RG Perez

Music
Orchestra essay

The Development of The Orchestra

Through its Main Periods

Baroque

Baroque music was active during the years 1600-1760. The word ‘Baroque’ originally
was taken out of the Italian word for ‘bizarre’ (Barocco.) The term ‘Baroque’ was
firstly used to describe the strange architecture of Italy, Germany, and Austria. In
Fact, the name wasn’t applied to music until the mid 1900’s. Now it is recognized as
the particular and distinctive style of music during that era. Baroque music was
created as a result of the collaboration of different European habits of music during
the time. In the northern European countries of Germany and Holland, the organ and
the voice were the key elements of their musical trend, whereas, the Italians mixed
in their forms called ‘Concerto’ and ‘Sonata.’ The German forms’ popularity spread to
the south, eventually meeting Italy’s forms, moving towards the north. These distinct
styles traveled through composers such as Bach and Handel. Who wrote and
composed music by incorporating the music of other composers, re-writing it, and
adding more instruments. (History and Background of Baroque)
The orchestra in the Baroque consisted of a wide range of instruments, which most of
them were continued on from the Renaissance era. These instruments included the
clavichord, harpsichord, organ, string instruments, wind instruments, and the
percussion instruments. The organ in Baroque period played a strong role in the
orchestra, as it was much stronger in its sound. It was used as both solo and
accompanying instruments, and was considered to be in its peak of its development.
Another group of instruments that was considered to have reached a new high level
in its development were the string instruments. During this period, the viola family
(particularly the violin) became the dominant instrument that eventually gave the
most timbre (quality) in the late Baroque period. However, despite of that, the only
string instruments that were used other than the violin, were the contrabass and
double bass, while the other viols were removed. The wind instruments included the
bassoon, flute and oboe. One of the wind instruments that started to become more
common was the transverse flute, which was used more in both solo and
accompanying parts. In addition, the brass instruments (horns, trumpets, trombones)
were more commonly used as accompanying instruments in large ensembles rather
than solo instruments. The only percussion instrument that was used was the
timpani, which was moderately used.
(Instruments and Orchestra of the Baroque period)
The orchestra in the Baroque period didn’t have a standard way of playing. Most of
the orchestra was made up of string instruments, and wind and percussion
instruments weren’t used as much. A form that was used frequently was the ‘basso
continuo,’ which was the accompanying group of instruments playing a bass line and
harmonies. The textures are mainly the melody and accompaniment or contrapuntal
(two or more independent melodic lines.) The voices and instruments were freely
mixed, and a new tone color was created as a result of the newly developed
instruments. Melodies were complex, and harmonies we re based on major/minor
tonality. The basic musical structures were binary and ternary form. The strings and
wind instruments played the same sort of music melodically and rhythmically, while
woodwind, and brass instruments were used to sustain the harmony.
(Elements of Baroque Music)

Classical (1750-1820)

