The viola is not the best known instrument in the violin family. In fact, ask anyone you know that is not involved with orchestra what it is and they would blink dumbly at you. In reality, even though the violin is better known in today's society, it is possible that violas appeared before violins because the Italian word for violin, violino, is derived from the word viola, although no one knows who invented it or …showed first 75 words of 386 total…

…showed last 75 words of 386 total…until the opera "Orfeo," written in 1607, that violas began to become more important. Gradually, violas earned their own parts, and even get very important parts in pieces. Violas took a secondary role in the 17th and 18th centuries, even though musicians such as Mozart and Bach were both accomplished violists. It resurged with compositions like "Harold in Italy" in 1834 by French composer Hector Berlioz. Johnannes Brahms and Hector Schumann also wrote important pieces for violas