AYoung Person’s

Guide to the Orchestra

(and the instruments in it!)

Presented by

CityMusic ClevelandCompiled by

David Barach & Adam Spektor

ViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings. It is the

smallest, highest-pitched member of the string family. It is often informally called a fiddle. This instrument often

has the melody in the orchestra.Examples

In classical: Watch this clip of CityMusic Cleveland playing with

stunning soloist Dylana Jenson. The piece is Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, one of the favorites of the repertoire:https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=vn0jP67N6-k#t=54s

Outside of classical: The fiddle has been at the center of the “Gypsy Jazz” movement since the 1930s:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXp-x_QCKvsSolo performance: Bach’s Chaconne in D Minor, written after the death of his first wife, stands alone in the repertoire in beauty, complexity, and feeling:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5vfMADWKFsM - t=42s

Fun fact!The smallest violin in the world is less than one cm long, and small enough to fit inside a matchbox.

ViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument that is slightly larger than the violin in size, and has a deeper sound. The register (how high the pitch is) is between that of the lower-pitched cello and the higher-pitched violin.

ExamplesIn classical: German Baroque composer

Georg Philipp Telemann’s Viola Concerto: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PtB28i6ypFw#t=18s

Outside of classical: Here is a fantastic jazz viola version of “My Favorite Things” from beloved Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical, The Sound of Music:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpQPi7c_YEM

Solo Viola: 19th century Belgian composer Henri Vieuxtemps’ Viola Sonata is absolutely gorgeous:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cd-gSlAOR4

Fun fact!Jimi Hendrix began his rock career on viola.

CelloThe cello is the second-largest string instrument in the orchestra. It has been described as the closest instrument to the male human voice.

ExamplesIn classical: Brace yourselves for the thrilling Dmitri Shostakovich Cello Sonata: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q350N0Y9KyE

Outside of classical: Apocalyptica is a well-known cello rock band. Watch them shred away at the cello here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FzKqA9n-mo

Solo performance: The Bach Cello Suites are meditative, sublime, and among the most famous solo pieces for an instrument ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6yuR8efotI

Fun fact!The cello is the only orchestral string instrument that is

ALWAYS played sitting down, even during solos.

Double BassStanding at an awe-inspiring six feet tall, the double bass, commonly referred to as a "bass," is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument in the orchestra. A person that plays the bass is a bassist. Bassists must stand at all times, or else sit on a very high stool.ExamplesIn classical: It is unusual to hear a

prominent bass part because its low pitch makes the sound carry poorly over other instruments. It typically plays a supporting role. However, Camille Saint-Saëns makes great use of it to represent “The Elephants” in his Carnival of the Animals:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug8hCAyBaqgOutside of classical: The double bass can be jazzy and cool, like in Henry Mancini’s Pink Panther theme:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYNHn_6w3bwSolo performance: Watch jazz Pioneer Stanley Clarke play a characteristic solo:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py3jT0uaZw0

Fun fact!Basses are commonly the only string-family members of brass bands. The low-string sound makes the brass instruments sound richer.

Flute

The flute is a member of the woodwind family of instruments, although flutes used in classical performances are typically made of silver. Earlier flutes however, were made of other materials, including wood and bone. The earliest flutes, made out of bone, are estimated to be tens of thousands of years old! The flute most commonly used in Western music today was developed by flautist Theobald Boehm in 1847. The piccolo, a smaller and more highly pitched flute, is frequently used as well – to a lesser extent, alto and bass flutes, which are larger and deeper, are also occasionally used in performance. The high-pitched sound of a flute, often described as sounding like bird calls, are created by blowing across the top of a hole at the head of the instrument. Have you ever made a sound by blowing across the hole in a jug or bottle? It’s the same sort of idea, except the holes across the instrument can change the instrument’s pitch as well!

