IV Amati viola c. 1590 ; The city of Brescia ; Gasparo da Salo ; The Allan Harshman Gasparo da Salo viola ; The Louis Bailly da Salo violas ; The Nathan Gordon da Salo viola ; Louis Kievman da Salo viola ; Mistaken identification of violas ; The survival of large violas ; Giovanni Paolo Maggini -- The viola and its music in Italy during the baroque era. The viola ; Apprentices of Nicolo Amati ; The Guarneri family ; Andrea Guarneri ; Stradivari violas ; Chronological list of known Stradivari violas ; Present values of Stradivari violas ; Dwindling sales of other makers ; The Bernard Zaslav J. B. Guadagnini viola ; Music for viola ; The Italian trio sonata ; The violin as solo instrument ; Viola solo literature ; The viola in the 17th century Italian orchestra ; The viola in early opera -- The viola in France and England during the 17th and 18th centuries. The viola in French orchestras ; The viola in the second-half of the 18th century ; The viola in 17th century England ; The viola in England during the 18th century ; English luthiers -- The viola in Germany during the 17th century. Viola material in German treatises ; German viola music in the 17th century ; Trio sonatas ; Conclusion -- The viola in Germany and Austria during the 18th century. Music for the viola ; The viola in Hamburg operas ; Bach's legacy to the viola ; The six cello suites ; Bach's viola da gamba sonatas ; Telemann's compositions for viola ; The viola in Mannheim ; The viola in Berlin and at the court in Potsdam ; The viola in Vienna ; Franz Joseph Haydn ; Mozart ; Mozart's violas -- The viola in opera in the late 18th and early 19th century. The Gluck influence on the use of the viola ; The viola in German opera ; Conclusion -- Viola bows -- Instruction for the viola. Early Methodes d'Alto ; Corrette's Methode ; Cupis' Methode ; Complete Instructions for the Tenor ; Gebauer's Methode ; Martinn's Methode ; Woldemar's Methode ; Bruni's Methode ; Campagnoli's 41 Capricen ; Hoffmeister's 12 Viola-Etuden ; Viola instruction in the 19th century ; Viola instruction in the 20th century -- 19th century literature for the viola. Compositions borrowed for the viola ; 19th century composers who wrote for the viola ; Composers whose creative period overlapped into the 20th century ; Less well known Romantic composers who wrote for the viola ; Virtuoso violinists who wrote for the viola ; Conclusion -- 19th century violists. Alessandro Rolla ; Chretien Urhan ; Paganini and the large viola ; Hermann Ritter -- Problems in the construction and renovation of violas and experiments to "improve" the instrument. Splicing ; Lengthening the neck and fingerboard ; Cutting-down the large tenor violas ; Experiments to improve the viola ; Hermann Ritter ; Conclusion -- Lionel Tertis and the English school of viola playing. Lionel Tertis ; The early years ; Tertis as a performer ; Viola music written for Tertis ; Music for multiple violas ; Tertis as a teacher ; Tertis' recordings ; Tertis' contributions to violists ; Tertis and Casals -- The viola in Europe in the 20th century. The French viola school ; Belgian violists and composers ; The viola in Italy ; The Russian viola school ; The Israeli viola school ; Bulgarian violists ; Hungarian violists ; The viola in Austria and Germany ; Paul Hindemith ; Hindemith's violas ; The Viola-Forschungs-gesellschaft -- William Primrose. Music for Primrose's performances ; Primrose the teacher ; Primrose's recordings ; Primrose's violas ; Honors and recognition -- The viola in North America in the 20th century. The Eastman School of Music ; The Curtis Institute of Music ; Ernest Bloch and his works for viola ; The viola in the public schools ; The National Broadcasting Company symphony ; After World War II ; The Primrose influence ; The American Viola Society ; The Violin Society of America -- The future for the viola. The future status of violists -- Appendix I. Brief biographies of violists -- Appendix II. Argentine violists, viola makers, and composers of viola music -- Glossary I. Names for the viola used by German writers, 1618-1756 -- Glossary II. 20th century viola terminology.
Abstract This is the first book to deal with all aspects of the history of the viola from c. 1500 to the present. The development of the instrument, the music especially written for it, and the outstanding violists who played it are discussed and evaluated. While doing research (1950-1957) at the University of Michigan for a doctoral dissertation entitled The Teaching of Bowed Instruments from 1511 to 1756, it became apparent to the author that the histories of the violin, the cello, and the double bass were well documented in many treatises. There was, however, very little information available on the development of the viola. In an attempt to fill this void, the author immediately began to gather material on the viola. In 1971, he made the first of four trips to England and Europe to continue research on this project. This book, therefore, constitutes a report of information gathered from visits to museums, libraries, music archives, the cities of Cremona and Brescia, the shops of prominent luthiers, and from interviews and correspondence with many of the leading violists and viola scholars of the 20th century. Violists and luthiers will read with interest the history of the large (tenor) violas and the small (alto) violas, covering the period from c.1500 to c.1800. At this latter time, most of the tenors were being cut down in size to make them easier to play. Included in the book are photographs, descriptions, and dimensions of important violas from the shops of such masters as members of the Amati family, Gasparo da Salo, Paolo Maggini, Andrea Guarneri, Antonio Stradivari, J. B. Guadagnini, and others; as well as material about the numerous 19th and 20th century craftsmen who attempted to 'improve' the instrument. The story of the viola's music is traced from c.1600 to the present; and the reasons for its paucity during the 17th century are explained. An account is given of the great surge of 18th century compositions, which have recently been discovered and made available in modern editions. For the teacher and the student, this book chronicles the contributions of the earliest method books printed for the viola in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It records the influence of such great 20th century artist-teachers as Hermann Ritter, Maurice Vieux, Vadim Borissovsky, Lionel Tertis, and William Primrose. Performing violists will find, not only the history of their instrument, but also accounts of the contributions of such individuals as Karl and Anton Stamitz, Chretien Urhan, the artist-teachers mentioned above, and of over 300 others, whose names and biographies appear in the text and in an appendix to the book.
General note"Brief biographies of violists": pages 312-376.
General noteIncludes index.
Bibliography noteBibliography: pages 379-384.
LCCN 79066348
ISBN0960315004
ISBN0960315012

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