Thomastik-Infeld Viola Strings
Doctor Franz Thomastik, a philosopher and Otto Infeld, an engineer, partnered in 1921. They established a company in Vienna that manufactured a new steel string for musical instruments. They passed away and in 1951, Margaretha Infeld took over managing the company. Under her shrewd judgement the world's most popular viola strings, Thomastik Dominant, were produced. Other note-worthy strings are: Belcanto and Belcanto Gold for cello; Vision and Vision Solo for violin and viola;, Vision Titanium for violin, Spirocore for violin, viola, cello and bass; Infeld Red and Blue for violin; Precision and Superflexible for violin, viola, cello and bass.
Pirastro Viola Strings
For over 200 years, the Pirazzi family has been making strings for stringed instruments such as: violin, viola, cello and bass. They are known world wide for their quality gut-core strings. As modern technology progressed, they developed synthetic and various steel and non-steel materials such as gold, tungsten, silver and titanium for making more advanced strings. Some of their popular brands are: Gold Label and Wondertone Solo for violin; Evah Gold, Oliv, Eudoxa and Tonica for violin and viola; Pirastro Passione, Chromcor, Piranito for violin, viola and cello; Evah Pirazzi and Obligato for violin, viola, cello and bass.
Jargar Viola Strings
In the early 1950's, a young Danish cellist, Jarl Hansen, dreamed of creating a different kind of string. A non gut string with a warm, brilliant tone but having greater stability and durability. When Jarl was not playing the cello in the Royal Danish Opera Orchestra, he was experimenting with different kinds of materials on an old machine in the basement of his house. In 1956 he established his own company. The rest is history. Jargar strings for violin, viola and cello are world famous.
Prim Viola Strings
Gunnar Fröjel, who worked as a professional musician in Stockholm, began manufacturing Prim strings 60 years ago. At first, he manufactured strings on a small scale, just for himself and other musicians in the orchestra. As the popularity of the strings grew, he increased production and began exporting all over the world. Today, Prim strings are manufactured using modern, computerized machines. This technique asures consistency and quality. Affordably priced, Prim is recognized as an excellent choice for violin, viola and cello.
Larsen Viola Strings
Laurits Th. Larsen grew up in a family of gardeners who expressed little interest in music. However, early in his childhood, he developed a passion for classical music and at the age of 11 began violin lessons with the dream of becoming a professional musician. When cello strings that he ordered for a friend did not arrive, he went to his garage and using a more than 100 year old winding machine, tried his hand at making the strings his friend so desperately needed. The result was better than any one had anticipated and as a result, Laurits Th. Larsen founded Larsen Strings in 1990. Laren cello strings were followed by the development of Larsen violin and then viola strings. In 2004 Tzigane strings for violin became available and in 2012 Magnacore, Virtuoso and Crown for cello were introduced into the market.
Super-Sensitive Viola Strings
Ed Wackerle, out of frustration with the quality of gut strings being offered to his musician friends in the 20's, developed a new stainless steel string. They were well received for their stability and in 1930, the manufacturing of these steel strings, called Red Label, began. Vincent Cavanaugh and his son John bought the Chicago based company in 1967 and in 1972 they moved the company to Sarasota, Florida. Experiments with a multi-stranded core gave them the Sensicore for violin, viola and cello, Octava for violin and viola and just recently, their new Red Label Pearl for violin. However, most note worthy are their Red Label strings for violin, viola, cello and bass.
D'Addario Viola Strings
Salle Church records of 1680 state: "Donato D'Addario, occupation, "cordaro" string maker". As it appears, for centuries the D'addario family has been making strings for musical instruments. Then, in 1905 an earthquake caused great distruction to their small town of Salle, Italy. As a result, Rocco and Charles (or Carmine) D'Addario packed up their belongings and immigrated to Astoria, Queens, New York. Soon, Rocco grew home sick and returned to Salle; Charles, however stayed. Then, in 1918, he began manufacturing strings. D'Addario is a name associated with quality strings for Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Ukulele and Orchestral Stringed Instruments. Of note are the new Zyex strings for Violin and Viola; ProArte for violin, viola and cello; Helicore and Prelude strings for violin, viola, cello and bass.