Here is the link to my notes on this project:
M1PTP – Part 3 Project 1 – Technical Innovation and the Orchestra
23 Saturday Feb 2013
Here is the link to my notes on this project:
M1PTP – Part 3 Project 1 – Technical Innovation and the Orchestra
12 Saturday Jan 2013
The Wagner Tuba was created by Richard Wagner for his cycle of operas Der Ring des Nibelungen. He came up with the idea sometime after visiting the Paris workshop of Adolphe Sax in 1853 whilst composing the first of the cycle, Das Rheingold.
Bass Wagner Tuba in F by Mahillion, Brussels, c1890. (unaccredited photograph).
Wagner was looking to bridge the sound between the horns and the trombones and this instrument, probably originally a Saxhorn, was what he was looking for. They were played by a second horn section. The fifth and seventh players would play the tenor tuba in b flat, whilst the sixth and eighth player would play the bass tuba in F. The instruments were adapted to be played with a horn mouthpiece so that horn players could play the parts.
It is not known with any certainty who made the original Wagner tubas but C. W. Moritz of Berlin have claimed they made them. The originals were still in existence at Bayreuth until at least 1939 but do not appear to exist any longer.
The Wagner tuba has the appearance of a horn, but there are variations. Whilst the horn very slowly increases in bore size, the tuba steadily increases, and whilst the horn has a very large bell the tuba has a much smaller one. There are four valves on the tuba and the fourth one reduces the tone by a perfect fourth.
The first appearance of the Wagner tuba is at the opening of scene 2 of Das Rheingold, the Valhalla motif. The four tubas play the Valhalla motif several times before the voices of Wotan and Fricka come in. They continue to be part of the orchestra for this opening to Scene Two, before fading away for a few bars before returning at the end of the opening aria, again repeating the Valhalla motif. The subtle difference that Wagner was looking for is acheived, giving the instruments their place in the Beyhrueth tradition, where the horns are the romantic instrument and the tubas the heroic instruments.
Anton Bruckner (1824-96) used the Wagner tuba in his late symphonies. Wagner was Bruckner’s hero and whilst composing his 7th symphony (1881-83) heard that Wagner did not have long to live. With this in mind he wrote the first theme of the second movement, adagio, with a mournful feel to it (Johnson, 2011). He used a quartet of Wagner tubas in this movement. During this movement the four tubas are called upon to play a lot of semibreves, stretching out the music and Bruckner’s music slowly evolves throughout the movement. He returns to this theme at the end of the movement, and again a series of semibreves by the tubas lead the way.
The Wagner tuba is normally only used to reproduce works written for the instrument in the nineteenth century, especially the ring cycle by Wagner, Bruckner symphonies and some works by Richards Strauss. It does however have a unique timbre to it and is an effective link between the horn section and the trombones, which brings us back to Wagner’s original intentions with the instrument.
Bruckner, A. (c.a. 1925). Symphony No 7 in E Major. [Score][online].Leipzig. Ernst Eulenburg co-issue with Universal Edition. Available from: http://imslp.org/wiki/Symphony_No.7_in_E_major,_WAB_107_(Bruckner,_Anton) [Accessed on January 12th 2013]
Bryant R., Baines, A. C., Webb, J. (2013). Wagner Tuba. [online]. Grove Music online. Oxford Music online. Oxford University Press. Available from: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/29794 [Accessed on January 12th 2013]
Johnson, S. (2012). Anton Bruckner (1824-96) Symphony No 7 in E Major (1881-3, ed. Nowak). [programme Notes]. Cardiff. BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
n.k. (2013). Bass Wagner Tuba in F by Mahillion, Brussels, C1890. [photograph][online image]. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Available from: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/29794 [Accessed on January 12th 2013].
Wagner, R. (1873). Das Rheingold. [Score][online]. Mainz. B. Schott’s Söhne. Available from: http://imslp.org/wiki/Das_Rheingold,_WWV_86A_(Wagner,_Richard) [ Accessed on January 12th 2013].
12 Saturday Jan 2013
The E-Flat clarinet is the smallest member of the clarinet family and is the ideal instrument in the orchestra for the upper register. It is closely related to the clarinet in D, although this instrument is rarely used in orchestral music. During the nineteenth century the clarinet in e-flat became widely used in orchestras where a high upper range is required. Berlioz in Symphonie Fantastique, Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler all used the instrument.
