History of Symphony

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Orchestra - Historical outline
Briefly classified in the time zone as:

1. Baroque period (c.1600-1750),
2. Classical period (c.1750-1820's),
3. Romantic period (c.1820's-1900), and

the 20th century to the present.

Early history - Baroque period (c.1600-1750)

During the Baroque period, instrumental ensembles accompanied ballets, dances, operas, church services, and banquets.
Up to the 17th century, the notion of a standard ensemble whose members play throughout an entire performance had not been developed musicians merely played for purpose of dramatic scene in a theatre
Instrumentation. Instruments from the violin family. The French Baroque instruments (e.g. recorders, flutes, oboes, and bassoons) gradually replaced Renaissance wind instruments (e.g. cornets, shawms, and curtals). Orchestras started to include pairs of horns.

Roles of the instruments

doubled the vocal line and filled in the harmony.

Instruments brought forth symbolism or imagery. For instance, certain instruments commonly accompanied scenes with the Gods( lutes, viols, and harps.) In pastoral scenes( flutes, shawms and pipes). the underworld( trombones and bass viols).

Size of the ensemble

The number of strings instruments,as many as 40 to 70 players.

The leader usually a violinist who set the tempo, and made decisions about bowing and ornamentation.

Around 1730, J.S. Bach’s requirements for an orchestra in the church consisted of: 2-3 first violins, 2-3 second violins, 2 first violas, 2 second violas, 2 violoncellos, 1 violone (precursor of the double bass), 2-3 hautbois (oboes), 1-2 bassoons, 3 trumpets, and 1 kettledrum. The ensemble would have included at least 18 musicians.

Key figure:Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) of France.
Archangelo Corelli (1653-1713) of Italy,from 1680 to 1712, Corelli directed large excellent violin bands, in Italy
Classical period (c.1750-1820's)
Mainly string ,wind instruments, , keyboard continuo. Brass occasionally. By the 1780s and 1790s, more instruments joined the standard orchestral palette, including flutes, clarinets, trumpets, and timpani. On the other hand, the keyboard continuo relinquished its spot in the orchestra.
With the master Viennese composers – Franz J. Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791), and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) – orchestral writing for individual instruments advanced. The wind instruments rose to the challenge of playing more thematic material, at times taking the melody and the solos. The lower-pitched instruments played more independent parts.

During the 18th century, only a few concert halls featured mainly orchestral music. Rather, orchestral concerts often took place in theatres, halls of palaces, large houses, inns, and other public buildings. By the latter half of the 18th century, larger cities offered concert series featuring their orchestras.
Instrumentation

The typical orchestra included:

violins, violas, cellos, double basses, two oboes, one or two bassoons, two horns, and keyboard continuo such as a harpsichord.

In festive or military music Trumpets and timpani appeared,

In church music.trombones Violins were divided into two sections of roughly equal size, playing two parts. Violas as a single section playing one part (except in France), although “divisi” parts were sometimes written. This represented the typical orchestra for Italian opera, spoken theatre, private and public concerts, important church services, and dancing.

Beethoven further transformed the orchestra, providing double basses with their own part, adding third and fourth horn parts, and including the trombone as a standard orchestral instrument.

By the 1780s and 1790s, the first violinist directed most orchestras (except in France where baton conductors appeared as early as the 18th century).

The orchestra evolved somewhat differently in France, especially in Paris. Musicians continued to follow the traditions established by Lully into the 1770’s. However, by the 1780s the large orchestras in Paris resembled the many other Classical orchestras throughout Europe.

Key figures

The core Viennese composers - Franz J. Haydn (1732-1809), Wolfgang A. Mozart (1756-1791), and Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) – advanced the symphony as a musical genre, and helped establish the standard orchestral ensemble.

Romantic period (c.1820's-1900)
Significant changes took place:

The number of orchestral ensembles increased worldwide along with the establishment of orchestral organizations (2) orchestral performances reached wider and more public audiences, extending beyond the aristocratic court audience of the previous century; (3) musical centers offered concert series; (4) the baton conductor became an established leader of the orchestra; (5) the size of orchestras increased, (6) new inventions transformed the construction of many orchestral instruments, (keyholes on wind instruments and valves on brass instruments.)

Some European concert orchestras that were founded during the 19th century continue today: London Philharmonic (founded in 1813), Vienna Philharmonic (founded in 1842), Budapest Philharmonic (founded in 1853), Berlin Philharmonic (founded in1887), and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam (founded in 1888), for example.

