#ViolaJokes
Whenever you hear a classical music joke, chances are the punchline is something negative about the viola or violists. Whole websites are devoted to viola jokes, and it has been a source of contention for hundreds of years. It is generally believed that the viola joke tradition originated c.1700 when viola parts were normally very simple (and therefore normally taken up by the lesser talented players!). Poor violists, they’ve had to put up with it for over 300 years!
Ahead of our CLoSer concert with New York violist, Ljova next week, we thought it would only be right to show our respect to this long-standing tradition and to collect our favourite viola jokes. We called on our Twitter followers to share the best ones they could come up with too and we’ve collated our favourites below. Enjoy!
@CityLdnSinfonia what's the difference between a Viola Player and a conductor? (About 5 Bars)
— Mr Will Hollands (@pitstone007) April 20, 2015
@CityLdnSinfonia How do you stop your violin from getting stolen? Put it in a viola case.
— Tim Burke (@timburkemusic) April 19, 2015
@CityLdnSinfonia what's the difference between a Viola Player and a conductor? (About 5 Bars)
— Mr Will Hollands (@pitstone007) April 20, 2015
hehe #violajokes pic.twitter.com/MVUZmxGiQE
— City of London Sinfonia (CLS) (@CityLdnSinfonia) April 20, 2015
@CityLdnSinfonia how do you get a viola to play pp? Mark it "solo"
— Andrew Osborne (@AndrewOsborne36) April 20, 2015
@CityLdnSinfonia Why do so many viola players stand outside their homes looking lost? They can't find the key and don't know when to come in
— Musical Miscellany (@musicalmiscell) April 20, 2015
@CityLdnSinfonia @ljovadotcom What's the similarity between a viola and a lawsuit? Everyone's happier when the case is closed. #violajoke
— Ben Palmer 🇪🇺 (@conductorben) April 19, 2015
@CityLdnSinfonia perfect pitch – getting a viola in a skip on the first throw
— Andrew Osborne (@AndrewOsborne36) April 20, 2015
As you can imagine, the lovely violists of the world didn’t approve… and so we joined thought it only fair to begin a #violajokerevenge
How are violins & violas different?
They're not. The violin just looks smaller as the violinist's head is so much bigger #violajokerevenge— City of London Sinfonia (CLS) (@CityLdnSinfonia) April 20, 2015
https://twitter.com/petmw14/status/590182781688352768
@CityLdnSinfonia and still, a cello burns longer.
— Lev 'Ljova' Zhurbin | @[email protected] (@ljovadotcom) April 20, 2015
.@petmw14 haha love it! or – why is a violinist's fingers like lightening? Because they never strike the same place twice! #violajokerevenge
— City of London Sinfonia (CLS) (@CityLdnSinfonia) April 20, 2015
CLOSER: Émigré – Ljova
Wednesday 29 April 2015, 7:30pm
Village Underground, Shoreditch
Tickets £15 or £5 for students (pre-register at www.cls.co.uk/cls-fiver) available from Spitalfields Music Box Office or via phone on 020 7377 1362.