Examples

- In classical: French composer Claude Debussy opened his ballet piece, Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun with a solo flute, conjuring up a dream-like, mystical atmosphere. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR5OWN_ydIY

- Outside of classical: British progressive rock and roll band Jethro Tull were famous for their singer, Ian Anderson’s extensive use of the flute. Here’s a jazz-rock rendition of a Johann Sebastian Bach Bouree that became an unlikely hit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWJgJkVL0xM

- Solo performance: French composer Arthur Honegger’s Danse de la chevre (Dance of the Goat), is a playful and lively work for solo flute. Try to imagine a young goat running and jumping across a mountainside during the quick flurries of notes! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLJ6FM5tXYA

Fun Fact!In 2007, composer Roberto Fabbriciani invested the hyperbass flute, the largest and deepest flute in the world. Listen for the almost otherworldly sounds it creates! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaNFGhY5x9g

Oboe

The oboe is another member of the woodwind family, typically made of rosewood with nickel-silver keys. It produces a unique, reedy high-pitched sound, created by blowing air in between two small pieces of wood at the head of the instrument. These pieces of wood, together called a double reed, vibrate and produce sound. The pitches are altered by the keyholes across the cone-like body of the instrument. The oboe developed from the Renaissance instrument the shawm, which frequently served the same loud, triumphant purpose that the trumpet serves in today’s orchestra. Another variation of the oboe is the English horn or cor anglais which is larger than the oboe and has a deeper sound.

Examples

- In classical: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Concerto for Oboe in C major is still one of the most widely performed works for oboe, even though it was written in 1777 – 236 years ago! For years, musicians believed the piece was originally written for flute, until scholars discovered original documents from hundreds of years ago, noting that it was indeed first written for oboe http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhygJyCvYeA

- Outside of classical: British art rock band Roxy Music helped redefine a musician’s role in a rock and roll group, with band member Andy Mackay exclusively playing oboe and saxophone, which is very unusual for a rock band! Here they are playing their hit “Virginia Plain” on Top of the Pops in 1972 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEalg62F8Zg

- Solo performance: British composer Benjamin Britten composed Six Metamorphoses After Ovid in 1951, a set of six solo oboe movements inspired by a 2,000 year old Roman epic poem. Here is the freeform first movement; be sure to listen for the instrument’s distinct timbre, or sound! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vh96omI0bYE

Fun Fact!In order to maintain a quality sound, oboists need to take care of their reeds, and spend years learning how to whittle and shape their reeds. Great oboists are also great carpenters!

ClarinetThe

clarinet is a woodwind instrument that looks a lot like the oboe, although it is really very different! While the oboe has two reeds, the clarinet has only one, and the vibration that results after air is blown past it creates a different sound. As air travels through the cylindrical instrument, the tone it produces ranges from deep and warm to high and light. The B-flat clarinet is most frequently used, although the lower bass clarinet and higher E-flat clarinet are also common in orchestras. Less common are the E-flat alto clarinet, which sits in the middle range of the clarinet family, and then contrabass clarinet, which produces a very deep sound. The modern clarinet is derived from the baroque instrument, the chalumeau, which had a more limited range. Today’s commonly used Western clarinet was developed in 1839 by Hyacinthe Klosé, although he was so inspired by Boehm’s improvements to the flute, that he named the new design after Boehm.

Examples- In classical: Here’s a performance of German romantic composer Felix

Mendelssohn’s clarinet concertpiece for two clarinets and piano, as performed by local musicians Daniel Gilbert, Vera Holczer, and Jenny Hublin, just south of Cleveland, in Aurora, OH. It just goes to show that great music is always being made right in our backyard! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mScx8Z-roFA

- Outside of classical: The clarinet is one of the most commonly used instruments in klezmer, a traditional Jewish folk music centered around lively, energetic dancing. Here are three clarinetists from the Jacksonville Symphony performing klezmer pieces – be sure to listen for the bass clarinet! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQTWUaM78oc

- Solo performance: 13-year old clarinet Han Kim performs Russian modernist composer Igor Stravinsky’s Three Pieces for Solo Clarinet here – maybe if you start out young enough you can catch up to him! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tNWjh4s2qQ

Fun Fact!The legendary bent note at the start of American jazz-popular-classical composer George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue started out as a joke during rehearsals – Gershwin loved it so much that he left it in the piece! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmUHI2yTtVY

Bassoon

Much like the oboe, the bassoon is a double-reed woodwind instrument that produces its sound through vibrations between the two reeds. Unlike the oboe, however, the bassoon is significantly larger and follows a much longer path through the instrument’s body. Its sound is reedy, yet deep and warm, and can be frequently used for comic effect. The bassoon that we know today was derived from the baroque fagotto, and was perfected by instrument maker Johann Adam Heckel in the mid-1800s. One common variant of the bassoon is the contrabassoon, which if you think the bassoon is large and deep, wait until you hear one of those!

