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The viola (/ v i ˈ oʊ l ə / vee-OH-lə, [1] Italian: [ˈvjɔːla, viˈɔːla]) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound.
Some other instruments have viola in their name, but are not a member of the viola da gamba family. These include the viola d'amore and the viola pomposa. Though the baryton does not have viola in its name, it is sometimes included in the viol family. Whether it is considered a member of this family is a matter of semantics.
Over the centuries that followed, Europe continued to have two distinct types of bowed instruments: one, relatively square-shaped, held in the arms, known with the Italian term lira da braccio (meaning 'viol for the arm') family; the other, with sloping shoulders and held between the knees, known with the Italian term lira da gamba (or viola da ...
The playing ranges of the instruments in the violin family overlap each other, but the tone quality and physical size of each distinguishes them from one another. The ranges are as follows: violin: G 3 to E 7 (practical, notes up to A7 are possible); viola: C 3 to A 6 (conservative); violoncello: C 2 to A 5 (conservative); and double-bass: E 1 to C 5 (slightly expanded from conservative estimate).
The term "viola" comes from the expression for "tenor violin" in 1797, from Italian and Old Provençal viola, [which came from] Medieval Latin vitula as a term which means ' stringed instrument ', perhaps [coming] from Vitula, Roman goddess of joy..., or from related Latin verb vitulari, "to cry out in joy or exaltation."
Instruments in the UK include Andrea Amati violins from the set delivered to Charles IX of France in 1564. Amati instruments at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Andrea Amati Violin, 1564 (ex–French royal collection) Archived 4 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine; Viola; Amati instruments at the Royal Academy of Music Museum, London
Viola da braccio in detail from a fresco by Gaudenzio Ferrari in Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Saronno (c. 1534–6). Viola da braccio (from Italian "arm viola", plural viole da braccio) is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba ("leg viola") and the viol family to which the latter belongs.
The term was later used as an umbrella for a variety of string instruments. [1] [2] [3] Some of the instruments that fall under its umbrella are the viol, viola, viola bastarda, viola da braccio, viola d'amore, violetta marina, tromba marina and the viola da gamba, viola pomposa, violino piccolo, violoncello, and the violin. Many of the ...