愛麗絲紀念簽名琴 (1:12 袖珍) The pellegrina ~5弦中提琴~

 

這2把琴背板有愛麗絲親筆簽名紀念專用琴

演奏欣賞 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H8Bqc89Sc4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11gCQiijPXE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8YBFZ8yoDo

 

參考資料

The Pellegrina is the design foundation of?the instruments described on this site. ?It has the biggest sound and is one of the most comfortable of the violas described here. It has also received the most extensive international media attention, including coverage in: the New York Times, the Houston Chronicle, the?San Francisco Examiner, the Dutch Hetfinanciele Dagblad, the Viet Nam News and the Brattleboro Reformer; Strings Magazine, Strad Magazine, Chamber Music America, Symphony Magazine, the San Francisco Symphony Bulletin and the Netherlands Philharmonic Encore Magazine; CNN, CBS, the Discovery Channel and Dutch National Television; the Voice of America, National Public Radio and ABC Radio--New York.?

 

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During the first half of the eighteenth century a peculiar type of bowed stringed instrument, called a "viola pomposa," made a brief appearance in the world of classical music. It was different from many of the instruments that had preceded it because it had five strings instead of four. The hope was that the extra string would give the instrument a wider range and greater versatility. The problem was that the mechanical complications of adding an extra string were so great that an awkward posture was required in order to play it. In addition, the extra string put so much pressure on the thin belly of the nstrument that it no longer sounded good. And so the pomposa went out of fashion only a few decades after it was invented.

But during its moment in the sun, more than one composer took interest and the greatest of them was Johann Sebastian Bach. Because of his fondness for the idea of the pomposa he wrote music for the instrument--great music--and, though, for him, it was never performed in a way that would be acoustically satisfying, the dream of some day finding a way to bring these wonderful pieces to life has never died. Performers try to play this music on four-stringed instruments with only compromised success. And, from time to time, violin makers attempt to revive the pomposa. But their efforts, too, are only partially gratifying because they inevitably try to imitate the same design that failed 300 years ago. The Pellegrina Pomposa has overcome these deficiencies. It is fast catching on, with players sometimes requesting elaborate, custom carvings and paintings, and, these days, there is quite a bit of music composed for five-stringed instruments.
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The entire project described on this web site started with the Pellegrina. It began as an effort to help solve the frequent and sometimes severe physiological problems that result from a musician constantly and repeatedly playing a viola that is too big. Tendinitis is epidemic among violists. Players have even been obliged to leave the profession because of carpal tunnel syndrome, back, shoulder and left arm injuries and related orthopedic issues.

The problem is that, for a viola to perform optimally, it should really be several inches longer than it is humanly possible to handle--at least when it is held under the chin. Ideally, a viola should be played like a cello or a gamba: between the knees. But the chances of anyone going to a symphony concert and seeing a viola section suddenly transformed into a clan of mini-cellists is slim indeed. So the next best thing is to redesign the viola to sound, work and feel better to the player.

The question which became the genesis for the design of the Pellegrina was simple: Is there a way to get a lot more vibrating surface area and a lot more acoustic resonance space into a viola and still keep the string length short and comfortable? What followed were several years of experimenting and refining (still going on, by the way).

Ultimately, over half a dozen changes were incorporated into the Pellegrina, most of which have proven so practical that they were applied to the other instruments described on this web site as well. All of this is explained in detailn the Design Concepts page.

And the Pellegrina? Most professional violists play instruments from 16 ?to 17 inches long. Before they were reduced in size, some historic instruments were even bigger, sometimes as long as 18 inches. The corpus length of the Pellegrina is an unprecedented 20 inches. And yet, to the player left hand and arm it feels like a 3/4 sized viola. And now, with the introduction of the ini-Pell?it is available in two sizes, the Mini-Pell being even smaller.

To date, about 75% of all Pellegrinas have been bought by career string players, several of them in major, internationally renowned symphony orchestras. And these players, in addition to remarking on the size and richness of the deep, tenor sound, especially on the C string, comment on a kind of acoustic focus that the Pellegrina has. As one player put it, "There's all this dark chocolate, and yet there's less fuzz in the sound."

You are invited to try one out!
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A Pellegrina viola made in 1997 for Don Ehrlich, assistant principal violist of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra

 

If playing the violin is viewed as an art, playing the viola is perhaps more a state of mind—a mind that is generally quite open to innovation.

Creativity and innovation are practically synonymous with the work of David Rivinus, most noted for the development of his Pellegrina viola, a totally new concept in viola design. While the word “pellegrina” means pilgrim in Italian, this instrument is certainly not a pilgrimage to the high altar of classic Italian violin making. Rather, it is a new and alternative life style for the viola and violists. In many ways, the Pellegrina is more than just an alternative. For some, who have sustained a wide range of injuries from playing the work of Rivinus has preserved and re-vitalized careers.

Ravinus’ path to the Pellegrina, like the instrument itself, has been anything but traditional. The son of a career diplomat, Rivinus was born in Turkey where his father served as a Consul General. The nomadic life of a diplomat, however, had its advantages. Rivinus developed important perspectives that accompany such cross-cultural exposure. He also became fluent in five languages.

