Violas For Sale |
We have a selection of first rate violas in stock though the real choice for any
player is limited by the different back-lengths and models that sub-divide those
instruments available in any given price-brackets. |
Violas made before the middle of the nineteenth century are, overall, of exquisite
quality and warmth of tone but limited in their appeal to the modern orchestra
player by being of a smaller, often Staineresque, model – lacking the power
and extra resonance on the bass strings needed for orchestral performance.
These are though, superb for chamber music. |
We regularly have available top-class instruments from the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, with the smaller back-length common to this period – 15 1/4" (28.8cm)
to 15 3/4" (40cm) by sought-after English makers such as Joseph Hill, "Old" William Forster, Vincenzo Panormo, Thomas Kennedy, George Craske. Occasionaly there are also fine Italian or Austrian violas from this period with
the larger, much-desired, back-length 15 3/4 (40cm) to 16 1/4 (42cm) inclusive;
these are relatively scarce and tend to be snapped up quickly by discerning players. |
Often, for those needing the bolder viola models suitable for today's music, modern
makers come into their own. We normally have a carefuly selected choice
of good violas fashioned during the second half of the twentieth century by such
makers as John Beard, Julian Emery, Antonio Capela, William Piper, William Luff, augmented by instruments made in the workshops of Ealing Strings – by James Robinson in the 1970s, William John in the 1980s and Graham Comfort and Miles Doubleday through the 1990s to the present day. These violas may not reach full maturity
during our lifetime but many – even as new instruments – are already playing
beautifully. The scarcity of larger model violas has given viola players
themselves the chance to pick out the potentially great makers of the future..... |
Click above for enlargement |
