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Lecture #10:
Instruments of the Symphony Orchestra
The orchestra still takes more or less the same form: a big string section, with smaller sections for brasses, woodwinds, percussion, harps and keyboard instruments. After all these years, it still works!
Lecture #10:
Instruments of the Symphony Orchestra
The orchestra still takes more or less the same form: a big string section, with smaller sections for brasses, woodwinds, percussion, harps and keyboard instruments. After all these years, it still works!
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WOODWINDS
Sound vibrations produced by setting a column of air in motion
inside an instrument.
Air may be applied directly or indirectly, with or without a reed (single/double).
Pitch--how high or how low--depends on the length of the air column.
Sound vibrations produced by setting a column of air in motion
inside an instrument.
Air may be applied directly or indirectly, with or without a reed (single/double).
Pitch--how high or how low--depends on the length of the air column.
FLUTE
The Flight of the Bumble Bee by Rimsky Korsakov (James Galway)
Piccolo: Stars and Stripes Forever (2:35)
How it works
OBOE & English Horne
About the oboe
Sonata for Oboe and Continuo by Antonio Vivaldi (1:00-2:48)
COPLAND
English Horne: Quite City, Copland (class: play all)
Clarinet
How it works...
Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin (0-1:38)
(The Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian National Radio)
Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A major (beginning and at 12:00; class play all 3mvt)
BASSOON
How it works...
Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg (bassoon solo)
Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg (full orchestra)
(Musikfestspiele Potsdam Sanssouci, Scott Lawton conductor)
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BRASS
How Brass Works
A wind instrument that sounds "brassy" and is usually made from brass.
They have a bell on one end and a brass mouthpiece on the other.
Like the woodwinds, pitch is determined by length of the air column.
BRASS EXAMPLE--Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man
TRUMPET
Valves
Haydn Trumpet Concero
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet (3rd mvt. 9:45)
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FRENCH HORN (Horn in F, Horn)
1. Tchaikovsky's 5th Horn Solo (1:12)
2. Back to the Future (Vienna Horns)
2. Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein "Sweet Mystery of Live" (last minute of 5 min. Youtube)
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TROMBONE
How it works...
Wagner Ride of the Valkyries (class: play all)
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TUBA
Rossini William Tell Overture (+Wonderful World)
Melton Tuba Quartett
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BRASS EMSEMBLE EXAMPLE: Copland--Fanfare for the Common Man
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Valves
Haydn Trumpet Concero
Wynton Marsalis, trumpet (3rd mvt. 9:45)
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FRENCH HORN (Horn in F, Horn)
1. Tchaikovsky's 5th Horn Solo (1:12)
2. Back to the Future (Vienna Horns)
2. Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein "Sweet Mystery of Live" (last minute of 5 min. Youtube)
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TROMBONE
How it works...
Wagner Ride of the Valkyries (class: play all)
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TUBA
Rossini William Tell Overture (+Wonderful World)
Melton Tuba Quartett
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BRASS EMSEMBLE EXAMPLE: Copland--Fanfare for the Common Man
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The body amplifies the sound.
The longer the string, the lower the pitch possibilities.
String instruments can be plucked, strummed or bowed.
They are the backbone of the symphony orchestra.
The longer the string, the lower the pitch possibilities.
String instruments can be plucked, strummed or bowed.
They are the backbone of the symphony orchestra.
VIOLIN
(Sidebar: What's a Strad and what's it worth...what does one sound like?)
John William's Shindler's List Theme (played by Itzhak Perlman on his Strad)
VIOLA
About the Viola London Philharmonia Orchestra ed.
CELLO
Cello Solo from the movie Departures (Japan)
2-Cellos Thurderstruck
BASS, DOUBLE BASS
1. Double Bss Concerto
2. Blues Jazz Double Bass by Stephane Barral
Stand by Me--Strings/Voice
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(Sidebar: What's a Strad and what's it worth...what does one sound like?)
John William's Shindler's List Theme (played by Itzhak Perlman on his Strad)
VIOLA
About the Viola London Philharmonia Orchestra ed.
CELLO
Cello Solo from the movie Departures (Japan)
2-Cellos Thurderstruck
BASS, DOUBLE BASS
1. Double Bss Concerto
2. Blues Jazz Double Bass by Stephane Barral
Stand by Me--Strings/Voice
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Percussion
Instruments that you rub, shake or strike (with a mallet or drumstick)
or hit against itself (such as cymbals and castanets).
Instruments may be classified as IDIOPHONES
(produce sound from their own bodies such as castanets)
or MEMBRANOPHONES
(produces sound from vibrating membrane such as drums).
Percussion instruments are either PITCHED (timpani or xylophone)
or UNPITCHED (bass drum, wood block).
Instruments that you rub, shake or strike (with a mallet or drumstick)
or hit against itself (such as cymbals and castanets).
Instruments may be classified as IDIOPHONES
(produce sound from their own bodies such as castanets)
or MEMBRANOPHONES
(produces sound from vibrating membrane such as drums).
Percussion instruments are either PITCHED (timpani or xylophone)
or UNPITCHED (bass drum, wood block).
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CLICK for Piano Info Part ONE
CLICK for Piano Info Part TWO
CLICK for Piano: HOW IT"S MADE (Steinway)
CLICK for Piano: How it's Made II
CLICK for Piano Info Part TWO
CLICK for Piano: HOW IT"S MADE (Steinway)
CLICK for Piano: How it's Made II
The Symphony Orchestra
A Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra by Benjamin Britten
1. Intro
2. Performance
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1. Intro
2. Performance
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Two String Instruments that aren't part of the "orchestra" Family
Deliverance (start 2:20)
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One Last Thing...
Deliverance (start 2:20)
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One Last Thing...
The Symphony Orchestra and American Music
George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue
Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic
1. United Airlines uses Rhapsody in Blue
2. Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic
Youtube Version with current and historic photos