With their light brown wooden paperclip shapes, they looked more like bassoons. In 1838, Adolphe Sax un-raveled the clarinet body, and it became the straight instrument we know it as today. Despite the fact that the bass clarinet has been around for a while, the first solo recital was not performed on it until 1955, when Josef Horák marked history by being the first professional player to dedicate an entire recital to the instrument. Bass clarinets are commonly made of plastic or African hardwood with the keys, bell and rods constructed of nickel, silver or other composite metal. The mouthpiece, which holds the reed, is made of plastic, resin, hard rubber or other composite material.
It started before the Romantic period, but it become popular with German composers of the nineteenth century. The first generally accepted example of a song cycle is Ludwig van Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte, opus 98. It considered being the first true song cycle by a major composer. He composed in 1816, and it can be seen as the first real song cycle by a great composer in the sense that it is a number of songs by voice and piano that are clearly related with each other. The six songs of the cycle flow into each other, the tonal structure is very clear, and the poetic structure is also clear.
Pre-Christian drawings of the early flute appear on Roman artifacts. Additional works of art, including two Etruscan reliefs which date from the second and third centuries B.C., clearly showed cross flutes being played. Theobald Boehm, a German flute maker and musicin, developed the first cylindrical metal flute in 1832. This was the most widely used model in the 20th century. The cylindrical Boehm flute is made of metal or wood and has thirteen or more tone holes controlled by a system of padded keys which Boehm created.
The harpsichord was phased out and replaced with the invention of the piano during the Classical period. During the Baroque period, two bass instruments would read off the same line of music with numbers written above notes for the third bass to play. Music from the Baroque period seems very one dimensional and intended to be played to a smaller audience. The text described it best (Sporre, 2013), “Classical in contrast to Baroque style, which typically dealt with a single emotion, Classical pieces typically explore contrasts between moods. They may contrast moods within movements and also within themes (Pg.
The piano underwent many changes in the nineteenth century starting from the fortepiano to the modern pianoforte that we know now. At the beginning of the 18th century, the clavichord and the harpsichord were the domestic instruments. Most of the keyboard instruments of this time could not produce the same varieties of expression needed to substitute for the orchestra in the works of Handel, Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, and Mozart. Therefore, there was an urge to develop a keyboard instrument that combines the powers of nuance of the clavichord with the size and strength of the harpsichord. An Italian harpsichord maker, Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731), invented the fortepiano and continued to develop this instrument until the 1720s.
The first recording of music was done in the 9th century when the Banu Musa brothers invented a hydropowered organ and later on also invented an automatic flute. In the 14th century Flanders invented a mechanical bell-ringer controlled by rotating cylinder, which later were used in musical clocks, barrel pianos and music boxes. All of these instruments played music but couldn’t play it back. The first instrument that was capable of recording music was the phonautograph by Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville. In 1876 the player piano was invented; this piano had a punched paper with fifty eight holes which moved over a tracker ball.
Franz vowed then, and there to be the pianist version of Paganini. Already an accomplished composer, Franz took time off from concerts to work tirelessly day in and day out until he emerged, a few years later, as the greatest pianist of his time. Liszt created sounds from the piano as if an orchestra were playing them, and he had remarkable finger dexterity; works such as Douze Grandes Etudes and Paganini Studies show off his amazing talent on the piano. He was an excellent showman. His work encompassed the use of bold leaps, and extreme dynamics.
1) 2) 3) THEME-BUILDING BLOCK THEMATIC DEVELOPMENT-EXPANDING THE THEME MOTIVE-SMALLEST MELODIC UNIT OF A THEME THE CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA 1) ESTABLISHED IT AS WE KNOW IT TODAY 2) BLENDED THE FOUR INSTRUMENTAL FAMILIES A) THE HEART WAS THE STRING CHOIR B) WOODWINDS ASSISTED THE STRINGS C) BRASS SUSTAINED HARMONIES AND ADDED BODY D) PERCUSSION (TIMPANI) SUPPLIED RHYTHMIC LIFE 3) 30-40 PLAYERS 4) VOLUME OF SOUND WAS NOT STRONG 5) LIFE BEGAN TO MOVE TOWARD THE CONCERT HALL (NEAR THE END OF THE PERIOD) with Beethoven 6) GRADUAL CRESCENDOS AND DECRESCENDOS 7) THE PIANO WAS INVENTED DURING THIS
2 in B-flat major, Op. 83 was is second piano concerto, separated from the first by 22 years. The piece was completely in 1881. The piece is written for two flutes, two oboes, two B-flat clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, timpani, and strings, although the latter two instruments were only used in the first two movements. The piece contained four movements, Allegro non Troppo, Allegro Appassionato, Andante, and Allegretto Grazioso.
French composer Maurice Ravel is often associated with Debussy as an impressionist whose music encompasses a variety of influences while carrying traditional forms, diatonic melodies and complex harmonies within a tonal language. This language was developed at an early age, as Ravel was born into a musically nurturing environment and began music lessons at the age of six, giving his first recital at the age of fourteen, and would ultimately attend the Conservatoire de Paris as a piano major. This essay will outline Rapsodie Espagnole (1908), one of Ravel’s major works for orchestra. The Rapsodie Espagnole, composed during 1907-08 was first performed in the middle of March 1908 in Paris. The work is scored for an orchestra of 2 piccolos, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, sarrusophone (oboe/bassoon mixed breed), 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, castanets, tambourine, gong, snare drum, celesta, 2 harps and strings.