Material relating to the viola, its history, technique, use as a solo and orchestral instrument, and its use in chamber music, is practically non-existent. For this reason, this document is being written in an attempt first, to collect and discuss, for the benefit of the author as well as for any who might have some interest in the viola, facts which might eliminate some of the common misunderstandings about the instrument, and second, to show, through examination of viola music, the use to which the viola has been put in solo, orchestral, and chamber music from the Baroque period to the present.