The complete idiot's guide to classical music (15 page)

 
Music Word
A
glissando
is a quick sliding up or down the scale.

This is the one woodwind that is still frequently made of wood. The piccolo is a half-sized flute, with a range a full octave higher. It’s the highest pitched of all orchestral instruments, and it is used to evoke wild revelry and abandon.

The flute is the soprano of the woodwinds. Its sound covers three octaves up from C. The flute has a crisp, clear sound that ranges from bright and festive to plaintive, depending on which end of the range is used. Whenever the composer wants us to hear twittering birds, that’s usually the flute.

The modern flute, a descendant of the recorder, was once blown straight-on like its ancestor. Today, it’s held sideways; the sound is produced when the player blows across the sharp edge of a hole near one side. The standard soprano flute is 27 inches long. There is also an alto flute, larger than its soprano sister, that produces a sensual, somewhat melancholy tone.

The flute has been a favored instrument for concertos and sonatas since the days it was featured by Bach and Telemann. Mozart immortalized it in his opera
The Magic Flute.

The oboe is the soprano of the double-reed woodwinds (or the mezzo of the whole wind family). Its range covers two octaves from just below middle C. The standard oboe is similar to the clarinet in appearance; it’s distinguished by being three inches shorter (23 inches for the oboe; 26 inches for the clarinet) and because the flaring bell shape is not as pronounced. Less commonly seen is an alto oboe, the oboe d’amore. With its relatively high register, the oboe is capable of making lively music; however, most composers prefer its less cheerful moods. They like their instrument mysterious, mournful, and melancholy.

Part of the job of playing the oboe is mastering the art of honing reeds to the desired degree of slenderness—a tricky piece of work. Oboes have had a role in the vast majority of orchestral works composed over the past 300 years.

The English horn is a one-and-one-half-sized oboe with an alto voice. It ranges from just below middle C up two octaves. It has a smokier, more exotic quality than the oboe.

The clarinet was the last woodwind to join the orchestral family and is a favorite of classical and jazz artists alike. The instrument has 18 holes, six of which are covered by fingers and the remainder by keys. The pitch of the tone is determined by which holes are stopped. The clarinet is an amazingly versatile instrument, capable of expressing a gamut of moods and quickly going from loud to soft and back. As an example of its flexibility, in military band music where there are no strings, the clarinet takes the violin role.

The most common instruments in symphony orchestras are the A (for keys with sharps) and the B-flat (for keys with flats). Clarinetists usually have both on hand. There is also a higher clarinet, the E-flat, and a lower-pitched clarinet or bass clarinet. In all, there are 13 types of clarinets. The lower register clarinets (alto, bass, and contrabass) have upturned metal bells, which makes them resemble saxophones. If the score calls for a saxophone and there is none in the orchestra, the part is played by a clarinet. Mozart was the earliest proponent of the clarinet and helped to raise the new instrument to its illustrious stature.

The bass clarinet was perfected by one Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone, in 1840. This helps to explain the uncanny resemblance between the two instruments. The bass clarinet is the woodwind equivalent to the cello in pitch. It ranges a full octave lower than the alto clarinet.

The bassoon is the lowest and largest of the standard wind instruments. It ranges from two octaves below middle C to almost an octave above it. If not doubled up, it would extend nine feet in length, which would make it inconvenient to play as well as unpleasant for neighboring musicians. Like its cousin, the oboe, the bassoon has a crook (called a bocal) on one end leading to a double reed. At the other end is an upward-turned bell. The bassoon is a heavy instrument requiring extra support to remain upright and in place. Its tonal range is comparable to the cello, although its nasal quality makes it more of a fun figure than a bearer of solemn tidings. The bassoon has the distinction of being the opening player in the
The Rite of Spring.

The contrabassoon is an octave lower than the bassoon and two times as long. It is clearly the descendent of the serpent. Beethoven was the first to use a contrabassoon in his Fifth and Ninth symphonies, and to invoke the darkness of a dungeon in
Fidelio
. Not surprisingly, the melancholy Mahler favored the contrabassoon. Late 19th and 20th century composers seem to like the massive woodwind, but it’s still used infrequently in most orchestras.

The forerunners of the modern trumpet were straight hollow tubes with no finger holes, valves, or slides. They appeared in most ancient societies, often to rouse soldiers to battle. During the Middle Ages, trumpets grew to unprecedented lengths, until finally the unwieldy size caused trumpet makers to bend the tube. The valves that are part of every trumpet today did not appear until the early 19th century.

The modern trumpet is four to four-and-one-half feet long before bending; the baroque trumpet was seven or eight feet long. Baroque works are often written for a trio of trumpets; two of these are played on a smaller instrument, called a piccolo trumpet. Trumpet players, like clarinet players, typically carry more than one instrument, tuned to different pitches. The standard pitches are B-flat, C, and D. Trumpets cover a range of about three octaves. Using the valves increases the length of available tube, therefore deepening the pitch. Trumpets—and all other brasses—can be muted to change the effect.

The cornet, a favorite instrument of military bands, is a cousin of the trumpet. It is the same length as the B-flat trumpet, but its configuration is conical instead of cylindrical. Composers of the last century often preferred its more refined tone. Another trumpet relative is the flugelhorn, which has a more mellow sound than either the trumpet or cornet.

The horn is more commonly called the French horn, although why it is known by a longer and not entirely accurate appellation is a mystery. Possibly because the trumpet was once called a battle horn, and the two had to be distinguished.