Examples

- In – In classical: Russian modernist composer Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring opens with a bassoon

being played in its upper register, an unusual scoring the instrument. This scoring was so unusual, as was the loud and cacophonous nature of the work, that a riot broke out in the concert hall when it was first performed, 100 years ago! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewyqXI21vp0

- Outside of classical: Classic Detroit R&B group, and mainstays of the famed Motown record label, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles utilized the bassoon in their hit single “The Tears of A Clown”. It’s one of the few pop hits to feature the instrument – be sure to listen for it playing a different melody at the same time the flute plays its melody at the start of the song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxj1hP3dxdg

- Solo performance: Modern composer Luciano Berio composed solo works for a variety of instruments, including voice, in his series of pieces, entitled Sequenza, designed to demonstrate the full range of the instrument. Here is Sequenza XII for bassoon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de1mwOaW8Dc

Fun Fact!Here’s that contrabassoon, performing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee – this sure sounds like one large bee! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP6jkCpp2_Y

Saxophone

While not typically in a symphony orchestra, the saxophone has still become an important woodwind instrument over the last 150 years. Like the clarinet, it is a single reed instrument, but unlike the clarinet, it is typically made of brass, like a trumpet or trombone, which gives it a louder, brasher sound. There are a number of different types of saxophones, which range from high pitched and small-sized to deeply pitched and enormously sized – soprano sax, alto sax, tenor sax, baritone sax, and the rarely used bass sax. The instrument has become increasingly common in classical works, and has almost always been a crucial part of jazz and rock and roll. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s.

Examples

- In classical: Russian romantic composer Alexander Glasunov wrote his Concerto for Saxophone in 1934, when the instrument was still considered unfit for the orchestra. Glasunov saw an opportunity to write a piece for a unique new sound, and went with it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9jdN3Q1bpQ

- Outside of classical: The saxophone is one of the most widely used instruments in jazz. One of its most innovative players was Charlie “Bird” Parker, who helped develop bebop, a fast-paced style of jazz built around complicated melodies and virtuosic musicianship. Here he is with fellow bebop pioneer, trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie playing “Hot House” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Clp9AeBdgL0

- Solo performance: Solo classical works for saxophone are few and far between – here’s a piece, Scaramouche by French composer Darius Milhaud, a work inspired by Brazilian dances and folk music, for saxophone and piano. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyOb2V7j6OE

Fun Fact!Former U.S. President Bill Clinton played the saxophone! Who knows – if you play the sax, maybe you’ll become President too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTkUeb6zQFA

TrumpetThe trumpet is the smallest and highest-pitched brass instrument. Like all instruments in the brass family, the sounds a trumpet makes are produced by the buzzing lips of the musician! The 3 valves or pistons you see on top of the instrument are used to determine the pitch.

ExamplesIn classical: Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2, Movement 3 is one of the most difficult works for an orchestral trumpeter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIX_XVji9UAOutside of classical: Watch Louis Armstrong, one of the most famous jazz musicians of all time, lead his band in When The Saints Go Marching In: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA

Solo Performance: Franz Josef Haydn Trumpet Concerto with Wynton Marsalis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEoHI9W4Ejw

Fun fact!Trumpets were famously used as signaling devices for armies, from medieval times to the US Civil War.

TromboneThe trombone is a middle-low-range member of the brass family where pitch is directed by a moving slide rather than by valves. Trombones have many uses, able to sound meditative or savage, mournful or bright.

Examples

In Classical: One of the most awe-inspiring moments in the trombone literature occurs in the choral from Johannes Brahms’

first symphony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX1em5cYHFc

Out of classical: Here is Jazz Great Wycliffe Gordon playing “Sweet Georgia Brown”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=RWqMhXbW-B8#t=56s

Solo performance: Christian Lindberg performs Romeo and Juliet on the trombone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFOu78UVCps

Fun fact!The trombone makes some of your favorite cartoon sound effects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC75aU47GRk

TubaThe tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched instrument in the brass family. Imagine how much air it needs to make a sound!

