The Morrigan viola d’amore
My beautiful viola d’amore is now with me in Ireland. Designed and made by the incredible Jonathan Hill ( https://www.jonathanhill-luthier.com/ ) , this instrument is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen!
Below you can see some close up video and photos of the design features. I asked Jonathan to make the traditional carved head on the scroll a depiction of The Morrigan, one of the many prominent figures to feature in Irish mythology and is primarily associated with war / battle, fate and death.
She is a gifted shape shifter and is known to favour changing into the crow. The Morrigan was one of the Tuatha De Danann, who were the folk of the Goddess Danu. (https://www.theirishroadtrip.com/the-morrigan/ for more on her!)
I wanted this d’amore to be a true one of it’s kind instrument and to really reflect my adopted home of the last 15 years. The result is staggering. She sounds as good as she looks and I will be sharing some video soon.
The Morrigan head with crows wings
A bit about the viola d’amore:
This stringed instrument is part of the Viol family and like the violin and viola is played under the chin with a bow. However the main difference is a d’amore has 6 or 7 playing strings and the same again as “sympathetic” strings, which vibrate as you play the main set. My d’amore has 14 strings, 7 playing/7 sympathetic.
Below you can see the crows feather detail on the back and the celtic knot by the sound hole
The d’amore is most often taken up by professional violin and viola players as although there are similarities, the technical requirements are quite challenging. The strings are very close together and as there are 7 of them it is easy to hit more than one at a time. The other challenging thing is the tuning of the instrument. We are used to our strings being tuned in 5ths but here there is a mixture of 4th and 5ths and the instrument is retuned depending on the piece.
It has been a humbling experience being a complete beginner again, it is like being 5 years old again and relearning everything….a fun but at times frustrating challenge!
The purchase of my viola d’amore was only made possible as I was lucky enough to receive a bursary giving 50% towards the purchase.
Supported by Music Network’s Music Capital Scheme, funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Music Network is funded by The Arts Council
