I play the violin and the viola, does anyone know if the viola d'amour still exists?

Six-seven stringed instrument played like a regular viola under chin. Anyone??

I play the violin and the viola, does anyone know if the viola d'amour still exists?
The viola d'amore which Vivaldi wrote for is the alto version of the baryton - still around in Haydn's time.





It is a member of the viol family, but as well as the six (or more) normal gut strings on the fingerboard, it has (normally tucked away behind the neck) seven unfingered wire strings, tuned to the scale of the piece being played, which vibrate in sympathy with any note whose fundamental or harmonic excites them.





The normal string tone is surrounded by a cloud of harmonics, giving an unusual effect. If your left hand is agile enough, you can also pluck single notes or chords on the sympathetic strings, providing an accompaniment which sounds silvery, and a bit like a clavichord. This is for virtuosi only - Haydn managed it, for instance.





I don't know who makes them now, but any competent luthier should be able to. If I were a string player %26amp; wanted one, my first stop would be The Early Music Shop in Salt's Mill, Saltaire, near Bradford (Yorks.) They have at least one of almost everything, and a wide choice of most things.





Good luck.
Reply:i have seen several 6 string violins for sale on ebay..i didnt know why they had 6 strings though.
Reply:"Early Music" people play this, mostly in academia.
Reply:My violin teacher has a book and it says Viola d'amour on it, so maybe....


il ask her if ya want...
Reply:it is a baroque instrument, but it had many forms: the oldest had 5 wire strings. Some have 6-7 gut strings of which the three base are wrapped and six wire "sympathetic" strings which are not played, but simply there or resonance.


That being said the one that is preserved is th e one with 12-14 strings, from what i can tell. There are recordings with it, notably one with Yo-Yo Ma, but i am not sure if all performances are with period instruments or modern replicas. I could not find a single site that sold these instruments so i imagine all are period instruments.
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