The orchestra and its instruments . the general tone, the more obtrusive it becomes:if the tone be forced, a disagreeable jar is produced. Hence it is idle toattempt to play the wolf down; the player must humor the troublesomenote. It is commonly believed that there is a wolf somewhere in all fiddles;and it is certain that it exists in some of the finest, for example in Stradi-varis. Probably, however, it is always due to some defect in the construc-tion, or adjustment. Violins with a soft, free tone are least liable to it. The cause of thewolf is obscure and probably not uniform: it may resul
The orchestra and its instruments . the general tone, the more obtrusive it becomes:if the tone be forced, a disagreeable jar is produced. Hence it is idle toattempt to play the wolf down; the player must humor the troublesomenote. It is commonly believed that there is a wolf somewhere in all fiddles;and it is certain that it exists in some of the finest, for example in Stradi-varis. Probably, however, it is always due to some defect in the construc-tion, or adjustment. Violins with a soft, free tone are least liable to it. The cause of thewolf is obscure and probably not uniform: it may result from some excessor defect in the thickness; from unequal elasticity in the wood; from badproportion or imperfect adjustment of the fittings; or from some defectin the proportions of the air-chamber. In the opinion of violin-makerswhere it is once established it cannot be radically cured. Some instrumentshave what may be termed an anti-wolf, i. e. an excess of vibrations on thevery notes where the wolf ordinarily occurs. (Parker).. viola damore, with flaming-swordsound-holes lot McCUNE SCHOOL OF MUSIC & A&T THE VIOLA 51 So it might be described as a half-and-half way instru-ment between the two. Music for the viola is written in the Alto, or C, Clef(on the third line). The highest notes are, however,written in the Treble, Violin, Soprano, or G, Clef. Important as the viola is in the Orchestra to-day,it was a long time before the beauty of its voice andits technical possibilities were recognized. It was onlyused to play subordinate middle parts, filling up timeand helping along now and then with the bass. Never,never was it allowed to lift its sad, melancholy, tragicand religious voice. No matter how longingly it mightlisten to the other instruments singing a melody, orchattering to one another, it was doomed to composer would let it speak. Nobody ever dreamedthat it had anything to say! But it was there all the time. Patient old viola,just used for the tutti passage
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmusicalinstruments
