As previously mentioned, the a-string on the violin is the status quo, the string that is used to tune an orchestra. It is the highest open string note on viola and cello.
One of my favorite sounds in the world is the sound of an orchestra tuning. I almost want to say it's not a musical sound because technically it's not music, it's not a tune that you can hum even though you can hum the pitch. The technical perfect A pitch is A440, and depending on the oboe or the piece the a-string will be tuned higher or lower accordingly. There are a lot of marks on Julian Matthias' fingerboard right under the a-string; it's probably the most used string as a result. (Just reminded me that there's probably a musician-related joke about knowing how to finger properly...eh, too lazy to find one.)
I think that the first note I ever played on Julian Matthias was an open A-- I played the a string as it was, with no fingers, just the clean and unadulterated note, just to hear how the sound would carry out of the instrument. Julian Matthias' maker was Chinese; the other violin that I was considering at the time was German (not that this information swayed my opinion on which one to choose to purchase).
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