The Viola in Film Music

[Musica42 0]

Having spent the last year or so doing some heavy manuscript trading on this site I've now begun the process of cataloging excerpts for all the instruments of the orchestra as an addendum to the orchestra texts I study (Forsyth, Adler, and Rimsky-Korsakov/Alexander). Right now I'm simply documenting the passages that feature an individual instrument, but I plan to take this further and have sections that follow Rimsky-Korsakov's book with instruments on the melody in combination, instruments on the harmony, etc, etc.

So far the violin section is coming together very nicely so I have moved on to beginning work on the viola section and here I'm coming up against some difficulty. Having spent a little time going through about a dozen Williams Signature Scores I've noticed that Williams very rarely features the violas by themselves and when he does it's in the low to mid-low register noodling around with a rapid mostly scale-wise or arpeggiated pattern (opening of Battle of the Heroes being a typical example). Every example I've found of the viola carrying an upfront melody has it being doubled with some combination of violins, cellos, and basses. So my question is can anyone point me to a section of any significant length (at least a couple seconds or more) where the viola's quality of sound can be specifically heard? Examples can be from any film composer of course but I'd prefer they come from the score manuscripts that are floating around these forums. It doesn't necessarily need to be a section where the violas have the melody (for example the cue "A New Beginning" from Minority Report features the viola in a very exposed accompanying role).

Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Also if anyone is interested in seeing the work I've done up to this point with cataloging the violin excerpts, feel free to PM me.

[Datameister 2,042]

Williams almost never uses the violas in a prominent, melodic fashion. As you noted - no pun intended - they're mostly just reserved to doublings, harmonic noodling, middle voices, and so forth. In fact, I literally can't think of any examples at all right now. Even the opening solo in ROTS's "Anakin's Dream" is not on viola, as some have said, but on cello and then violin.

The fact of the matter is that the difference in timbres between the violin and the viola is so subtle that WIlliams usually just uses the violin - or the cello, if a deeper and richer tone is what he wants, or if the melody is too low for the range of the violin.

[Musica42 0]

I understand the reason for shying away from featuring the instrument. But given the nature of what I'm doing I need to try nonetheless. And again we need not limit this discussion to just Williams.

Edit: Alex North's Love Theme from Spartacus has a nice exposed viola (doubled in solo horn) melody about 27 seconds in. Hot damn, they do exist!

[ETMusic 1]

Only featured viola that comes to mind is Danny Elfman's score to "Wolfman;" however, with the weirdness and chop-job that happened to his score I'm not sure that this will be terribly helpful.

[Omen II 1,235]

I understand the reason for shying away from featuring the instrument. But given the nature of what I'm doing I need to try nonetheless. And again we need not limit this discussion to just Williams.

I have no idea if these manuscript scores are readily available, but I can cite a few examples of film scores where the viola is featured prominently. Richard Rodney Bennett adapted his score for Lady Caroline Lamb into a rather lovely Elegy for Viola and Orchestra that you can hear on a CD available from Chandos (CHAN9867) - probably my favourite film music for viola. There is also a very nice passage for solo viola in Ennio Morricone's Legend of 1900. More generally speaking, Miklos Rozsa wrote very well for the viola (as he did for most other instruments!) in his film scores - Ivanhoe and Plymouth Adventure spring to mind, although I am sure there are others.

[Score 770]

The first example of prominent violas in a JW score that comes to my mind is in the Battle of Yavin from SW: A New Hope. If you have the full score of the suite, give a look at cue "The Battle", bars 109-136 (although the entrance of trumpets at bar 125 draws the attention away).

[Joe Brausam 214]

I understand the reason for shying away from featuring the instrument. But given the nature of what I'm doing I need to try nonetheless. And again we need not limit this discussion to just Williams.

Edit: Alex North's Love Theme from Spartacus has a nice exposed viola (doubled in solo horn) melody about 27 seconds in. Hot damn, they do exist!

"Blue Shadows and Purple Hills" from Spartacus has an extended viola solo that's very beautiful.

[ChrisAfonso 186]

Aren't there tracks in WotW (Escape in the car, ferry scene? I don't have the cd at hand atm) where Williams doesn't have violins, making the violas the topmost voice in the strings? (Granted, that's mostly rhythmic scrubbing).

[Datameister 2,042]

Hey, there's a pretty good one - in "Across the Stars", at 0:56, the violas are doubled by one clarinet and the harp, playing that quiet arpeggio figure. Pretty prominent viola color right there.

[Melange 446]

Viola/Violin. Let's not be fussy. Play it, Johnny! Play it forever!

[Chris.Tilton 0]

Whenever I have bigger scoring sessions for Fringe, there are no violins, just Violas, Cellos, and Basses. This was also the case when Chad worked on the show. So, all the mid to high strings you hear on the Fringe soundtrack are Violas, if that helps you better understand the sound. But again, as several on this thread have said, the differences in actual timbre between the viola and violin are subtle.

EDIT: I can't remember which ones at the moment, but Bernard Herrmann did a few scores with violas, cellos, basses and no violins as well.

[Datameister 2,042]

Very interesting. Yet another reason I need to start watching (and listening to) Fringe!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

EDIT: I can't remember which ones at the moment, but Bernard Herrmann did a few scores with violas, cellos, basses and no violins as well.

Psycho?

[Datameister 2,042]

Wow, I don't know how I forgot this one...really major example is the main theme from Jurassic Park. When they first see the brachiosaurus and we hear the string orchestra come in, that's the violas on the melody...only the violas! Well, doubled by one horn and one clarinet, and there are divisi violoncelli and double basses playing the harmony beneath, but my point is that all the string color you hear on the melody is the viola section. (This is at 5:07 in "Journey to the Island", or 0:48 in "Theme from Jurassic Park.")