Orchestra

Dublin Philharmonic Orchestra playing Symphony No. 4 by Piotr Ilich Chaikovski in North Carolina, United States.

An orchestra (Ancient Greek, ορχήστρα, romanized: orchestra, lit. 'place to dance') is a large musical ensemble, originated in the baroque period, which combines instruments from different families.

This definition dates back to around the V century BCE. C., when the performances were held in open-air theaters. In front of the main performance area there was a space for the singers, dancers and instruments. This space was called orchestra. Today, the term refers to a set of musical instruments and the musicians who play or perform them, whatever the musical genre they play (classical, tropical, modern, etc.).

The term can be applied to any type of instrumental group, whatever its origin, from the gagaku orchestra of Japan to the gamelan orchestras of Indonesia and Bali. In Western classical music, it generally refers to the symphony orchestra, an ensemble made up of numerous string instruments plus a selection of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments.

In the Middle Ages the term came to refer to the stage itself. From the end of the century XVII, was used to name the set of interpreters, as it is today. However, the term still also denotes the set of seats placed at ground level in front of the stage in theaters and concert halls.

A full-size Western orchestra may sometimes be referred to as a symphonic orchestra or philharmonic orchestra (from Greek phil-, "to love& #34;, and "harmony"). The actual number of musicians employed in a performance can vary from seventy to over a hundred musicians, depending on the work being performed and the size of the venue. A chamber orchestra (sometimes concert orchestra) is a smaller ensemble of no more than about fifty musicians. Orchestras specializing in Baroque music from, for example, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, or Classical Repertoire, such as Haydn and Mozart, are often smaller than orchestras performing a Romantic Music repertoire, such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms Symphonies. The typical orchestra grew in size throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching its peak with the large orchestras (up to 120 musicians) used in the works of Richard Wagner and, later, Gustav Mahler.

History

Before the Baroque era, vocal music was given greater importance, leaving instrumental music in second place, considered a minor genre. On some occasions, the vocal lines of medieval and Renaissance polyphony used to be accompanied by large instrumental groups of very small dimensions, nothing comparable to an ancient orchestra.

The advent of opera at the turn of the 17th century helped to concretize the instrumentation and create an increasing reliance on a large number of string instruments, to provide body and balance to the wind and percussion.

Although the orchestra was born as such in the Baroque (17th century and early XVIII), is in Classicism (second half of the XVIII century) ) when the instrumentation and the form in which we know it today are established, although we will have to wait until the end of the XIX century for the arrival of the technical improvement of the instruments.

Baroque period

In the Baroque era, the size and composition of an orchestra were not standardized. There were vast differences in size, instrumentation, and performance styles—and thus in soundscapes and orchestral palettes—between the various European regions. The baroque orchestra ranged from smaller orchestras (or ensembles) with one player per part, to larger-scale orchestras with many players per part. Examples of the smaller variety were Bach's orchestras, for example at Koethen, where he had access to an ensemble of up to 18 musicians. Examples of large-scale Baroque orchestras would be Corelli's orchestra in Rome, which had between 35 and 80 musicians for daily performances, expanding to 150 musicians for special occasions.

The classical orchestra

In classical times, the orchestra became more standardized, with a small to medium-sized string section and a main wind section made up of pairs of oboes, flutes, bassoons, and horns, sometimes supplemented by percussion and pairs. of clarinets and trumpets.

In 1750 an orchestral culture differentiated from other musical cultures (minstrels, cathedral chapels...) was already established. This orchestral culture, more homogeneous in its instruments and scores, encouraged musicians to travel to play in different orchestras, sometimes even traveling to other countries.

The classical orchestra is characterized by three stable aspects: the instrumentation (violins, violas, cellos and double basses, flutes, oboes, horns and bassoons —the clarinets were added at the end of the period—, keyboard, with optional trumpets and timpani); its internal organization (standardization of 4 sections in the score: two violin sections, one viola section and another bass section that includes cellos, double basses, bassoons and keyboard. The winds were added in pairs by doubling these parts); and certain balances and proportions (violins were 50-70% string, but winds were 20-50%). However, there are exceptions depending on their function (in opera, oratorios...) and certain regional and national variants.

The violins and violas underwent various changes throughout the 17th and 18th centuries: the low gut strings were replaced by those covered with silver or copper wire and the curved arches of the Baroque were elongated. Standard tuning was established in the 17th century. However, during the first half of the 19th century they hardly underwent any further changes as instruments made with patterns from the XVII, with gut strings, although some instruments were rebuilt by luthiers to modernize them. The biggest change came in the arches, where the Tourte arch, with its concave curve, weighted point, and screw tensioner, replaced the old Baroque arch. In addition, there were four different types of bass on the string: the viola da gamba baja, the violon bass (violone or Basseige), the cello and double bass (sometimes also called violone). Around 1740, the first two were disappearing.