The Clarinet in E-Flat [online image]
The clarinet in e-flat, sometimes known as the piccolo clarinet, sounds a major third higher and has a wide range. It is an effective voice in the upper register, where its reedier timbre adds an extra dimension that cannot be achieved on b-flat or c clarinets.
Before looking specifically at the clarinet in e-flat, I would first like to take a look at the history of the clarinet as an instrument. The clarinet family of instruments is very large. It is a single reed instrument in the aerophone group of instruments. The modern clarinet uses a single bore system similar to that designed by Boehm for the flute. Although the clarinet is a relatively new instrument to the modern orchestra, forms of clarinets are known to have existed around the world. There are early examples known to exist in Africa.
The modern clarinet is made up of five sections. The mouthpiece, the barrel, the two-section body (Upper joint, left-hand and lower joint, right-hand) and the bell. The smaller clarinets, though, such as the e-flat, usually have a single body section. Modern players place the reed in a slot on the bottom of the mouthpiece, but it was placed on the upper lip until midway through the nineteenth century.
The man credited with inventing the modern clarinet was instrument maker, Johann Cristoph Denner (1655-1707) from Nuremberg. Denner was a renowned woodwind maker and it was his invention of the speaker key that set the clarinet apart from it’s predecessor, the chalumeau, allowing the new instrument to play notes in both the chalumeau register and the clarinet register with ease. Denner came up with this innovation at the end of the seventeenth century, but the first time the instrument appears in lists of available instruments by Denner is 1710, and music written for the instrument started to appear by 1712.
Many developments were made to the instrument early in the nineteenth century. A sixth key was added by Xavier Lefèvre (1790), and a 15mm bore and larger tone holes by Simiot of Lyon (1808). The reed was first moved to the lower lip as early as 1782 and by 1824 it was reported by J. G. H. Backofen that 50% of players were using this method (Page, 2012). Thomas Lindsey Willman, a renowned English player persisted with the upper lip method until his death in 1840, delaying the transition on this side of the channel until the second half of the century (Page, 2012).
Another innovative instrument maker would have an influence on clarinet development. Theobald Boehm who developed the modern flute influenced Auguste Buffet in collaboration with clarinetist Hyacinthe Eléonore Klosé (1808-1880) in developing the Boehm clarinet which is the standard for the modern clarinet.
The first music (unaccredited) written for the clarinet appeared in 1712, and Vivaldi may have written for the instrument as early as 1716. The Mannerheim Orchestra were using clarinets in the 1750’s and Johann Stamitz wrote a concerto for the instrument. Mozart discovered the instrument whilst in London in 1764 and wrote music for the renowned clarinetist Anton Stadler (1753-1812).
By the beginning of the nineteenth century the clarinet had become an established part of the orchestra, but the e-flat and d clarinets had all but disappeared. This would change in the 1830’s however when Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) used the e-flat clarinet in his finale to Symphonie Fantastique. From this point onwards the e-flat clarinet would join the b-flat clarinet as an established part of the modern orchestra.
Berlioz initially composed his Symphonie Fantastique in 1830 and it was first performed in December of that year. He would make many changes to the work and it was not published until 1845. He would make further amendments over the next 10 years. The clarinet in e-flat does not emerge until the final movement, subtitled A Witches Sabbath. The clarinet in e-flat is used extensively in this movement, adding a lighter sound with it’s timbre to what are at times some dark passages. The clarinet in e-flat passages feature a series of unison notes mainly in G and several glissandos on the instrument appear throughout. The instrument is used to offset some of the heavier string sections and brass and adder a lighter touch to the work.
Gustav Mahler used the clarinet in e-flat extensively in his symphonies, and it played a prominent role in his Symphony no 1 in D Major. Written between 1887 and 1888 it was Mahler’s first major symphonic work. It was premièred at the Vigadó Concert Hall in Budapest in 1889 and was not all that well received. Like Berlioz, Mahler made alterations to the work prior to it’s publication in 1898. It is sometimes referred to as ‘The Titan’, although Mahler never referred to this title following its completion.
For this survey of the clarinet in e-flat, and due to time constraints I am going to concentrate on the final movement, where most the parts for this instrument are. Mahler uses the clarinet in e-flat as a compliment to the heavier instruments. It is used well in conjunction with other woodwinds: oboe, flute, and gives these passages that wonderfully unique timbre of the clarinet at the high end of the register. Mahler, like Berlioz, uses short glissandos, often slurred, and unison passages, but also adds trills. Mahler writes more passages at the lower end than Berlioz, but includes high parts in places as well.
