JAVS Fall 1997

76

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CAROL AYRES plays the viola because she loves its mellow, soulful sound. Little did she know her beloved instrument would make her the butt of so many jokes that internet web sites would be devoted to them. She cringes only slightly when she hears jokes such as:

Though the technique required for the viola isn't as strenuous as that for the violin, Gilman says, it doesn't mean the viola is easier to play. "The best violists have dif ficult music, too." Maybe it's like a dysfunc tional family. Everybody loves everybody-but usually not without someone feeling at times like an unwanted distant cousin. That's where the jokers have it all wrong, Ayres be

lieves. Violas are definitely wanted and needed. Without them, the violins and the rest of the string section wouldn't have such a perfect sound. The main job of the viola is to harmonize. The violin gets most of the good mel ody lines. The viola provides the musical foundation. "Sometimes, the support ing roles are harder to do than the starring roles," she says. If a symphony has a prima donna, he or she probably

Q. What's the difference between a viola and a coffin? A. The coffin has a dead person on the inside.

Q. Lost in the desert,

you come across a good violist, a bad violist, and a large white rabbit. Which ofthe three do you ask for directions? A. The bad violist-the other two are mirages. Q. What is the range of a viola? A. About 30 feet-if you kick it hard enough. Kurt Gilman loves viola jokes. Why wouldn't he? He's a violinist. "Viola jokes go back a lot further than current history," said the concertmaster now in his 12th season with the Symphony of Southeast Texas-back to the day when some musicians said if a per son can't play the violin very well, you put them on the viola.

ILLUSTRATION BY JIM GOUGH