Woodwind instruments were subjected to a frenzy of experimentation and improvement. The introduction of the clarinet in the orchestra is relevant, which happened between the years 1740 and 1815 thanks to the technical improvements that were implemented in the instrument. In this way he was also able to expand his record. The resulting instruments could play faster, louder, and more reliably in tune than the wind instruments of the 18th century. The changes between the brass instruments were even greater. The trombones, which in the 18th century had been used mainly in churches, were added to the most orchestras. The tubas gradually replaced a succession of other mouthpiece instruments such as the serpentine.

Between 1740 and 1815 we can see a tendency towards the differentiation of the different instrumental groups. Firstly, the winds doubled the part of the strings and maintained the harmonies. However, during the second half of the XVIII century they became more differentiated through different combinations to add effects and other orchestral colors. On the other hand, in the bass part, the cellos and the bassoons were also progressively differentiating.

The role of the bass in the orchestra was played by different instruments: cellos, double basses, keyboard—the harpsichord was the most widely used keyboard instrument—and bassoons. Originally, the bass played the same line with the keyboard adding improvised harmonies. However, the presence of different instruments in the bass created the possibility of redistributing the bass line. The customary bass line disappeared with the development of the classical orchestra. With its demise and the birth of new woodwinds and brass instruments, the four-part model of the classical orchestra was replaced by a new organization into three main sections, with their subsections: strings, woodwinds, and brass.. This organization came into use from the first half of the XIX century, adding a growing percussion section.

The figure of the director was another creation of the first half of the XIX century. The musical direction normally fell to the first violin of the orchestras. The figure who marked the tempo in church music was included in the opera, and little by little, he began to gain more importance, becoming the forerunner of the modern conductor. The conductor stopped being a musician in the orchestra who played an instrument and began to be in charge not only of setting the tempo, but also of making sure that the orchestra played in tune and with the right dynamics and expressiveness.

Beethoven's influence

The so-called "standard plugin" of winds and brass doubled in the orchestra, introduced at the end of the XVIII century and consolidated during the first half of the XIX, is generally attributed to the forces that Beethoven called for after Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven's instrumentation almost always included paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets. The exceptions are the Symphony No. 4, the Violin Concerto, and the Piano Concerto No. 4, each of which specifies a single flute. Beethoven carefully calculated the expansion of this particular timbre palette in the Symphonies. "in Symphonies 3, 5, 6 and 9 for innovative effect. The third horn of the "Eroica" arrives to provide not only a certain harmonic flexibility, but also the effect of metal "coral" in the Trio movement. Piccolo, contrabassoon and trombones add to the triumphant finale of his Symphony No. 5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help create the storm-and-sun effect in the Sixth, also known as the Pastoral Symphony. The Ninth calls for a second set of horns, for reasons similar to the "Eroica" (four horns has since become standard); Beethoven's use of untuned piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones, and percussion—in addition to chorus and vocal soloists—in his finale, are his first suggestion that the timbral limits of the symphony could be extended. For several decades after his death, symphonic instrumentation followed Beethoven's well-established model, with few exceptions.

Instrumental Technology

Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the American premiere of March 2, 1916 of Mahler's Symphony.

The invention of the piston and rotary valve by Heinrich Stölzel and Friedrich Blühmel, both from Silesia, in 1815, was the first of a series of innovations that had an impact on the orchestra, including the development of the modern key mechanism for the flute by Theobald Boehm and Adolphe Sax's innovations in woodwind instruments, especially the invention of the saxophone. These advances would lead Hector Berlioz to write a reference book on instrumentation, which was the first systematic treatise on the use of instrumental sound as an expressive element in music.

Wagner's influence

The next great expansion of symphonic practice came from Richard Wagner's Bayreuth Orchestra, founded to accompany his musical dramas. Wagner's stage works were of unprecedented scope and complexity: indeed, his score for Das Rheingold' requires six harps. Thus, Wagner envisioned an increasingly demanding role for the conductor of the theater orchestra, as he explained in his influential work "On Conducting". This was a revolution in orchestral composition and marked the style of orchestral performance for the next eighty years. Wagner's theories reexamined the importance of tempo, dynamics, the bow of stringed instruments, and the role of principals in the orchestra.

The orchestra of the 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, symphony orchestras were larger, better financed, and better trained than before; consequently, composers could compose larger and more ambitious works. Gustav Mahler's works were especially innovative; in his last symphonies, such as the enormous Symphony No. 8, Mahler exceeds the limits of orchestral size, using enormous forces. In the late Romantic period, orchestras could support the largest forms of symphonic expression, with huge string sections, huge brass sections, and a wide range of percussion instruments. With the dawn of the recording era, performance standards were raised to a new level, as a recorded symphony could be listened to carefully, and even small errors in intonation or ensemble, which might not be noticeable in a live performance, could be heard by the critics. As recording technologies improved throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, small errors in a recording could be "corrected" by the recording. through audio editing or overdubbing. Some of the most veteran conductors and composers remember a time when the norm was to "pass" the music as good as possible. This, coupled with the larger audience that recordings allowed, brought attention back to certain star conductors and a high level of orchestral performance.

