SOUNDPOST

Letters, emails, online comments

LETTER of the MONTH

Measuring a viola’s internal sound pressure

PERFECT FIT

Thank you for the September article on small violas (‘Does size matter?’, September 2025) which I found to be timely and informative. Two years ago, I started a quest to replace my 15½-inch student-grade instrument with something better. Having small hands limits what I can comfortably play. Maybe I should have taken up the violin as a hobby, but that plangent tone got the better of me!

My experience, here in the US, was that the number and quality of small violas was limited. Communication with several luthiers about a custom smaller instrument was also met with little success, or in some cases, downright derision. So, I cast my net further afield and it landed in the UK, where to my delight I discovered there are a number of luthiers making small violas: Colin Adamson, William Castle, Ben Conover, Colin Cross, Helen Michetschläger, Steffen Nowak, Malcolm Porter and Rod Ward. My apologies to those I missed. After reviewing websites to see what was on offer and communicating with several makers, I settled on a 15¼ inch copy of an Anselmo Bellosio viola crafted by William Castle.