Cellist

The cellos are an almost schizophrenic bunch. Since they have a comparable body of solo literature to the violin, they have a soloistic impulse almost from the get go. There can often be the element of the mysogenistic cello jock amongst the males, the inverse of which is almost unheard of in the females. On the other hand, they have a great love for the symphonic repertoire and are often very much into the historically informed peformance practice movement. They always seem to make each other birthday cakes, too. They have severe (and sometimes even legitimate) concerns about personal space for themselves and their instruments, which are often met with knowing looks and winks and smiles by the other string players, who wish that they could also just set their instruments on the floor rather than hold them up for several hours at a time.

That cellist- is she talking to herself? Out loud? In 3rd person?......now she's talking to her cello....

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Viola

Larger than the violin but smaller than the cello. It sounds sort of chocolaty, but playing it is difficult because it's range is fit in an instrument like 30 % too small. Like the 2nd best instrument in the orchestra, behind cello. Often underappreciated, but it's really one of the best instruments out there. Violists themselves are quite eccentric- a big bundle of different personalaties.

The violas like to call themselves the meat of the orchestra sandwich, which basically means that they like to hide under the pieces of bread rather than call too much attention to themselves. Violists have to struggle with an instrument whose range is forced into a sounding body of air which is perhaps 30 percent smaller than the acoustically appropriate volume. This makes for a constant quest for the ideal viola sound (which some would say would be the viola sitting in its case) and the distinct air of the absent-minded professor amongst violists. If you need someone to fix your computer, start with the viola section.

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