Orchestra formation

Initially it was agreed that the orchestra would be made up of:

• Pigs: seven violins, three violas, two cellos, a counter bass and an optional coden.
• Wind-madera: Two flutes, two oboes and a fagot. The oboes and flutes were played by the same musicians, so there was no sound coexistence of the four voices.
• Wind-metal: Two trumpets and two French cornos.
• Percussion: two timbales executed by the same instrumentist.

Mozart and Haydn made changes to the structure of the orchestra: the introduction of two clarinets influenced by Johann Stamitz after having seen the Mannheim Orchestra, the introduction of a second bassoon or, in Mozart's Don Giovanni, a trombone, that it was played by the second horn (that is, the two horns did not coexist together with the trombone).

Towards the year 1800 the orchestra grew and was arranged as follows:

• Pigs: Twenty violins, eight rapes, eight celloons, four basses.
• Wind-madera: Two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets and two fagotes.
• Wind-metal: Two trumpets, and four trumpets. The trombones would gradually be added with Beethoven, who came to use three in the Symphonies No. 5, No. 6 and No. 9.
• Percussion: Two or three timbals.

During the 19th century the orchestra expanded enormously. Beethoven was the one who continued this advance in orchestral growth. In Strings increasing the number of all instruments, in Woodwoods introducing the piccolo, contrabassoon, occasionally an English horn and some variants of clarinet, in Brass definitively fixed the use of trumpets, began to use trombones and recommended the use of the tuba and in Percussion he expanded the number of two or three classicist timpani to four or even five, and introduced the bass drum, cymbals and the triangle (Haydn had already introduced these last two, cymbals, triangle, and the contrabassoon, on a few occasions). By mid-century, the following grouping developed:

• Pigs: thirty violins, twelve violas, ten celloles, eight bass, a piano and a harp.
• Wind-madera: a flute, two flutes, two oboes, an English corn, two clarinets, a low clarinet, two fagotes and a contraphagot.
• Wind-metal: Three trumpets, four trumpets, three trombones and one tuba.
• Percussion: four timbals and other percussion instruments, depending on the composition.

Richard Wagner added the Wagnerian tuba (similar in sound to the French horn but an octave lower).

In the 20th century, composers (especially Gustav Mahler) wrote for orchestras of immense size, including six timpani, eight horns, four trumpets, four trombones, two tubas, two harps, extra presence of wood, celesta, more percussion and more strings, to balance the entire timbre set.

Types of orchestras

During this century, the chamber orchestra experienced a renewed momentum. There are different types of orchestras.

• Symphony Orchestra: The large orchestra – can reach the hundred components – is called symphonic orchestra u Philharmonic Orchestra (today adjectives do not distinguish the content or function of the orchestra but can be useful to differentiate orchestras that reside in the same city; for example, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra). Formerly, the philharmonic orchestra was an association of friends who played music, and the symphony was the one that was sponsored by a particular who paid for the formation of the orchestra.
• Camera orchestra: The term camera orchestra covers all types of instrumental sets, with the only condition of possessing such type of orchestra a small size. As with camera music, the "camera" complement refers to the living room in which they developed.
• Baroque Orchestra: Precisely, the orchestra is born in the Baroque, largely thanks to the technical perfection that the instruments of rugged rope (violin, viola, cello and counter bass). It was basically made up of this section and the continuous bass, in which the key stood out.
• Young orchestra: It is the one in which the members are students of the music career in the conservatory or in private academies. There is often one in each major province capital or in the regions. On many occasions, these orchestras serve, for their members, a professional symphony orchestra.
• Orchestra that uses a family of instruments: string orchestra, wind orchestra, metal orchestra, percussion orchestra.
• Orchestra that uses several families of instruments: wind orchestra and percussion (or band music), wind orchestra, percussion and some string instruments (or symphonic band).
• Typical orchestra: or simply typical calls, are an orchestra set that has 8 to 12 musicians and are very representative in Latin America.
• Orquesta popular music includes instruments such as synthesizers, drums, guitar, bass, wind metal and varied percussion. It usually acts in village or neighborhood parties, outdoors, and plays popular songs that are trendy at the time or that are great past successes.

Other instrumental groups of popular music, dance, jazz are also called orchestra, as long as they have a considerable number of members. Currently these musical groups are losing momentum thanks to soloists.