Evolution of the Orchestra Part 2 - Baroque
August 1st 2006 02:00
It was during the baroque era, from around the middle of the 17th century to the middle of the 18th, that orchestras probably took the biggest steps toward becoming the bodies we recognise today. Changes in instruments and developments by composers, as well as assistance from royalty, allowed for great growth in massed music making during this period.
Largely, orchestras existed almost solely due to the benefactory of royal and aristocratic patrons. This process continued throughout the classical period as well. While it was possible for groups to exist unassisted, any group of significance required the funding only a well off patron could provide to ensure instrumental proficiency and variety. Claudio Monteverdi(1567 - 1643) formed in 1607 a 40 strong group of strings, flutes, cornetts and trombones, which he used to great effect for his opera ‘Orfeo’. Employed by the Duke of Mantua at one of the richest courts in Italy, Monteverdi was one of the first to form an orchestra utilising winds, brass, and strings all together. In France, in the court of Louis XIII, the ‘Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi’ was established in the first half of the 17th century as both a training centre for French musicians and creators of standards in stylised dance music. Apparently, the band’s habit of overly decorating music and playing from memory combined to make some unpleasant performances. Also in France, Jean-Baptiste Lully(1639-87) created the ‘Petits Violons’, whose members were the first to wear uniforms and use bowstrokes in the same direction. Their organisation and ability became a standard quickly throughout Europe.
While obviously not as common as royal applications, public paid entry concerts started to appear by the early 18th century. The ‘Concerts Spirituels’, for instance in France, were performances which began in 1725. They performed sacred music sung in Latin, in concerts on holy days in the church calendar, taking the place of entertainment from opera. It is important to remember that costs of such concerts still did not make them at all accessible to the common person.
While woodwind and brass sections were prone to much rearrangement, if they existed at all, a standard instrumentation started to develop, consisting of first and second violins, violas, and cello(or possibly viol, an early cello with six strings) with accompaniment on harpsichord, which served to fill out the harmonic texture of the ensemble. While still primitive, some standardisation started to occur in the creation of wind instruments, helped along by occasional virtuosic players. The pitch that ensembles were tuned to still varied largely between regions.
The type of material that was written for these ensembles naturally became more organised and stylised. The beginnings of the solo concerto(piece for solo instrument accompanied by orchestra) were shown in works by violinists Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli. The Concerto Grosso, a form where contrast is created between a group of soloists(the concertino) and a larger accompanying group(the ripieno), reached maturity in works by Bach and Handel. The closest that anything came to a symphony was the opera overture, which at this point in time was still in a very early stage.
Tomorrow, things get really interesting, as we look at the materials available to composers such as Mozart and Haydn during the classical period.
Largely, orchestras existed almost solely due to the benefactory of royal and aristocratic patrons. This process continued throughout the classical period as well. While it was possible for groups to exist unassisted, any group of significance required the funding only a well off patron could provide to ensure instrumental proficiency and variety. Claudio Monteverdi(1567 - 1643) formed in 1607 a 40 strong group of strings, flutes, cornetts and trombones, which he used to great effect for his opera ‘Orfeo’. Employed by the Duke of Mantua at one of the richest courts in Italy, Monteverdi was one of the first to form an orchestra utilising winds, brass, and strings all together. In France, in the court of Louis XIII, the ‘Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi’ was established in the first half of the 17th century as both a training centre for French musicians and creators of standards in stylised dance music. Apparently, the band’s habit of overly decorating music and playing from memory combined to make some unpleasant performances. Also in France, Jean-Baptiste Lully(1639-87) created the ‘Petits Violons’, whose members were the first to wear uniforms and use bowstrokes in the same direction. Their organisation and ability became a standard quickly throughout Europe.
Antonio Vivaldi
While woodwind and brass sections were prone to much rearrangement, if they existed at all, a standard instrumentation started to develop, consisting of first and second violins, violas, and cello(or possibly viol, an early cello with six strings) with accompaniment on harpsichord, which served to fill out the harmonic texture of the ensemble. While still primitive, some standardisation started to occur in the creation of wind instruments, helped along by occasional virtuosic players. The pitch that ensembles were tuned to still varied largely between regions.
The type of material that was written for these ensembles naturally became more organised and stylised. The beginnings of the solo concerto(piece for solo instrument accompanied by orchestra) were shown in works by violinists Antonio Vivaldi and Arcangelo Corelli. The Concerto Grosso, a form where contrast is created between a group of soloists(the concertino) and a larger accompanying group(the ripieno), reached maturity in works by Bach and Handel. The closest that anything came to a symphony was the opera overture, which at this point in time was still in a very early stage.
Tomorrow, things get really interesting, as we look at the materials available to composers such as Mozart and Haydn during the classical period.
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