Metal and Gut: Two “Violas of Love”

The Viola d’Amore was an instrument unique in timbre and resonance that evoked special emotions in operas and cantatas of the finest Baroque composers. With no uniform tuning or construction, surviving examples use anywhere from four to seven strings, with as many as 21 “sympathetic strings.” Two distinct versions of the instrument existed, one with bowed strings of gut, and another using metal wire—the type originally heard in J.S. Bach’s compositions. Multi-instrumentalist Daniel McCarthy will showcase both instruments, with Washington Bach Consort musicians David Ross, Margot Rood, and Marc Bellassai.