Evolution of the Orchestra Part 5 - 20th Century and Beyond
August 4th 2006 02:00
It is unarguable that the music of the 20th century has been startlingly varied, going from the late romanticism of Rachmaninov to the impressionism of Debussy, jumping from folk idioms of Vaughn Williams to the completely different sound worlds of Boulez, Reich and Glass. Orchestral music has remained a fixture throughout this time, though much of its instrumentation has been liquid and varied.
Possibly the biggest change to the symphony orchestra from the romantic period in terms of instrumentation has been the expansion and development of the percussion section. Instruments such as Marimba, xylophones and glockenspiel were adopted for their effects, along with other instruments which saw increased usage such as snare drums, bass drums, gongs, tubular bells, triangles, wood blocks and a vast many more. The life of the percussion player in the orchestra has become increasingly varied, and rarely dull when 20th century works are being played.
After the economic pressures of world wars made large ensembles increasingly unviable, some modern composers such as Luciano Berio(1925 - 2003) and Bruno Maderna(1920 - 1973) turned their ‘orchestral’ compositions towards works for much smaller forces. Typical modern music ensembles might feature, for instance, a string quartet with wind quintet and percussion section. This type of ensemble would give a range of sounds for a composer to work with from different instruments, and typified an increasing view that instruments should be able to be heard by themselves, instead of used as part of a mass sound(eg. a unison passage by woodwinds).
In order to explore new possible sound effects, composers have expanded the techniques that are used on instruments. Techniques such as flutter tonguing, used quite prominently in Stravinsky(1882 - 1971)’s ‘Rite of Spring’ on clarinets creates an effect almost like a high speed tremolo. Roberto Gerhard(1896 - 1970) is credited with devising the technique of using a double bass bow on the edge of a cymbal to produce an ethereal ringing tone. Composers are continuing to explore new instruments and new ways of using old instruments. Tan Dun(1957 -)’s ‘Paper Concerto’, written in 2003, uses three soloists who work with giant hanging sheets of paper as well as small paper bags, boxes and tubes to produce a variety of effects. Other orchestral members also have moments where the sound of turning pages violently in unison is used to interesting effect. Some composers also make use of electronics to augment the orchestra’s sound.
The symphony orchestra now has an endless selection of repertoire to discover, and mainstays of performance exist from the baroque, classical, romantic, and 20th century periods. The modern day orchestra has charted an exciting development over the last 500 years, and I personally look forward to seeing what new developments composers will continue to come up with.
I hope you have enjoyed this brief 5 part symphony history. Sadly, due to mounting pressures of various performances, a university degree, two orchestras and chamber work, I am forced to scale things down to one day a week(Monday) starting next week. I apologise, and hope you will continue to join me.
Possibly the biggest change to the symphony orchestra from the romantic period in terms of instrumentation has been the expansion and development of the percussion section. Instruments such as Marimba, xylophones and glockenspiel were adopted for their effects, along with other instruments which saw increased usage such as snare drums, bass drums, gongs, tubular bells, triangles, wood blocks and a vast many more. The life of the percussion player in the orchestra has become increasingly varied, and rarely dull when 20th century works are being played.
Rehearsals of Tan Dun's Paper Concerto, taken from his site
In order to explore new possible sound effects, composers have expanded the techniques that are used on instruments. Techniques such as flutter tonguing, used quite prominently in Stravinsky(1882 - 1971)’s ‘Rite of Spring’ on clarinets creates an effect almost like a high speed tremolo. Roberto Gerhard(1896 - 1970) is credited with devising the technique of using a double bass bow on the edge of a cymbal to produce an ethereal ringing tone. Composers are continuing to explore new instruments and new ways of using old instruments. Tan Dun(1957 -)’s ‘Paper Concerto’, written in 2003, uses three soloists who work with giant hanging sheets of paper as well as small paper bags, boxes and tubes to produce a variety of effects. Other orchestral members also have moments where the sound of turning pages violently in unison is used to interesting effect. Some composers also make use of electronics to augment the orchestra’s sound.
The symphony orchestra now has an endless selection of repertoire to discover, and mainstays of performance exist from the baroque, classical, romantic, and 20th century periods. The modern day orchestra has charted an exciting development over the last 500 years, and I personally look forward to seeing what new developments composers will continue to come up with.
I hope you have enjoyed this brief 5 part symphony history. Sadly, due to mounting pressures of various performances, a university degree, two orchestras and chamber work, I am forced to scale things down to one day a week(Monday) starting next week. I apologise, and hope you will continue to join me.
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