Though it only lasted around 70 years, the Classical era was the period where some
of the greatest composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert were
present. This was a time of significant change in music and ideas in general. At this
era, Europe moved into ‘Classicism,’ which signaled a new era, seeing changes in
architecture, literature and the arts. This new wave of culture ultimately influenced,
and worked its way to music, making it based on reason, order and rules. The
concept of theme and variations reached it pinnacle during this time period, and
musical pieces were not given proper titles, in the context of what the piece was
about. For example, a piece could simply be called, “Violin Concerto in F major.” This
was also the time where people started having more opportunities to enjoy and
participate in leisure activities, and was where people first paid to view public
concerts. (History and Background of Classical Music)
The orchestras of the Classical period were relatively larger than the ones of the
Baroque period. One of the major changes to the instruments used was the removal
of the Harpsichord, which was one of the more popular instruments of the Baroque
period. The harpsichord was replaced with the piano, which became a solo
instrument. At first, the piano played lightly in terms of texture, but later played more
richer and powerful parts in pieces. The woodwind instruments (Flutes, Oboes,
Clarinets, Bassoons) also became its own section. Furthermore, the other instruments
consisted of the strings (Violins, Violas, Cellos, Double basses,) the brass (French
Horns, Trumpets) and the percussion (Timpani Drums.) The strings developed the
freedom and diversity for different effects, and ways of playing, such as the changing
of rhythmic patterns and tremolo (a wavering effect in a musical tone.) They were
also considered the backbone of the entire orchestra, and were often given the most
important melodic parts. The woodwinds were given moderate parts because of their
distinctive timbre or tone color, which was fantastic, but could tire the listener’s ears
if played to long. The horns were played to blend into the piece. They added color
and volume, and emphasize strong rhythm. Towards the later classical period, they
played more low-pitched and simpler parts in pieces. The flow of texture was
exaggerated by holding notes in the woodwind and horns, and re-writing the
accompanying parts to provide a stable harmony for melodies of the to change.
(Instruments and Orchestra of Classical Music.)
Classical music was known to be absolute. It was straight forward, as you can see
from the titles of the pieces. They were made for their own sake. Not specifically for
dancing, or anything else. Its purpose relatively ‘simple’. But there is nothing simple
about the trends and principles that drove the classical music revolution. Classical
music focused mainly on the clarity, the melody, and the color of the instruments. A
new form called “Homophony,” was utilized. This further incorporated the use of
chords to accompany the melody. This new style of playing diminished most of the
Baroque period’s polyphony (the style of simultaneously combining a number of
parts to create a melody.) The phrases in the classical period were much shorter, and
the melodies were much more firm, compact, and diatonic. These new trends also
included less structured and more diatonic harmonies, consisting of tonic (the chord
on the first degree of the scale,) dominant (the fifth degree of the major or minor
scale,) and subdominant (the fourth degree of the major or minor scale) chords.
Many composers would also sometimes use triadic (chords of three tones arranged in
thirds,) and seventh chords. (Elements of Classical Music)

Romantic (1815 – 1910)

This era of music and life is often misunderstood, and thought of only as a
time of love. The term ‘Romantic’ referred to the breakthrough of emotions,
adventures, and imagination brought through the artists and musicians of the
time. It was a time where people sought new ways to look at the world. For
the first time, composers made music for themselves, instead of their
employer. For the first time, big composers wrote music to express what they
were feeling, whereas this wasn’t the case during the Classical period. This
was ultimately the time where people truly appreciated the artist as an
individual, who expressed their own emotion through the music they created.
The basic trends of this period were individualism, and nationalism. Many
composers also wrote music to represent countries and their historical
background. The composer that was said to bridge the gap between the
classical and romantic period, was none-other than Beethoven. He wanted to
harmonize the existence of both the structured, strict classical form and the
newer innovative, and expressive ideology of music. This inspired other
composers to do so as well. (History and Background of Romantic Music)

The romantic period saw yet another increase in the size and significance of
the orchestra. To portray the emotions of the composer, there was a wider
range of sounds from new instruments being put into the orchestra. The
woodwind section grew in terms of the amount of oboes, flutes, and clarinets.
The newly added instruments included the contrabassoon, the bass clarinet,
the piccolo, and the English Horn. The brass instruments had a wider range
and versatility, because of the new valves on the instruments. The percussion
grew greatly in composition as well. Now the percussion section included the
use of bass drums, side drums, xylophones, celestas, gongs, cymbals,
castanets, harps, bells, triangles, and chimes. There were no new string
instruments, however, more were added to balance with the bigger number of
woodwind and brass instruments. There were more solo parts in the pieces of
the romantic period.
20th Century (1900 – 2000)

BIBIOGRAPHY

Baroque

Instruments and Orchestra of Baroque Period

http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/history/history-bar-inst.htm
http://www.baroquemusic.org/bardefn.html

History and Background of Baroque

http://www.baroquemusic.org/bardefn.html

Elements of Baroque Music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_music
http://www.baroquemusic.org/bardefn.html

Classical

History and Background of Classical Music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_period_(music)
http://culture.preferredconsumer.com/music/classical/

Elements of Classical Music

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_period_(music)

Instruments and Orchestra of Classical Music

http://wolfswiki.pbwiki.com/Instruments+of+the+Orchestra+2

Romantic

History and Background of Romantic Music

Instruments and Orchestra of Romantic Music

Elements of Romantic Music