The clarinet in e-flat has become an established part of the modern orchestra and is as important, if less frequently used that the b-flat clarinet. In the rare passages that a d clarinet is called for it is usually played on the e-flat clarinet in the modern orchestra. The unique timbre offered by the clarinet on the high upper register is a great asset to the orchestra and compliments well other instruments that play a similar range, such as the piccolo.
References & bibliography
Austin, Michel (2013). Symphonie Fantastique. [online]. The Hector Berlioz Website. Available from: http://www.hberlioz.com/Scores/sfantastique.htm [Accessed on January 12th 2013].
Berlioz, H. (1845). Symphonie Fantatique. (Score)[online]. Available from: http://imslp.eu/linkhandler.php?path=/imglnks/euimg/a/aa/IMSLP108893-PMLP03653-NBE_-_Symphonie_Fantastique_-_V._Songe_d_une_Nuit_du_Sabbat.pdf [Accessed on January 12th 2013].
Black D., Gerou, T. (1998). The Essential Dictionary of Orchestration. USA. Alfred Publishing Company Inc.
Mahler, G. (1893). Symphony No. 1 in D Major. [Score][online]. Available from: http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/a/a3/IMSLP43234-PMLP15427-Mahler-Sym1.Clarinet.pdf [Accessed on January 12th 2013].
Page, K. Janet. (2012) Clarinet. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. [online] Oxford University Press. Available from: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/52768 [Accessed on December 15th 2012].
Unknown (2013). Clarinet History. [online]. JL Publishing, Lee Zakian. Available from: http://www.jlpublishing.com/ClarinetHistory.htm [Accessed on January 12th 2013].
Unknown (2013). Clarinet in e-flat. [online]. Available from: http://www.theclarinet.co.uk/articles/eflat.shtml [Accessed on January 6th 2013].
Unknown (2013). E Flat Clarinet. [Photograph][online image]. Available from: http://www.the-clarinets.net/english/e-flat-clarinet.html [Accessed on January 12th 2013].
15 Saturday Dec 2012
The first instrument I’m going to research in project one of part three is the Piccolo. I hope to demonstrate how the instrument has developed both technologically and within the orchestral family over the years. I’ve used musical examples from early on and the nineteenth century to demonstrate it’s development and advancement.
(Piccolo, 2012)
The piccolo has a brilliance to it’s sound and is a transposing instrument played an octave higher than it is written. The piccolo is an exceptionally effective instrument played in it’s higher register. In it’s middle and lower registers it is less effective, though still strong in the middle.
I recently watched the New York Met’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s (1813-1901) Simon Boccanegra, which featured the piccolo in the opening to an interlude before act one. The opera was first produced in 1857 at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice and at La Scala in Milan in 1881. The piccolo featured extensively in this part of the work, coming in early in the prelude to give the texture of the prelude a fresh brilliant sound. The piccolo part returns towards the end of the prelude and again features strongly in Amelia’s aria at the opening of act one. Verdi seems to have been fond of the piccolo as it features in his Requiem (Montagu, 2012) and is also used in other operas.
The piccolo became an integral part of the orchestra in the earlier part of the nineteenth century following the use of the instrument by Beethoven in the Egmont Overture, and Symphonies 5, 6 & 9, although long before this Vivaldi wrote a concerto for the instrument. By the time of Wagner and Strauss the piccolo had become a well established instrument in the orchestra and most modern orchestras have a principle piccolo player among their ranks.
Early piccolos were of a conical nature, but as with the flute, the single biggest development came when Theobald Boehm (1794-1881) invented the cylindrical flute, having earlier introduced the use of rings to make the technique of flute playing better, by giving the player the ability to vary the size of the holes. His later instruments would also feature padded keys over the larger holes that featured on his instruments and the rectangular embouchure hole that is common today. It was one of Boehm’s pupils, Thomas Mollenhauer (1840-1914), who in 1862, produced the first piccolo using the Boehm method.
Although the new technology did not catch on in all countries (Wagner and other Germanic composers preferred the range of tone offered by the conical instruments), the Boehm model is the standard that is played today.
To get a feel for the instrument, I went back to an early work, with Vivaldi’s Piccolo Concerto in A minor, RV445. This work demonstrates the brilliance of the instrument, especially in the high register. The opening movement is at a fast even tempo (allegro), before the much slower middle movement (laghetto). Here though the solo piccolo parts dominate the rest of the orchestra, with the high piccolo drowning out the strings. The final movement returns to allegro, but at a slower and more variable tempo than the opening movement. I think this was a good place to begin with the piccolo before moving onto a more advanced nineteenth century work.
