I still remember a line from the program at one of the P.D.Q. Bach concerts I went to.
What a significant loss to the world.
An interesting etymological point is the words “violin” and “fiddle” probably derive from the same word, Latin vitula or vidula. In Italian and Spanish, it developed into viola, while in German it became fidula.
Does that mean that a “fiddle” is actually a viola, rather than a violin?
Uneducated guess, a “violin” is a small viola, (words ending in “-in” can be diminutives), ej: “Espadin” (little espada (sword)).
And, if I remember correctly, a violoncello is a “little big violin”.
Names for instruments are all over the place. They can vary dramatically between languages as well.
Piccolo is another stupid one. It just means small. Small what? Piccolo flute. But we don’t usually call it that. Better known is piano. Means soft. Or its proper name piano forte. Soft loud. As opposed to the forte piano, which is a different instrument.
The progenitor instrument for modern violin, viola and cello is the basic viola. But the modern viola is the version played da braccio - on the arm. As opposed to vertically - something which allowed for a larger instrument.
Violin describes a design. The cello is properly called the violincello. Because it has the same design elements as the violin.
The violin family is clearly based on earlier viol instruments. But with updates.
A viol is technically different, they have flat backs and the body at the neck joint is necked rather than meeting the neck at a tangent. The modern double bass is of this family. Thus it is not the same family as it’s bowed brethren in a modern orchestra. Some older instruments we would recognise as violas also follow this design.
Modern violas are really an instrument that doesn’t want to exist. Played da braccio it is almost impossible to make an instrument that has a good sound and is physically viable for an ordinary sized person with ordinary arms and hands to play. So there have been lots of attempts to tweak and fiddle with the design to make the body bigger without compromising the playability. You see some interesting designs.
The very early violas from the Amati brothers - who were basically responsible for working out the modern form of violin style instruments - were huge. Most of them got cut down and rebuilt centuries ago, but there are a very few unscathed. They need seriously big players.
But a viola de gamba aka viol breaks this naming. It is a viol family instrument, closer to a modern cello in size. With frets, and played de gamba - between the legs. It probably acquired the extra a by mistake sometime in lost history.
And don’t even start on the names of horns.
Maybe interesting: there is a documentary on Janine Jansen playing twelve different Stradivarius violins, where they discuss the characteristics in playing and sound. It is currently free on Roku. It won’t convince skeptics (the documentary is very much from a ‘believers’ point of view) but it does show what people believe sets these violins apart from others.
Nitpicking, but the proper name is violoncello, and was borrowed from Italian.
Come and see the violins inherent in the system!
Golf clap!
My wife just got a notice of an upcoming presentation. I thought some of you might be interested in the abstract as it suggests the difficulty of objectively measuring such things.
Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins
Claudia Fritz
Friday May 2, 2025, 1-3pm Eastern US Time
…
Violin makers and acousticians have long sought correlations between sound qualities, construction parameters and vibroacoustic measurements. This is challenging for three main reasons: it is difficult to build violins reliably enough to ensure that the change in the sound is only a result of the intended change of construction parameters; no clear link has been found so far between measurements and perceived qualities; and when listening to violins being played, differences tend to be smoothed out by the players who adapt very quickly. Therefore, while we have previously preferred using players in our experiments to maximise ecological validity and account for the complexity of the interaction between the player and the instrument, in this study we test whether other methods that reduce the player’s influence, though more artificial, may be useful for exploring the impact of certain construction parameters on the sound. In the context of a set of violins built with controlled thickness variations in their plates, we conducted two listening tests, based on real recordings of a player and a bowing machine, along with synthesised sounds created from an excerpt recorded with piezo sensors by convolution with radiation measurements in an anechoic chamber. The hybrid synthesis was found to be the most effective of the three in highlighting instrument differences, capturing properties perceived in the actual instruments, and correlating with radiation measurements. This work, conducted with George Stoppani, has led to an article which is currently in press: Fritz C. Stoppani G. Igartua U. Woodhouse J. (2025) Developing methodologies to study perceived sound qualities of violins. Acta Acustica. When published, it will be freely available here: https://doi.org/10.1051/aacus/2025014