ExamplesIn classical: The tuba can be dark and frightening, as in Modest Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain: http://youtu.be/nYSbxRiUgOo?t=1m20s

Out of classical: Tuba’s are ideal for hip-hop style beats. Here is Youngblood Brass Band in Brooklyn: http://youtu.be/9QKeXWEYCSI

Solo performance: Ralph Vaughn Williams has written one of the most exciting tuba concerti in the

repertoire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yfu1EKnTmo

Fun fact!In marching band, an adaptation of the tuba called a sousaphone is used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08g0VroT2MA

French Horn

A french horn is the most versatile instrument in the brass family in terms of pitch, going nearly as high as a trumpet can, but nearly as low as a trombone can. Its airy tone makes it sound otherworldly.

ExamplesIn classical: Richard Wagner uses the French Horn for exciting horn calls representing an opera lead:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=I6DjQ1-T3z8#t=43s

Out of classical: Similarly to Wagner, John Williams uses it to renowned effect in Harry Potter (horn enters at :50): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCNHVMIYqiA

Solo performance: Mozart’s Horn Concertos are classics in the brass literature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otkovXD1HBQ

Fun fact!The French Horn is actually German in origin!

Timpani

The timpani or kettledrums are large drums, made of copper, with large skins stretched over the top of them. The skins can be stretched or loosened, usually with a pedal, to change the pitch the drums make when they’re hit. The typical orchestra contains anywhere from two to four different timpani, each one a different size to produce a different range of notes. Timpani developed from large military drums, and became a regular part of the symphony orchestra by the end of the

1700s. The sound these drums create is thunderous, booming, and dramatic – a well-performed timpani roll can have an audience at the edge of their seats in anticipation!

Examples- In classical: American minimalist composer Philip Glass composed his Concerto

Fantasy for Two Timpanists and Orchestra in 2000, in which two musicians play a combined total of 14 timpani! http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=QvIuzUF1fWs - t=179s

- Outside of classical: Doo-wop group The Drifters’ 1959 hit “There Goes My Baby” features insistent timpani keeping rhythm in the background. The song, written and produced by songwriting legends Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, was the first pop single to feature a string orchestra, a technique that has been copied countless times since. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3HXy9mGPpI

- Solo performance: Here is one of eight pieces for solo timpani written by 20th century American composer Elliott Carter in 1950. These pieces demonstrate a number of techniques – watch as the timpanist uses both ends of the mallets to produce different sounds! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKmK-nFdMXM

Fun Fact!The world’s largest kettledrum, known as The Moon of Pejeng is located in Indonesia, is over six feet tall, over 2,000 years old, and is considered by some locals to be sacred.

XylophoneA xylophone is a set of wooden rectangular bars, of different sizes, arranged in size, with the largest bars on the left to the smallest bars on the right. When the bars are hit with a mallet, they each produce a different pitch. Think of it as like a piano, but if it were strictly a percussion instrument! There are numerous instruments like the xylophone that are frequently used. There’s the marimba, which like the xylophone, has bars made of wood, but is much larger, and features columns beneath the bars called resonators, which allows the sound to last longer. There’s the glockenspiel, which is smaller than a xylophone, and has bars made of medal. And yet even further, there’s the vibraphone, which is large like a marimba, and like the glockenspiel, has bars made of metal. That’s a lot of instruments to keep track of, but if you can play one, you can generally play all of them!

Examples- In classical: French composer Darius Milhaud composed his playful Concerto for

Marimba, Vibraphone, and Orchestra in 1947, which was a fairly early example of solo orchestral work for these instruments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ4_U2eRue0

- Outside of classical: British rock and roll legends The Rolling Stones brought the marimba to rock music in 1966 with their hit “Under My Thumb”. Guitarist Brian Jones played the marimba on the song, and was responsible for bringing many unorthodox instruments into the group’s sound before his untimely death at the age of 27. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcgZIz0Fd-w

- Solo performance: Not quite a solo performance per se, but here’s a unique performance by Reg Kehoe and His Marimba Queens from the 1940s. Not only is there a lot of pitched percussion going on, but there’s also a very quirky and enthusiastic bassist! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uc4yoIwGqOc

Fun Fact!One unique way in which vibraphonists can get a different sound from their instrument is to run a violin bow across the ends of the instrument’s bars! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqVWUbRZP8E

Drums

There are many types of drums that are a part of the typical drum kit, and they all serve a different purpose. The bass drum, the largest drum in a kit, can either be played with a foot pedal, in a kit, or with mallets in an orchestra. It can create a huge, booming sound if struck hard enough! Then there’s the snare drum, a smaller drum with metal rattles underneath it that resonate when the drum is hit. This is the sort of drum you hear prominently in military marches and in drumrolls. Then you have the tom-toms, which range in size and generally have plastic stretched over the top for a deep, resonant sound. Finally, there are the cymbals, sheets of metal in different sizes that can be crashed together or hit with sticks – they often punctuate a phrase in percussion, much like you’d use an exclamation mark at the end of an exciting sentence!