When the Rivinus family settled in Indianapolis, David made the acquaintance of Thomas Smith, a violin maker trained in the Swiss tradition. Rivinus described him as a gifted violinist “without the nerves of steel” but with a sure hand when transforming wood into instruments. It was a good introduction to the world of violin making.

The most important training Rivinus received was at the shop of Hans Weisshaar in Los Angeles. Weisshaar, known to be a tough taskmaster, provided the grounding in techniques necessary for success in the violin world. Weisshaar was renowned for his ability to spot talent, as was Robert Kagan of Kagan & Gaines in Chicago. Kagan brought Weisshaar to America along with such other notables as Rene Morel, who trained many great restorers at Jacques Francais Violins, and Tschu Ho Lee, who has trained many outstanding violin-making students at the Chicago School of Violin Making for the past 25 years. Weisshaar, in turn, not only showed great insight in spotting talent, but became one of the great teachers of luthiers. Among the many whom Rivinus had as colleagues were David Burgess, Otto Schenk, Paul Siefried, Peter & Wendy Moes along with Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrin Seifert.

Following a four-year stint at Weisshaar’s fertile proving ground, Rivinus struck out on his own and formed a partnership with Thomas Metzler, a colleague from the Weisshaar shop. Given a passion for photography, Rivinus sold his partnership after 6 years and became one of a handful of specialists in the complex process of photographing string instruments. Increasingly, he found great demand for his photographic work, especially in the creation of certificates of authenticity. The passion for photography remains and Rivinus has accepted the task of photographing all the winning instruments and bows at the Violin Society of America’s international competition in Portland, Oregon this November.

Traditions die hard in the music world in general, and the area of violinmaking clings to its own strongly. Many makers have become slaves in modeling their work after Gasparo da Salo or Stradivari, to the exclusion of other viable options. Dario D’Attili, one of the chief restorers at Rembert Wurlitzer in New York, once told his colleague, the great Ferdinand Sacconi that he was sorry Sacconi ever saw a Strad, as he felt much individuality had been lost. For Rivinus, individuality is key, but his work is always solidly grounded in the principles of acoustics and playability.

As with Joseph Curtin and the Evia, Rivinus placed a premium on weight reduction when designing the Pellegrina, or the “Pell” as it is fondly called by its adherents. With four-hour rehearsals qualifying as legitimate back breakers, he replaced the ebony fingerboard with synthetic phenolic resin veneers thus reducing the overall weight of the instrument by about 10%. Part of the volute was taken out of the scroll while the traditional willow and spruce for blocks and linings were replaced with ultra-light woods. Extra sound holes, which allow the instrument to vibrate more freely, also reduce weight.

The key design issue in the Pellegrina is the degree of supination—the angle to which the left elbow is forced to tuck under the instrument. The Pell reduces that angle by about five degrees, which in turn increases the comfort level and relieves the likelihood of muscle spasms, pinched nerves and other general aches and pain.

Many violists have become advocates of the Pell. The instrument’s most visible proponent has been Don Ehrlich, the Assistant Principal violist of the San Francisco Symphony and Viola Professor at San Francisco Conservatory. Ehrlich’s Pell was on constant public display for both audiences and shocked orchestra soloists who thought they might be hallucinating upon spotting such an unconventional instrument!

Ehrlich’s path to the Pellegrina was quite classic—severe left elbow pain had become insistent and made playing difficult. What to do? Following a frustrating search for a smaller viola and an orchestra strike, he summoned his determination, and found his way to Rivinus. After some model refinements, Don had the second Pella and retreating tendonitis pain—something he ascribes to the maker’s neck set design with its counterclockwise angle.

“Recently” writes Ehrlich, “a colleague asked me to help her with a bow buying decision. When it came to the time that I tried her instrument with the bows, I found that the pain in the elbow began to re-establish itself, and after about three minutes I gave her the instrument back. I know that I cannot go back to a standard viola.”

While the Pellegrina requires more player adjustments than a typical unfamiliar instrument, Erlich gladly made the accommodations necessary to allow his career to thrive once again. Now he and the Pell bask in the attention the instrument attracts.

The Pellegrina is not the only innovative instrument designed by Rivinus. There is a small viola named by the maker the “Riviola”, much smaller than the Pell but also asymmetrical and ergonomically designed. He also offers a six string Riviola intended for use by jazz musicians, which has a range from the highest note of a violin to the F above open C on the cello.

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La Pellegrina ('The pilgrim woman') was a play performed at the Florentine Intermedi of 1592. The play was written by Italian 16th century playwright and librettist Girolamo Bargagli of Sienna in 1579 but was performed for the first time on 2 May 1589, after the author's death in 1586. It is perhaps best known for the fact that it was staged on the occasion of the marriage of Ferdinand I de' Medici, grand-duke of Tuscany, with Christine de Lorraine, granddaughter of the former queen-mother of France, Catherine de' Medici, in that year. It is not so much the play that is famous but rather the musical interludes, or 'intermedii', which are performed up to the present day (2007), e.g. by the Huelgas Ensemble in 1998, by the Hollands Vocaal Ensemble in 2003 and by the Capriccio Stravagante Renaissance Orchestra in 2007. A total of six then-famous composers from Florence contributed to the music.

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