A few months ago, we covered the evolution of the modern orchestra, from the intimate consorts of the Renaissance to the massive orchestras of the late Romantic era. Now, let’s dive deeper into the history of the backbone of the orchestra: the string section.
The modern string section comprises violins, violas, cellos, and double basses. (Sometimes harps are included in this group, though we will be focusing on bowed string instruments here.) A typical symphony orchestra today has about 16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos, and eight double basses, though these numbers vary depending on the repertoire, venue, and conductor. So, how did it come to be this way, and why are there so many more string instruments on stage than any other? Let’s take a look into their history to learn why.
Early History
The history of early bowed string instruments is murky, with numerous possible ancestors across the world, from the Welsh crwth of the 7th century, to the ravanahatha of ancient India and Sri Lanka, to the erhu of Tang Dynasty China (618–907 CE). Historians believe the modern violin has roots in the 9th-century Byzantine lyra or the Middle Eastern rebab. These instruments gradually spread throughout Europe as trade increased. European variants of the concept of a hollow vessel resonating the vibrations of bowed strings began to emerge around the 10th century. Prominent examples in the medieval period include the rebec, a small pear-shaped instrument with three strings, and the vielle, which had four or five strings and was about the size of a modern viola.
From these medieval precedents came the lira da braccio in the 15th–16th century. “Braccio,” meaning “arm” in Italian, indicates that the instrument was played held at the shoulder. (Fun fact: the German word for viola, “Bratsche,” stems from “braccio.”) The modern violin family likely emerged from the lira da braccio, with different sizes of instruments for different registers.
Oil painting from a private collection attributed to Elias van Nijmegen. Still life composed of diverse baroque instruments, including a viola da gamba, violin, lute, chamber organ, recorder, oboe, bassoon, flute, panpipe, hunting horn, bagpipe, hurdy-gurdy, and triangle. between 1700 and 1750
Developing concurrently alongside the violin family was the viol or viola da gamba (“gamba” meaning “leg,” as the instrument was played between the legs). Distinct from the violin family, viols are quieter. They feature six or seven strings (instead of four) and are tuned in fourths instead of fifths, and possess plus frets, arched bridges, sloped shoulders, and flat backs. They are also played with the bow held underhand. While viol consorts featuring “chests” of viols in three sizes—treble, tenor, and bass—were extremely popular during the Renaissance and early Baroque, they gradually became supplanted by the violin family as tastes shifted.
Violin
Let’s take a look into their history to learn why, first focusing on the advent of the violin as the vanguard of the modern-day string section.
The violin emerged in the mid-16th century essentially in its modern form, thanks to a group of violin-makers, or luthiers, working in northern Italy. Specifically, Andrea Amati (c. 1505–1577) of Cremona is credited with standardizing the basic form, proportions, materials, and construction of the violin, viola, and cello. His earliest documented instrument, a three-stringed violin, dates from 1546. Another consequential luthier in nearby Brescia was Gasparo da Salò (1540–1609), who likely contributed to the development of the double bass and other low-voiced instruments. Cremona would remain the epicenter of violin-making for centuries, with renowned luthiers such as Giuseppe Guarneri and Antonio Stradivari calling the area home. (Revisit WFMT’s 2024 article on what makes a Stradivarius so special here.)
A member of the Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi
The violin family quickly spread across Europe. It was especially prized in France, where it was seen as a better accompaniment for dance—the preferred entertainment of the French court—than the more subdued viols. Established in the 1570s, Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roy (“The 24 Violins of the King”) was a pioneering ensemble initially comprised solely of strings, with 24 violins divided across five sections according to size. Instead of one instrument per musical line, which was common in early violin bands, each part had multiple players. Having multiple string instruments playing in unison didn’t just add volume but lent an opulent, velvety sound fit for a king. This is because the overtones of each instrument vary slightly, creating a shimmering harmonic cloud when they overlap.
According to French mathematician Marin Mersenne’s 1637 treaty L’Harmonie Universelle, Louis XIII’s court ensemble had six dessus (violins), four hautes-contre (alto violas), four tailles (tenor violas), four quintes (another kind of viola close to a cello), and six basses. By the 18th century, wind, continuo, and occasional brass instruments had joined their ranks, the ensemble becoming a model for court orchestras across Europe for the next two centuries.
