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The viola pomposa (also known as the violino pomposo)
is a five-stringed instrument developed around 1725. There are no exact dimensions applicable to all instruments used under this name, although in general the pomposa is slightly wider than a standard viola (hence the Italian adjective "pomposa"). It uses four viola strings, tuned conventionally (C-G-D-A), with the addition of a high E string (usually a violin string), giving it a greater range than the orchestral viola; the trade-off comes in a sound which is slightly more resonant than a violin. The viola pomposa is played on the arm and has a range from C3 to A6 (or even higher) with fingered notes. Using harmonics, the range can be extended to C8 depending on the quality of the strings.
The viola pomposa should not be confused with the viola da spalla, the violoncello, or the violoncello piccolo (read Paulinyi, 2012.
[Zoltan Paulinyi, ]
Sobre o desuso e ressurgimento da viola pomposa.
' Belo Horizonte: Per Musi, UFMG, v.25, 2012. In English: Paulinyi, 2010
).
Among the late Baroque and early Classical composers who used the instrument are
Georg Philipp Telemann
Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...
(1681–1767; two sections of Der Getreue Musikmeister),
Johann Gottlieb Graun Johann Gottlieb Graun (1702/1703 – 28 October 1771) was a German Baroque/Classical era composer and violinist, born in Wahrenbrück. His brother Carl Heinrich was a singer and also a composer, and is the better known of the two.
Johann Gottlieb ...
(c. 1703–1771; a double concerto with flute), and
Christian Joseph Lidarti
Cristiano Giuseppe Lidarti (born Christian Joseph Lidarti) (Vienna 23 February 1730 – Pisa(?) after 1793) was an Austrian composer, born in Vienna of Italian descent.
Life
Lidarti was a nephew of the Viennese Kapellmeister Giuseppe Bonno. Whi ...
(1730–1795; at least two sonatas).
By 1800, the instrument was used by principals of major orchestras, although no written scores were published in that century, apart from antiquarian or modernized editions (one of the Lidarti sonatas, heavily edited and with an added cadenza, was republished around 1904).
Late in the twentieth century, several contemporary composers independently rediscovered its potential because of the development of the new synthetic strings, more stable and cheaper than the gut ones. Recent music for the instrument includes works by Justin E.A. Busch, Harry Crowl, Rudolf Haken, and
Zoltan Paulinyi.
Notes
References
*
Galpin, F. W. (1931). "Viola Pomposa and Violoncello Piccolo." ''Music & Letters'', v. 12, no. 4 (October 1931), pp. 354–364.
*Paulinyi, Zoltan. (2010).
The viola pomposa growing usage." Romania: "No 14 Plus Minus Contemporary Music Journal", n. 16 (October 10, 2010)
*Paulinyi, Zoltan. (2010)
"Comments on previous article about the viola pomposa and its related instruments". Romania: No. 14 Plus Minus Contemporary Music Journal, n. 16 (Nov 25, 2010)
*Sibyl Marcuse, A Survey of Musical Instruments. NYC, Harper & Row, 1975, p. 530.
External links
Report about viola pomposa(French)
(Vietnam)
Video
Crowl, Harry. 2008. "Antíteses, Concert for viola pomposa and full orchestra"
Listening
*[http://images.MusicaErudita.com/ CD Imageswith Brazilian pieces for viola pomposa.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929071949/http://www.rudolfhaken.com/library">CD Images">Listening
CD Imageswith Brazilian pieces for viola pomposa.
Compositions
* [http://www.musicaneo.com/search
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Violas