The other piece of work I am going to look at is Ludwig van Beethoven’s (1770-1827) Egmont Overture. Beethoven was commissioned to write this work following the occupation by Napoleon of Vienna in 1809 and a production of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s (1749-1832) play Egmont at the Hoftheatre, under the direction of Joseph Härtel. The play is set in 16th century Netherlands under Spanish occupation and repression, and was part of a series of plays celebrating the works of Schiller and Goethe marking the end of the French occupation (Rodda, 2010).
The work was written in the unusual key for Beethoven of F minor but changes to the major in the moment of victory. The full incidental score lasts a total of about forty minutes, but the overture is only just over eight minutes.
In the Egmont Overture, Beethoven uses the piccolo in both middle and higher register to give the work a brilliant sounding texture in places. But where Beethoven uses the instrument to its most meaningful effect is the coda at the end of the work, celebrating the triumph of the revolt lead by Count Egmont. Here the piccolo is heard with the fanfare type celebration as the trumpets and the trombone take center stage, the shrill contrast of the piccolo offsets the power of the brass instruments. In other parts too the piccolo plays a prominent part, as indeed do all the woodwind section as it responds to the strings. Beethoven sets this out from the start, as following the string opening chords, which are quite harsh, the oboe, clarinet and bassoon respond before being joined by the flute and piccolo.
The piccolo is a wonderful addition to the range of the orchestra that became more frequently used during the nineteenth century bringing it to the important place the instrument has in the modern orchestra. It’s brilliance of tone in the higher register especially make it a valuable member of the wind section.
Beethoven, L. (1862), Egmont, Op. 84. Leipzig. Breitkopf and Härtel. [Muisical Score][online]. Available from: http://http://petrucci.mus.auth.gr/imglnks/usimg/6/66/IMSLP35190-PMLP02711-Beethoven-Op084ov.Flute.pdf [Accessed December 15th 2012]
Black, D, Gerou, T. (1998),The Essential Dictionary of Orchestration. USA. Alfred Publishing Company, pp 99-102
Montagu, J. (2012), “Flute”, [online] Grove Music Online. Oxford Music online. Available from: http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/40569 [Accessed August 30th 2012]
Rodda, Dr R.E. (2010), Egmont Overture. [online]. Kennedy Center. Available from: http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/?fuseaction=composition&composition_id=2771 [Accessed December 15th 2012].
Sadie, S (ed.)(1996), The New Grove Book of Operas. London. Macmillan Press.
Unknown (2012), Piccolo [photograph][online image] Available from: http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/~aasbah/room.html [Accessed on October 24th 2012]
Unknown (2012), Programme Notes: Beethoven Egmont Overture. [online]. Brandon Hill Chamber Orchestra. Available from: http://bhco.co.uk/pages/node/71 [Accessed on December 15 2012]
Verdi, G (1881), Simon Boccanegra. [Score] IMSL.org. [online] Available at: http://erato.uvt.nl/files/imglnks/usimg/c/c7/IMSLP112750-PMLP55408-Verdi_-_Simon_Boccanegra_-_Act_I__orch._score_.pdf [Accessed on September 2nd 2012]
29 Wednesday Aug 2012
For the jazz saxophonist listening exercise I chose two tracks by John Coltrane from his 1957 album, Blue Train.
The first track I listened to was the title track and the thing that struck me was the wonderful timbre of Coltrane’s playing and the range he gets from the tenor sax. I was trying to work out the other personnel on the track and got most of them wrong. The trumpet solo was very good and I should have known it was Lee Morgan as I have listened to a lot of his playing. I did guess right on the bassist as Paul Chambers. This is music I have listened to and enjoyed before.
The second track I listened to was Moment’s Notice. This is a similar structured work to Blue Train, but played at a slightly faster tempo. Again there is plenty of scope for all the soloists, although the Coltrane tenor takes the lead.
As a fan of jazz this music was not new to me and as great as Charlie Parker was, for me John Coltrane is the finest jazz saxophonist of them all and a great band leader as well, so the choice to listen to Coltrane was not a difficult one. I though of choosing A Love Supreme, perhaps his finest work but did not want to spend too long on this exercise so went for the shorter pieces on Blue Train.
Unknown. (2012). Blue Train (Album). [online]. Wikipedia. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Train_%28album%29 [Accessed on August 29th 2012].