On 16 Dec 2009, at 17:36, John Howell wrote:
At 5:56 PM -0800 12/15/09, Ryan wrote:
Is the term "Bratschen" for violas obsolete in German? Would it be
better to
use "Violen"?
If you like, I could ask on the OrchestraList. Or the ViolaList.
I'm certainly not aware of any change from the traditional
terminology, which is embedded in every German-published score I've
ever seen, but there's no reason why I would be.
I would think that there might be confusion between the term for
alto-tenor violin and that for viola da gamba if that change were
made, but then there's already confusion with the term viol in
English, which mean viola da gamba but could be taken to mean bass
viol (i.e. string bass or double bass or bass violin).
There's no confusion and I have seen "Violen" or "Viola" in many
German scores. If you look at lists of musicians on web pages of
German orchestras you'll see both "Bratsche" and "Viola" being used
(I just checked Mannheim, where I work, and SWR Baden-Baden, who both
use "Viola", and the Berliner Philharmoniker, who use "Bratche").
Michael
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