Viola D’Amore

I had a wonderful conversation with a woman with whom I will be working later this summer. She was telling me about some unusual string instruments that she has seen.

In searching for some of the instruments that she mentioned, I came upon the Viola D’Amore.

This is an instrument that goes back at least as far as the 17th Century, but was most popular in the 18th. It has had many incarnations in its life, but in its most recent iteration it boasts 14 strings. You only play 7 of them. The other 7 are sympathetic strings below the fingerboard, that ring out when you play.

The result is beautiful and haunting. Treat yourself to the video below ofThomas Georgi playing a one-minute snip from Vivaldi’s D major Concerto. Good choice, since the instrument is most commonly tuned to a D chord.

http://ldahlke.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/viola-damore/