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Contr'alto
Jean Baptiste Vuillaume
Paris
1855
Inv.-Nr. 915
Violin exhibited in The Romantic Period
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Photographer: Janos Stekovics
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Seen from an acoustic point of view the viola is actually too small to produce a proper resonance in its lower range. In an attempt to provide the middle voice of the string quartet with a bigger sound Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume built remarkably broad violas called contr'altos, whose sound was meant to resemble an alto voice. Vuillaume was one of many builders in the 19th century who experimented with the viola's sound. None of the experiments, however, resulted in a satisfactory improvement. Thus the viola's traditional form was retained and its somewhat covered, nasal tone was accepted as characteristic of the instrument.
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