What’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle? Well, I’ve heard it said that a violin has strings, and a fiddle has “strangs.” But in reality, violin and fiddle are just two different words for the same instrument. And in fact classical players use the term fiddle all the time. A classical violinist might call a priceless Stradivarius, for example, “a terrific fiddle.” What’s more, the words themselves, violin and fiddle, are much closer than they might appear: they both derive from the very same Latin word, which is thought to be vidula, or vitula. In Germanic countries in the Middle Ages the V of vidula took on an “F” sound, leading to words like Fiedel and Fithele, while in Romance language areas, the V stayed a V, and vidula became viula, and vielle, and eventually viola. The word fiddle, surprisingly, was in common use way before the word violin. Neither the modern word violin nor the instrument to which it refers was in standard use until the 1500s, but musicians played on a variety of instruments known as fiddles during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
A Minute with Miles – a production of South Carolina ETV Radio, made possible by the J.M. Smith Corporation.
Miles Hoffman is the founder and violist of the American Chamber Players, with whom he regularly tours the United States, and the Virginia I. Norman Distinguished Visiting Professor of Chamber Music at the Schwob School of Music, in Columbus, Georgia. He has appeared as viola soloist with orchestras across the country, and his solo performances on YouTube have received well over 700,000 views.