JAVS Fall 2005

time, held Wi1gner in high esteem. Ri tter associated the perceived weak ness of viola players with the acoustic weakness of tl1e insnwnenr itself. In order to improve the viola's reputation, Ri tter sought ro correct the viola's physical inadequacies and make its power on par witl1 tl1e other, more respected members of the string family. Al though Ritter did not originate the idea rhat "cor recting" the viola's problems of pro jection lay in increasing its size, he was among the first to approach tl1e desired climensions of d1e viola sci entifically, maintaining the violin shape which had withstood cen turies with li ttle a.lteration. He pos tulated that, since the viola is tuned one ftfth lower than the violin, its size relative to the violin should be tl1e same proportion of tonic to sub dorninant- 2:3, or I:3/2. Using Antonio BagateUa's 1786 pamphlet Regole per Ia Construzione dei violi ni as a reference, Ritter designed an instrument he dubbed tl1e viola alta. This new instrument was signifi c-mcly larger titan its predecessor, witlt a body lengcl1 of 18.9 inches (48 centimeters) and ribs of 1.7 inches (4.3 ccntimenters). 6 The first viola alta was constructed in 1885 by lutl1ier Karl Adam Horlein of Wi.irzburg, who also referred to the instrw11ent as tl1e Altgeige. T hrough the viola alta, Ritter achieved his goal of producing the power of a violin or a cello wl'lil e maintaining the pitch range of the viola. Its initial trial at the orches tra of cl1e Duke ofMeiningen was a success; after hearing the instru ment play Berlioz's Harold in Italy at the hands of the concertmas ter, conductor Hans von Bi.ilow

ever. The players themselves proved to be as much of a hin drance to the viola's acceptance as the instrument's design. Berlioz notes, "It was unfortunately impossibl e at that time to write any important passage for the viola requiring the most ordinary skill for its execution. Violisrs were always selected From the we

expressed the desire to have more violas alta in his orchestra. 7 The true measure of Ritter's success, however, came when he played his new instrument in Munich for Wagner. Wagner, who at char time was working on Der Ring des Nibclungen, praised the viola alta and its inventor. He optimistically predi cted that Ritter's viola alta would have tremendous implica tions for the performance of exist ing works as well as fo r directing the composition of new wo rks. In a letter to Ri tter dated March 28, 1875, Wagner wrote: [feel certain that· the universal intro duction ofthe Viola Alta into our orchestra would se17;e not only to throw aproper fight on the intention ofthose composers who had to content themselves with the ordinary "Bratsche" while they requiredfor their melocly the trtte Alto violin tone, but that it rnight also bring about an advantageous change in the treatment ofthe string quartet. The free '14" string ofthis no longer thin but now fir:e and brilliant sounding instru ment, will be able to ta!?e over many an energetic melody from the

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