Examples- In classical: Few classical works utilize a drum kit as pictured above, but British

composer Gustav Holst’s Mars, one of the sections of his Planets suite, features brash percussion, and a constant militaristic snare drum keeping rhythm through the piece http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu0x-a1VCAg

- Outside of classical: “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown’s drummer during much of his career, Clyde Stubblefield, is one of the most influential drummers in soul, R&B, funk, and hip-hop. The drum break in the song “Funky Drummer” has been sampled in countless other songs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3xSXc1vy5I

- Solo performance: Canadian progressive rock drummer Neil Peart, of the band Rush, has a simply massive drum kit. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWyABiUpihs

Fun Fact!Even though drums don’t produce traditional pitches as we might notate them, they still need to be tuned with a special key in order to get just the right sound!

Other percussion

There is a wide range of percussion instruments, each of which produce different sounds and serve different purposes; here are just a few of them.

The tambourine is a wooden or metal circular frame, around which, a sets of two small cymbals rest in a position where they are around allowed to resonate against each other when shaken or hit. Many tambourines also have a drumskin across the top of the frame. Tambourines can be hit or shaken, and are often used in dances, or to conjure up an exotic atmosphere, as in Pytor Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Arabian Dance from The Nutcracker Suite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ywMOMedVVZs#t=55s

(jump to 55 seconds into video)

Tubular bells or chimes are large metal tubes, each a different size and different pitch, arranged much like a xylophone. They are struck by a hammer from the top and produce a deep, stately ringing sound. 19-year old British musician Mike Oldfield recorded a hit symphonic rock album in 1973 called Tubular Bells. To hear the triumphant bells in action, we skip to about 22:50 in the recording as in this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=p7VHRyQDMTM#t=1369s

Congas and bongos are types of drums made of wood, with open bottoms that allow sounds to resonate, with skins stretched over the top. They are most frequently struck with the hand, but can also be played with sticks. Congos are much larger than bongos, and because they have a much longer wooden body, they produce deeper sounds. These instruments originated in Cuba and are extremely common in Latin American, Afro-Cuban, and Caribbean music, such as salsa, merengue, and rumba. Listen for the congas on “The King of Latin Music” Tito Puente’s lively smash, “Oye Como Va”, which translates to “Listen to How It Goes”! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj_XxBKG53g

The triangle is a pitched percussion instrument, a tubular piece of metal in the shape of a triangle. The instrument is struck with a small metal stick – if struck in certain places, it can resonate for seconds. The player can rotate the stick around the inside of the triangle, to create a rapid, “dinner bell” effect, or simply strike it once. If the cymbal crash is like an exclamation point at the end of a sentence, a triangle can serve as a period. The third movement of Hungarian classical composer Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 1 gives the triangle a prominent role in the piece http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFSV8LFHJxY

The gong is an enormous sheet of bronze, struck with a large mallet to make a booming, dramatic, deeply resonant sound. It is usually held from a string from a square frame, so as to keep anything from preventing the gong to resonate. The standard orchestral gong, known as a tam-tam has been used in Western orchestras since the late 1700s, but gongs have been used throughout Asia for thousands of years! Here’s modern Oklahoman psychedelic rock band The Flaming Lips playing the gong ecstatically on their 2009 song “Watching the Planets”. http://vimeo.com/15955026

The tabla is a traditional Indian percussion instrument; fairly similar to the bongo or conga in that it’s a set of two hollow drums with skins stretched over the top, and is played with the hands. However, it’s different because pressure can be applied to the body of the larger drum that can help change its pitch slightly. While it is not used in Western symphonic music very often, it has been appropriated into Western music on occasion. The Beatles, most specifically guitarist George Harrison, incorporated the

tabla into a number of songs, including “Within you, Without you”, which also features Indian stringed instrument, the sitar. http://youtu.be/dEAyE0PH-sU