page_title: Viola da braccio
hierarchical_section_title: Viola da braccio
caption_attribution_description: Español: Viola da braccio en un fresco de Gaudenzio Ferrari en Santa Maria dei Miracoli
context_page_description: Viola da braccio is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba and the viol family to which the latter belongs. At first 'da braccio' seems to encompass the entire violin family. Monteverdi's Orfeo designates an entire six-part string section "viole da brazzo", apparently including bass instruments held between the knees like the cello and bass violin. His Selva morale contains a piece calling for "due violini & 3 viole da brazzo ouero 3 Tronboni", reflecting a general shift in meaning towards the lower instruments. Eventually it came to be reserved for the alto member, the viola. A famous example is Bach's Sixth Brandenburg Concerto, combining two viole da braccio with two viole da gamba. The German word for viola, Bratsche, is a relic of this last use.
context_section_description: Viola da braccio (from Italian "arm viola", plural viole da braccio) is a term variously applied during the baroque period to instruments of the violin family, in distinction to the viola da gamba ("leg viola") and the viol family to which the latter belongs. At first  'da braccio'  seems to encompass the entire violin family. Monteverdi's Orfeo (printed 1609) designates an entire six-part string section "viole da brazzo", apparently including bass instruments held between the knees like the cello and bass violin.  His Selva morale (1641) contains a piece calling for "due violini & 3 viole da brazzo ouero 3 Tronboni" (2 violins & 3 viole da braccio or trombones), reflecting a general shift in meaning towards the lower instruments. Eventually it came to be reserved for the alto member, the viola. A famous example is Bach's Sixth Brandenburg Concerto (1721), combining two viole da braccio with two viole da gamba. The German word for viola, Bratsche, is a relic of this last use.
caption: Viola da braccio in detail from a fresco by Gaudenzio Ferrari in Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Saronno (ca. 1534-6).
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