English, Italian, Spanish) once viols became less common, while other languages picked some other part of the phrase to designate the instrument, e.g. "alto" in French and "Bratsche" in German (the latter derived from the Italian "braccio"). Modern era "viola de gamba" crafted by violinmakers Hans and Nancy Benning of Benning Violins in 1982 in Los Angeles. Some other instruments have viola in their name, but are not a member of the viola da gamba family.
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"Brazzo" was another Italian word for the viola, which the Germans adopted as Bratsche. The French had their own names: cinquiesme was a small viola, haute contre was a large viola, and taile was a tenor. Today, the French use the term alto, a reference to its range. The viola was popular in the heyday of five-part harmony, up until the eighteenth century, taking three lines of the harmony and occasionally playing the melody line.
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The viola is also an important accompaniment instrument in Slovakian, Hungarian and Romanian folk string band music, especially in Transylvania. Here the instrument has three strings tuned G3–D4–A3 (note that the A is an octave lower than found on the standard instrument), and the bridge is flattened with the instrument playing chords in a strongly rhythmic manner. In this usage, it is called a kontra or brácsa (pronounced "bra-cha", from German Bratsche, "viola").
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His Selva morale (1641) contains a piece calling for "due violini & 3 viole da brazzo ouero 3 Tronboni" (2 violins & 3 viole da braccio or trombones), reflecting a general shift in meaning towards the lower instruments. Eventually it came to be reserved for the alto member, the viola. A famous example is Bach's Sixth Brandenburg Concerto (1721), combining two viole da braccio with two viole da gamba. The German word for viola, Bratsche, is a relic of this last use.
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Two Songs for Voice, Viola and Piano, Op. 91, were composed by Johannes Brahms for his friends Joseph Joachim and his wife Amalie. The full title is Zwei Gesänge für eine Altstimme mit Bratsche und Klavier (Two songs for an alto voice with viola and piano). The text of the first song, "Gestillte Sehnsucht" (Longing at rest), is a poem by Friedrich Rückert, composed in 1884. The text of the second, "Geistliches Wiegenlied" (Sacred lullaby) was written by Emanuel Geibel after Lope de Vega, and set to music in 1863.
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Kontras – the melodies win much power by introducing a second violin to the ensemble, the "kontras" who plays second voices and two-stringed harmonies, and adds in this way much to the musical effect of the Gypsy style. Viola – The viola (called here by its German name Bratsche) plays a typical role in the music of this style. In slow movements it takes the two-stringed harmonies from the second violin which then can continue playing second voices. In fast movements the bratsch enhances the rhythm by playing the after-beat – see Beat (music) – often in a forceful manner, creating the typical Gypsy-style rhythm called “estam”.
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In the following years he applied himself to the most varied musical activities. Amongst other things he played viola in the Stockhausen-Ensemble from 1964 to 1970, and took part in the German exhibition at Expo '70, the World's Fair in Osaka in 1970 (; ). Although he had begun to compose at the age of 17, Fritsch regards as his first real composition the Duett für Bratsche (Duet for Viola), for viola and tape, which had a succès de scandale when he performed it at the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 1962—one newspaper review called him a kühner Kratzer (audacious scraper) . In 1966 Fritsch received the Förderpreis (Monetary Award) of the Federal State of North Rhine–Westphalia, and in 1971 the Prize of the Paris Biennale.
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It is said it was probably brought by the Turks to Bosnia, from where the instrument spread further with migrations of Šokci and Bunjevci above the Sava River to all parts of Croatia, Serbia and further,Trešnjevka tamburica ensemble: Over tamburica - short history although this theory is not consistent with the generally accepted view that the ancestor of the tamboura is the ancient Greek pandouris. Until the Great Migration of the Serbs at the end of the 17th century, the type of tamboura most frequently used in Croatia and Serbia had a long neck and two or three strings (sometimes doubled). Similar string instruments are the Czech bratsche, Turkish saz and the sargija, çiftelia and bouzouki. The oldest of the drum so far known, which is still kept in a museum in Osijek, dates from 1847 and was owned by Pajo Kolarić of Osijek, who is also the founder of the first amateur orchestra.
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When looking at the > other works by Khumalo in my possession (ISO(R) for flute, cello and piano > (2004), Ossia for clarinet and cello (2010) and Schaufe(r)nster for piano > (2011)), it is clear that Khumalo does not aim to always denote 'Africa' in > his works. Georg Beck suggests a similar defiance in Khumalo's music when he writes of Cry Out that > das klug und einfühlsam gebaute Ensemblestück des jungen > schwarzafrikanischen Komponisten Andile Khumalo, hielt denselben konsequent > [unter einer wispernden, stetig gespannten Oberfläche verborgen. Musik, die > (gegen die Erwartungen unseres "postkolonialen" Bewusstseins) gerade nicht > die große Geste sucht, keine schwarze Faust zeigt, die vielmehr auf einer > sehr europäisch geschulten Material- und Instrumentalebene elementare Fragen > eines südafrikanischen Komponisten von heute verhandelt: Wie kann das > Individuum, hier die Bratsche, allen gegenläufigen Umständen im Ensemble zum > Trotz, seinen Weg gehen? > [the clever and sensitive ensemble of the young Black African composer > Andile Khumalo, concealed [the notion of crying out] consistently under a > whispering, constantly tensioned surface.
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