Instruments of the Orchestra 1
The symphony orchestra arguably is one of the greatest inventions of humanity. The variety of sounds, the music it plays, the range of dynamics and pitch, its amazing diversity and unity, its emotional range, its connection to history and the transcendent, all indicate something unmatched in human experience.
To get acquainted with the instruments that make up the modern orchestra, listen to Benjamin Britten's masterpiece, The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Play it on good speakers, and you'll probably want to listen to it several times. An article in the Britannica about this piece is here.
Listen to a performance of the entire piece before a live audience here: Young Person's Guide
The 17-minute piece is in two parts. In today's blog, I'll only talk about Part 1, a Theme and Variations. The theme, originally from Baroque English composer Henry Purcell (1659-1695), is varied 17 times.
Theme, full orchestra
Woodwind family
Brass family
String family
Percussion family
Theme, played again by the full orchestra.
There follows then a series of 13 variations played by small groups of instruments from each of the families:
Flutes and piccolo (woodwinds)
Oboes (woodwinds)
Clarinets (woodwinds)
Bassoons (woodwinds)
Violins (strings)
Violas (strings)
Cellos (strings)
Double basses, contrabasses (strings)
French horns (brass)
Trumpets (brass)
Trombones and Tuba (brass); tuba solo and in canon (meaning 5) with trombones
Members of the percussion family, beginning with timpani (kettle drums), then on to bass drum, crash cymbals, tambourine, triangle, snare drum, wood block, xylophone, castanets, gong, and whip
Now, at about 14 minutes into the video, we hear a brief moment of quiet tension and expectation before the magnificent fugue, Part 2 of the piece.
This is the first of two posts about this magnificent music and the instruments of the orchestra.
Next post: Instruments of the Orchestra 2