[Pt.I Proj.3] ~Research point – Instruments of the Orchestra
Research point
Use the internet to look for video clips of orchestras and orchestra sections (woodwind, brass, strings, percussion) to familiarise yourself with where each section sits. Look for clips of individual instruments that you’re less familiar with, to get an idea of their shape and sound. Now read through the notes and guidance on suggested listening before you decide which sections of the orchestra and which instruments you want to follow up in more depth. The exercise that follows the notes will ask you to do this in a structured way.
Woodwind
Mozart – Serenade No 10 in B flat K361 Gran Partita
Reicha – Wind Quintets
Reicha’s Wind Quintets are absolutely beautiful and demonstrate the full scope of what winds have to offer. The agility of these instruments is fully showcased with swirling, soaring melodies and note flourishes. It is truly like birdsong. The other striking feature is the warmth and depth of the tones. It is so warm and gentle and the blend of the wind quintet is rich and intimate whilst covering a large frequency and pitch range. Magical earthy music.
Poulenc – Sextet
Brass
Copland – Fanfare for the Common Man
Janacek – Sinfonietta
Malcolm Arnold – Quintet for Brass Op 73
Malcom Arnold’s – Quintet for Brass Op 73 opens with an Allegro. The Allgero immediately brings to mind fanfares and marches and gives a sense of pace. The raspy, percussive and sometimes shrill timbre of brass is what makes them so exciting and I guess the reason they are so well suited for action sequences on film soundtracks. The second movement II Chaconne show the brass quintet in a more emotional and lyrical light. I really love this and find the venerability expressed very affecting and unusual.
Strings
Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Elgar – Serenade for Strings
Elgar’s Serenade for Strings is one of my favourite pieces of music. It is absolutely stunningly atmospheric. Strings really can express emotions with such accuracy. There are endless nuances and I feel like a whole story is told, unfolds as you travel along with the piece. I find strings easily can maintain melodic independence and make it easy to hear multiple and contrapuntal lines, whilst resting on a harmonic and perfectly blended bead in another, often lower, register. In my view, a string section is the most fully rounded and ’complete’ section of the orchestra.
Shostakovich – Sting Quartets
Percussion
Varèse – Ionisation
I’m a fan of Varèse, but I couldn’t resist listening to Ionisation yet again. I chose to watch (on YouTube) Boulez’ and Ensemble InterContemporain’s performance of it. To me this piece has structure and melodic phrases just like any other piece. It definitively sings even though it is performed entirely on percussions and some sirens. The way this video is shot with small inserts of the various instruments ending with a fish eye lens is also completely fitting. Love it!
Steve Reich – Drumming
BartÓk – Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Keyboard
Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker Suite.
Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy