Music for Percussion
Varèse – Ionisation. This atonal composition uses all sorts of percussion, mainly non-pitched. Some of the sounds I detected were scraping, possible reco-reco, or sand paper blocks; wood sounds, possibly Chinese temples; cymbals; side drums; bells and a siren sound, possibly created by the musical saw. This piece is a good example of all the extraordinary sounds that can be created by the percussion section of an orchestra.
Steve Reich – Drumming. I came across this piece whilst looking at African Music, as I discovered Steve Reich had visited Africa and Drumming was the result. This is an amazing piece of music, comprising of four movements (named parts Ι to ΙV). Each movement merges into the next as a different instrument takes over. The first movement is played on bongo drums, with the same melody and rhythm throughout, more drums join and the tempo changes, slow, quicker, slows and then quickens at the end of the movement before slowing at the change to the second movement to allow the marimba to take over. The marimba is joined through this movement by more marimbas, a piccolo, whistle and female voices. These die off towards the end of this movement, leaving the marimba, which is joined by the glockenspiel at the beginning of the third, which becomes the solo voice as the marimba fades away. All the voices come back in for the fourth movement (or part), as the piece moves towards the climax. It ends abruptly on one final beat of the bongo. I like this piece of music immensely, it captures the beat of African tribal music as well as encompassing contemporary 20th century western music.
Bartók – Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta in B Flat. I liked this piece of music as well. The second and fourth movements based on Hungarian dance themes were particularly enjoyable. Strings play the dominant role in this orchestral work, but percussion, especially timpani and xylophone in the 3rd movement, fill out the colour of the piece. The keyboard parts, also fill out the piece.
Bruckner Study Session
Tonight, I attended a BBC Orchestra of Wales Performer Plus session, with the orchestra’s principle trombone, Donal Bannister, in one of the rehearsal rooms at the Millennium Centre . The first part was about Bruckner’s upbringing and education. Donal and two other trombonists demonstrated counterpoint and what was acceptable in Austria when Bruckner was learning his craft. He also discussed some of Bruckner’s quirky little traits, to demonstrate the kind of person he was inwardly and how his mind worked.
The second half of the evening, Donal was joined by members of the orchestra’s string section and analysed how Bruckner constructed his String Quintet in F major. They played parts of the first movement and their individual solo part (2 violins, 2 violas and a cello), and how the slightest change would have taken the movement in a completely different direction. It was interesting to see how Bruckner would slowly, one tiny step at a time develop his music, as he does with his symphonies. The evening finished with the quintet giving a performance of the entire first movement. This was a very interesting and thoroughly enjoyable evening. On Friday I am going to watch a performance by the BBC Wales Symphony Orchestra of Bruckner’s seventh symphony. I am looking forward to this.
Favourite Instruments of the Orchestra
Having now completed my research of the instruments of the orchestra, I can say that most instruments have some appeal to me, and it is the sum of the instruments played in harmony that give the orchestra it’s sound.
Looking at it section by section, the wind is the mid range of the orchestra and their soft, woody tones can sound so good in particular settings. The high notes of the flute to the lower notes of the bassoon all have their appeal and their place in the orchestra. My favourite in this section would probably be the clarinet though.
The brass section, could be my favourite if I had to choose a favourite section, as I have been trying to play a little trumpet. I would have to say that the trumpet would be my favourite brass instrument, but where would we be without the horns bridging the gap between the woodwind and brass sections. There is nothing more dramatic in orchestral music than a fanfare by the brass section. Looking back at the music chosen for this section, Janacek’s Sinfonietta is a great demonstration of this effect.
The string section is the engine room of the orchestra. The contrast between the high notes of the violins to the low notes of the double bass demonstrates the range of sound within this section. My personal favourite in the strings has always been the cello, but when studying this section in the last few days, I have become a fan of the viola. I listened to the viola parts in the live performance I saw tonight of the first movement of Bruckner’s String Quintet, with added interest following this study, and was not disappointed.
I was amazed at how many different types of percussion there are. Some of these are just really for special effects, but the pitched percussion instruments especially can play a very important roll in the orchestra. Hard to pick a favourite percussion instrument, but as I particularly enjoyed Steve Reich’s Drumming, I will pick the bongo drums, although I realize these rarely feature in orchestral work.
That leaves the keyboards. I won’t pick a favourite here, as each individual keyboard instrument each has a role to play in a particular context. The harpsichord is important for trying to recreate the music of the Baroque or Renaissance period. There is more great music written for the piano than any other instrument. So many great piano concertos, sonatas, trios etc, it must have been difficult to choose the recommended music for this instrument. The organ also has it’s part to play in many orchestral works and solo works. Keyboard instruments are rarely heard together, but are tailored to the needs of the particular piece they are written for.
This concludes my work on project 3 of part one. Here are my notes for this section: OCA Notes Part One Project Three – Instruments of the Orchestra