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Vivaldi Viola ConcertoI bet you are looking for Vivaldi viola concerto... Yes, I have seen publications of some concertos. Unfortunately, Vivaldi did not write any viola concertos. What he wrote were concertos for viola d’amore. So, when you see a "Vivaldi viola concerto" it's because some have been transcribed for viola and orchestra, but I personally don’t think they fit the viola well. Just because the two instruments share the name viola it doesn’t mean they are the same thing.
I’d like to say just a very few words about the viola d’amore. It was very fashionable until mid 18th century, a lot of composers wrote for it, including Vivaldi and Carl Stamitz, who was very famous as a viola and viola d’amore player. It has also been used more recently by Hindemith and by Puccini in "Madame Butterfly". It is similar to the viola but bigger, played in the same way, with usually seven strings tuned A, D, A, D, F#, A, D, PLUS seven or more sympathetic strings, running under the fingerboard, through the bridge. The tuning could be changed for the different pieces and Vivaldi used the tunings of D major, d minor, A major, a minor and F major in his eight concerti for viola d'amore. (You can guess that most concertos were written in D, major/minor). These strings resonate and add power and a lovely quality to the sound. The origin and meaning of the name is not clear. Viola d’amore means something like “viola of love” and some suggest that it could refer to the double set of strings, vibrating together like lovers... So, the viola d’amore has a bigger range and, most important, its top string is nearly like the top violin string. If you want to play on the viola what is written for this viola d’amore top string, you end up with playing all the time in the top range of the viola, without having the lovely sound added by the resonating strings and by all those double stops and beautifully sounding four, five string chords that they used to play easily on the viola d’amore, thanks to its tuning. I think that playing a viola d’amore concerto on the viola is not a big deal, it’s better to play a viola concerto, there are a good number. Or play the viola d’amore. Anyway, since you are here, to thank you for your visit and
reading up to here, if want to try and play this as a "Vivaldi viola concerto", click on the following links, you can download his concerto for viola d’amore, lute and strings. You can find both the score and parts and the midi file.
And if you want to know more about the viola d’amore, the following is a very good website. Go from Vivaldi Viola Concerto to Viola d'Amore Society of America
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