Violino

As Printed on a Score

Labels the violin staves, usually Violino I and Violino II (or the plural Violini I, II) on the first system and Vl., Vln., Vn. or Vni. on later ones. Inside a running direction the plural names the section — 4 Violini, Violini II — and a desk count or Solo over the part means fewer players until Tutti restores them.

Abbreviations: Vl., Vln., Vn., Viol., Vni.

Also spelled: Violini, Violin

How Composers Use It

Written in treble clef at sounding pitch, down to the open G below middle C. The firsts and seconds are separate sections reading separate parts: the firsts usually carry the tune and the top of the harmony, the seconds double a third or octave lower, fill the middle, or answer the firsts in dialogue. Write div. when one section must play two notes, and reach for con sord., sul G or sul pont. when you need a new colour rather than more players.

Example

Bruckner, Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, finale, double-bass staff, m. 83: “Celli und Violini II stets hervortretend” (cellos and second violins always to the fore) — a German sentence that still names the section in Italian, beside a pp.

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