viola d'amore
Anonymous
built in Germany
An anonymous viola d’amore, built in Germany in the 19th century, bearing a label reading “Joh. Christian Hoffmann, Leipzig 1731,” with a painted coat of arms on the back and a painted fingerboard.
History of this instrument
In 2015, the Musical Instrument Fund received this viola d’amore as a donation from a private individual. The instrument is loaned out on a project basis and has already been played by many violinists, including Judith Steenbrink, Quirine Hoek, Maria Garcia Sanchez, and Yannick Hiwat, who performed with it at the Wonderfeel and North Sea Jazz festivals.
In the 2023 issue of Het Muziekinstrumentenfonds Magazine, we interviewed Yannick Hiwat about using this Baroque instrument for contemporary music:
https://heyzine.com/flip-book/cd9e6f7774.html
About the builder Anonymous
For a number of instruments in our collection, the experts have been unable to determine who built them. Often, however, the location or region is known, and in most cases, a construction period can also be determined. This conclusion...
