Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 18 of 100
b) Violas Read and hear this section in the playable edition →
Melody in the alto-tenor register and a still higher compass is assigned to the violas. Cantabile melodies however are not so frequently written for violas as for violins and 'cellos, partly because the viola tone is slightly nasal in quality and better fitted for short characteristic phrases, partly because the number of viola players in an orchestra is smaller. Melodies confided to the violas are generally doubled by other strings or by the wood-wind.
Examples:
No. 4. Pan Voyevoda, duet in Act II 145. A long cantabile melody in the violas, dolce, in unison with the mezzo soprano voice.
No. 5. The Golden Cockerel 193.—Flowing cantabile.
No. 6. Sadko. Symphonic tableau 12.—Muted violas. A short dance theme, piano in D♭ major. (The same theme in Eng. horn in the 6th scene of the opera Sadko is slightly more penetrating in tone).
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