Violotta

A violotta is a tenor viola invented by the German luthier Alfred Stelzner and patented in 1891. It is tuned in G D A E, an octave below the violin. Other instruments called "tenor violin" were tuned a step lower: F C G D. It is rarely used by composers. One of the few works where it is used is the String Quintet in A by Felix Draeseke. It is also used in Max von Schillings' opera Der Pfeifertag, and in Sergei Taneyev's String Trio in E♭ major, Op. 31.