Throughout the Baroque era, instrumental groups began to coalesce around the string section. Divided violins became more common than the viola-heavy model seen in France. Instrumentation still largely depended on available resources and players, but the string section became more or less a consistent feature. By the end of the 18th century, the “Classical” orchestral line-up became fairly standardized, with a minimum of six first violins, six second violins, four violas, four cellos, and three double basses grounding the section.
While wind and brass instruments saw great technological developments during the 18th and 19th centuries, enabling the stylistic shifts of the Romantic era, string instrument design and technology stayed largely the same. Some modifications were made, however, so they could compete with the ever-growing Romantic orchestra. Fingerboards were lengthened and the neck arched backward slightly, allowing the player to play higher notes and increasing the string tension for a louder sound. Gut strings were replaced with steel to accommodate the increased string tension. The most significant changes came in the form of the bow. During the Baroque period, bows were often lighter, shorter, and convex, whereas the “Tourte” bow—developed by François Tourte in the 1780s and still considered the gold standard today—is heavier, longer, and concave, allowing for greater control of articulation and dynamics.
Now that we have explored the overarching history of the string section, let’s look closer at the viola, cello, and double bass to see how they acquired their modern form.
Viola
The viola developed at the same time as the other members of the violin family, although the word “viola” had various meanings. Around 1500, “viola” meant any bowed string instrument and was modified to denote a specific instrument or family, such as the viola da gamba or viola da braccio. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the word “viola” was often used with words such as “alto” or “tenor” to describe the instrument’s register — lower than the violin. As was the case in the Vingt-quatres Violons du Roy, middle-voice string instruments dominated 16th- and 17th-century ensembles, ranging in size from small alto violas to very large tenor violas that could be so big as to be almost unplayable. Even today, the viola has not been standardized in terms of length, depth, or width, each change in dimension offering different sonic qualities. However, the body of an average full-sized viola is usually between 41 cm and 43 cm long for practical purposes.
Tabea Zimmerman, one of the world’s most respected violists (Photo: Marco Borggreve)
Cello
The cello, or violoncello, grew out of the bass violin or violone, meaning “big violin.” Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, the instrument existed in several sizes and was known by myriad names depending on the location, so tracing its exact history is tricky. By the end of the 17th century, composers were writing increasingly challenging music for the bass violin. The instrument was proving too cumbersome for the task, so slightly smaller versions started to emerge in the early 18th century called violoncellos, or “small big violins.” The invention of wire-wound strings facilitated this reduction in size. Originally, all strings were made of sheep gut. Thicker strings produced lower pitches but were often too quiet or had muddy overtones. Making the strings longer and thinner improved the sound, but the instrument had to be bigger to accommodate them. Winding a fine wire around a gut core increased the density of the strings, allowing them to be both thinner and shorter and the body of the instrument to be smaller in turn. By the early 1700s, Stradivari had established the standard body length of the cello—a standard that remains to this day—though some makers continued to produce cellos of different sizes into the mid-18th century.
Yo-Yo Ma performs J. S. Bach’s complete Cello Suites in a free concert in Millennium Park presented by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association in partnership with the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events on Thursday, June 20, 2019. (Photo: Todd Rosenberg)
Double Bass
The double bass, alternatively called the contrabass, string bass, upright bass, or simply bass, may have developed from the viol family instead of the violin family, although historians still contest this. The notion that it developed from the viol family stems from the fact that it is tuned in fourths instead of fifths and can come in either a violin or viol shape, the latter characterized by a flat back and sloped shoulders. That said, the instrument has a complicated history dating back to at least 1516, with various kinds of low-voiced string instruments being used simultaneously during any given period across Europe. It is unclear when they became a permanent fixture of the orchestra, but by the mid-18th century, most court orchestras had them, and they even outnumbered cellos. Today, double basses still vary in size, shape, number of strings, and even tuning, depending on the repertoire.
Looking Forward
We hope you enjoyed this deep dive into the rich and complicated history of the violin family. Of course, the evolution of bowed string instruments is far from over. In particular, climate change, overharvesting, and increased animal protections have impacted the availability of traditional materials used for making instruments and bows, compelling luthiers to explore new materials and methods. In addition, electric string instruments, while still rare in a symphonic context, have opened up new sonic possibilities. Take John Adams’s The Dharma at Big Sur, for example, scored for solo electric violin and orchestra. Written in 2003, the piece was composed for the opening of Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, a strikingly contemporary building that looks to the future of classical music in whatever form that might take.
Stay tuned for our next installment in this series where we will go over the history of the woodwind section.