The horn is one of the oldest instruments. Just hollow out an animal tusk, and voilà! Blowing into a conch shell can also be called playing a type of horn. By the 17th century, the horn had developed into 16 feet of coiled brass, with a wide, flaring bell. It was known as the “hunting horn,” and designed to be slung on the user’s shoulder. The invention of piston and rotary valves enabled the tube to be shortened and the player to generate a much greater range of notes.

The French horn today is 11 feet of coiled brass, with the recognizable flare and a funnel-shaped mouthpiece. The player supports the instrument by placing a hand in the bell. There is also a popular larger version—a double instrument—which is coiled twice, four feet longer, and has an added fourth valve. The tube circles around the player, and the bell sits between the right shoulder and hip.

Like the oboe, the French horn is not a piece of cake to play. It can be temperamental, particularly in heat and humidity (but then so are a lot of us). When played by an expert musician and not acting up, the instrument has a full, rich, mellow character that blends well with the other orchestral instruments. Horns are a staple of Baroque music (lots of fanfares) and were favored by Schumann and Mahler.

The word trombone comes from the Italian word for “big trumpet.” Before it gained its Italian name, it was called the sackbut, from French words meaning “push-pull.” The instrument sans slide dates back as early as the third century; the distinctive slide mechanism emerged during the Renaissance. Originally there were alto, tenor, and bass trombones, but the greater range of the modern instrument enables it to combine alto and tenor in one. The bass trombone still stands as a separate instrument. The tenor trombone consists of nine feet of brass molded into three separate sections. The most identifiable feature is the U-shaped slide. The slide serves the same purpose as the valves or keys on the other brass instruments: Shifting the slide into one of seven basic positions changes the tones. Musicians also modulate tones by movement of breath and lips. Like the harp, the trombone is capable of producing glissando, although of a totally different color and style. This comes from the musician blowing into the instrument and moving the slide simultaneously.

Monteverdi employed five trombones in his opera
L’Orfeo
. Shortly after, trombones fell from favor, only to be revived in another
L’Orfeo
; this one by Gluck. Since then, trombones have been regular members of the orchestra.

When composers want to have the timbre of a particular instrument but at a lower pitch than it can encompass, they turn to larger and deeper-sounding members of the same family. We’ve already mentioned the alto flute, bass clarinet, and contrabassoon. For trombone, the designated low-hitter is the bass trombone, capable of going several notes beyond the bottom range of the regular, so-called “tenor” trombone.

The tuba is the youngest and biggest member of the brass family. It was invented during the 1820s, but was initially regarded as a bit rambunctious for genteel concert audiences. It took a decade or so for the massive brasswork to gain acceptance. The tuba is the lowest-pitched of the brasses, but like other instruments, it comes in several varieties. Listeners may be surprised to find out that there are soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, and contrabass tubas—and that’s just for starters. A featured tuba player may have 13 tubas and upwards of 40 mouthpieces. The mouthpieces are often changed to suit the tone color of a particular orchestral work. Like other brasses, the sound comes from the vibration of the musician’s lips on the mouthpiece.

The primary orchestral tuba is tuned to B-flat, and covers a range of about two octaves (always below middle C). The bass tuba, originally called the bombardon) has a range of two-and-one-half octaves corresponding to the lowest notes on a piano. There’s also a tenor tuba, with a sound quality similar to the tenor trombone. It’s more commonly known as the euphonium. The baritone tuba also goes by the name baritone horn. Another variant is the sousaphone, named for John Philip Sousa who cleverly realized that a removable bell would make the instrument more convenient for marching band members; like the hunting horn, it’s constructed to fit comfortably over a shoulder.

Tuba players are unique: There is only one of them in each orchestra. Often, they play in conjunction with the bass trombone. The tuba was a favorite of Wagner, and is featured in the powerful
Die Meistersinger
overture. The Wagner tuba is a synthesis of the tuba and French horn.

The bass drum is always impressive to look at. It’s the biggest member of the drum family. It migrated to the orchestra from military marching bands. A single-headed model (or gong drum) is popular in England, although the doubled-headed bass drum is the one generally found in American orchestras.

The snare drum is the one we associate with soldiers in the American Revolution. It was about that time that the snare drum came to the orchestra from the military. In marching bands, the small drum is slung at the drummer’s side; in the orchestra it rests on a stand. The snare drum has two heads; long, slender metal strings (snares) are stretched across the lower head. The drummer strikes the top head; air hits the lower head, which in turn hits the snares. The result is a distinctive, reverberating sound. In its civilian form, the snare drum is a soloist in Rossini’s overture to “The Thieving Magpie,” and is featured in Ravel’s
Bolero
and Berlioz’s
Symphonie Fantastique
.

Timpani are more commonly known as kettledrums. They look like they’d be great fun to play—and probably are; but as the most important of the percussion group, it takes more than wild enthusiasm to play them well. Any mistake reverberates throughout the symphony hall. The kettledrum consists of a large copper or fiberglass bowl with skin stretched across one end; frets to be tightened for fine-tuning and a foot pedal for changing pitch complete the picture. The drumsticks are 14 inches long and come with both hard and soft heads. The original timpani were flatter, designed to be slung over a horse. They sounded throughout the Crusades—on the side of the Turks. In the orchestra, timpani come in five sizes and rest on wooden or metal frames.