VDA
The Viola d'amore is a bowed, stringed instrument that started appearing with frequency on the European continent at the end of the 17th century, initially in the Salzburg, Munich, and Bohemian regions and later in Italy, France and other European countries. Its origins are obscure, but it is likely that it evolved from instruments coming from the Middle East, Turkey and India, where instruments with additional resonating strings were common. Its sound hole is in the shape of a "flaming sword," a symbol associated with Islam and Mohammed. The viola d'amore has the body shape of a viol, that is, sloping shoulders, flat back, high ribs and a rosette but is played like a violin or viola held under the chin. Unlike the viol family, it does not have frets. It usually has a carved head instead of a scroll, the most common one being a blindfolded cupid.
The majority of violas d'amore have fourteen strings -- seven playing strings and seven additional resonating or sympathetic strings that go through the bridge and between the fingerboard and neck of the instrument, held by individual pegs in the elongated pegbox. The sympathetic strings are most often tuned to the same pitches as the playing strings. Instruments exist with different combinations of playing strings (four, five, six, and seven) and sympathetic strings (from four up to fourteen). In Germany, violas d'amore without sympathetic strings existed for a short time during the early 18th century.
During the Baroque period, it was common practice to tune the viola d'amore in the key of the individual piece. Joseph Maier listed 16 different tunings for viola d'amore in his 1732 treatise Museum musicum.Vivaldi used the tunings of D major, d minor, A major, a minor and F major in his eight concerti for viola d'amore. By the end of the 18th century, the tuning settled into one tonality, which is the one that is used today and most often for classical, romantic and contemporary pieces. That tuning, from the lowest seventh string up to the top first string, is