During this period, orchestras were founded in other parts of the world including the United States: New York Philharmonic (founded in 1842 as a society of professional musicians), Boston Symphony (founded in 1881), Chicago Symphony (founded in 1891), Cincinnati Symphony (founded in 1894), and the Philadelphia Orchestra (in 1900), for example. These American orchestras hired mostly European immigrants at first, such as English and French musicians, and later German and Italian musicians

Instrumentation

By 1810, the piccolo, double bassoon, and trombones were introduced. By the 1830’s, the tuba started to replace other low brass instruments.

By the mid-19th century, the bass clarinet and cornet were invented. The English horn was reintroduced into the orchestra, and harps were included as well.

The addition of keywork on wind instruments, musicians could execute more rapidly and play more easily in tune. ,and wind players to play louder and more legato over the From the 1820’s, orchestras included one or even two harps.

Roles of the instruments

Musicians became highly specialized in playing a specific instrument, often receiving special training in orchestral playing from conservatories. Orchestral playing became a profession, and associations formed on behalf of orchestral musicians.Orchestras during the 19th century continued to play masterpieces from the Classical period. To some extent, the organization of the orchestra remained as it was near the end of the Classical period.

Key figures

Besides conductors, other key figures during the 19th century include composers who significantly expanded the orchestral timbral palette, dynamic range, and further advanced the symphony as a musical genre. Notable composers include: Schubert, Berlioz, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler to name a few. Although Wagner was primarily recognized as an opera composer, his influences can be found in later orchestral repertoire.

A key figure in promoting the orchestra in America was Theodore Thomas, a German-born violinist who emigrated to the United Stated and formed his own orchestra. He toured with his orchestra for almost 30 years throughout the country.

20th century to the present

During the 20th century. the percussion section grew both in number and type of instruments, often incorporating non-Western instruments(e.g. temple blocks, gongs, maracas, guiro). The piano was reintroduced In addition, instrumental playing technique evolved, consequently influencing the sound of the orchestra.

Roles of the instrumentation

During the first decades of the 20th century, musicians started incorporating continuous vibrato.

By the 1930’s, continuous vibrato was a commonly accepted practice. Wind players also added vibrato, first by the French, Russian and American players, and by mid-century by the English, Italians, and Germans.

Due to changes in construction (e.g. longer necks, higher string tension, steel strings replacing gut strings), string instruments increased in volume and brightness.

During the latter half of the 20th c, “extended” instrumental techniques developed, such as harmonics, microtones, sul ponticelo, col legno for the strings, and multiphonics, hypervibrato, flutter tonguing, glissando for the winds.
Size of the ensemble (and arrangement)

The modern full orchestra typically includes: 32 violins, 12 violas, 12 cellos, 8 double basses, 4 flutes, 4 oboes, 4 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 8 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, and percussion.
In 1970 the Boston Symphony Orchestra included: 33 violins (18 first violins, 15 second violins), 12 violas, 12 cellos, 9 basses, 4 flutes, 4 oboes, 4 clarinets, 4 bassoons, 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba, 1 timpani, 4 percussion, 2 harps, and 1 piano for a total of 104 musicians

Smaller chamber orchestras after the Second World War and offered an alternative to the expensive large ensembles of previous decades. Chamber orchestras typically include about 40 musicians.
Key figures

During the latter half of the 20th century. Many women came into the scene. At first women played in all-women orchestras, except for harpists who played in already established orchestras with male musicians.
During the Second World War, women replaced missing male musicians. By the 1950’s and 1960’s, orchestras gradually started accepting women. Most German orchestras did not accept women until the 1980’s, and the Vienna Philharmonic did not accept women until the late 1990’s.
[Courtsy of Histroy Of Symphony. Summary made by MichaelSNE]

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Italian And German Vocal Styles:

by Chris A. Mooney


Why is it that most persons are more interested in vocal than in instrumental music? Obviously because, as Richard Wagner remarks, "the human voice is the oldest, the most genuine, and the most beautiful organ of music—the organ to which alone our music owes its existence." And not only is the sound or quality of the human voice more beautiful than that of any artificial instrument, but it is capable of greater variation. Although a good artist can produce various shades of tone on his instrument, yet every instrument has a well-defined characteristic timbre, which justifies us in speaking, for instance, of the majestic, solemn trombone, the serene flute, the amorous violoncello, the lugubrious bassoon, and so on. The human voice, on the other hand, is much less limited in its powers of tonal and emotional colouring. It is not dependent for its resonance on a rigid tube, like the flute, or an unchangeable sounding-board, like the violin or the piano, but on the cavity of the mouth, which can be enlarged and altered at will by the movements of the lower jaw, and the soft parts—the tongue and the glottis. These movements change the overtones, of which the vowels are made up, and hence it is that the human voice is capable of an infinite variety of tone-colour, compared with which Wagner admits that even "the most manifold imaginable mixture of orchestral colours must appear insignificant."