Viola d'amore
A bowed string instrument with sympathetic strings.
What it means
The viola d'amore is a bowed string instrument held on the shoulder like a viola, and, besides the bowed strings, possesses a second group: sympathetic strings of metal that run beneath the fingerboard and are not touched. They vibrate along when the corresponding notes sound, and give the instrument its shimmering, long-ringing sound. Six or seven bowed strings are usual; the fingerboard is fretless, the body often has flame-shaped sound holes. String number and tuning vary from work to work, so that re-tunings are the rule.
Musical use
Its heyday lies in the eighteenth century, where it is used in chamber music, cantatas, and operas for especially intimate, floating passages; its sound is considered softer and more mysterious than that of the viola. Because the tuning is often cut to the key of the piece, chords lie comfortably, and polyphonic passages with open strings are easily executed. After the eighteenth century the instrument fell largely out of use, but received new works in the twentieth century and is again in use in historically informed practice.
Performance practice
Check the prescribed tuning first and plan enough time for retuning; the sympathetic strings must match, or the characteristic sound fails to appear. Tune them with a tuning key and check again after playing in, since they take a long time to settle. The bow needs little weight, because the instrument is quiet and becomes harsh under pressure. Watch for deliberate damping, because the ring of the sympathetically vibrating strings blurs dense passages. Protect the instrument from temperature fluctuations, since many strings react differently to them.
Bear in mind that the sympathetic strings carry the sound only when they match the key of the piece: after a retuning they must be tuned along with it, or the characteristic shimmer fails to appear. Plan time for this. When fingering, the fretless fingerboard with six or seven strings is unusually narrow; practise double stops slowly and with attention to hand shape. Expect a long ring and damp deliberately, so that dense passages do not blur. Protect the instrument from temperature fluctuations.