The soprano violin or "descant," as it is called in England, is tuned an octave above the viola, C-G-D-A. It is a 20th-century version of the "violino piccolo" of the 16th and 17th centuries. The older violin in this size is sometimes referred to as the "Bach" violin because Johann Sebastian Bach wrote parts for it in several works, but Bach and others of his time referred to it as the "piccolo" violin. To avoid further confusion in terms, I'll always refer to it as the "soprano."

The soprano was an important instrument in Bach's time. He included parts for it in his Cantata #96, "Herr Christ, der einge Gottessohn," #140 "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" and the Brandenburg Concerto Number One. Monteverdi called for it in his opera, "Orfeo" in 1607, and Philipp Heinrich Erlebach (1657-1714), specified it in his 6th Sonata for Violin and Viola da Gamba. Other composers of the era also wrote for this instrument. The tuning of the early soprano was not standard, but usually a major or minor third, a fourth, or a fifth higher than the standard violin. The earliest known piccolo violin was made by the Cremonese maker Girolamo Amati in 1613.

Although the ancient soprano violin faded from use by the end of the 18th century, it has returned in a modern version that utilizes the scaling theories of John Schelleng, the plate-tuning techniques pioneered by Carleen Hutchins, and the geometric parameters of the Stradivari Model G violin that I worked out. With the addition of modern strings, the new version offers many improvements over the old. The modern soprano violin is the second violin in the octet. The next higher violin is the treble (the one now called the "piccolo" violin in many parts of Asia and Europe) and the next lower is the mezzo. In size and string length, the soprano is no larger than a half-size violin. The Hutchins model is 313 mm in length, and the Spear model is a bit longer at 320 mm.

The soprano violin is a natural leading instrument. As the highest member of string quartets composed for soprano, mezzo, alto, and tenor violins, the soprano adds brilliance and roundness to the upper register. The sounds of such a quartet have been characterized by some as "the music of the gods." The creators of the first sopranos were concerned that its small body size would render it incapable of matching the larger instruments in power, so they created a model that was unusually wide in order to increase its radiating surface (see one here). They need not have worried. The voice of the soprano violin is clearly heard, and no conventional violin can match its clarity, focus, and ease of playing in extreme upper registers. In actual live comparisons, the difference is dramatic. People who have listened to the soprano in the hands of a fine player can hardly believe that although the instrument looks like a half-size violin, it certainly does not sound like a half-size violin!

The soprano violin shown on the left is a later version made on the Stradivari Model G, which has proved to be a very successful adaptation that gives greater consistency to the octet family design. Because it is intended to be played primarily by adults, it has been fitted with a standard-width neck and fingerboard, and the pegbox and scroll are only slightly shortened. The original models were given an extended neck and longer string length on the idea that this would make it more comfortable for adult violinists to play, but musicians have come to prefer the shorter, correct-proportion implementation because many of them switch regularly between instruments of varying size and find it easier to do so when all string lengths are in the same proportion.

Last updated June 10, 2008