An Introduction
Today, music is available to us in many forms. We can listen to the radio, turn on a cd player, or fool around with a video game. We hear music piped into department stores and doctor's offices. Some of us can pick up musical instruments and create wonderful sounds ourselves. Some of us enjoy attending musical concerts as frequently as possible because each live performance is unique.

For thousands of years, human cultures have included music in their religious rituals, seasonal ceremonies, and past time activities. Perhaps initially early societies wanted to imitate sounds they heard in nature: wind blowing through pine trees, canaries singing, frogs croaking, or rain falling on a quite pond. These people discovered how to make sounds out of simple instruments. They used their voices to sing or chant by themselves or in groups. They learned to beat on a hollow log, pluck a stretched piece of string, and blow through a hollow straw. Ancient composers had no way of writing music down so great melodies and rhythms had to be passed from master to student. The study of the native music from cultures around the world is called ethnomusicology.

About a thousand years ago, monks devised a system of putting musical notes on paper so they could record and remember particularly beautiful chants or songs. From that point until the present, the number of musical scores has continued to increase and get more complicated. Today we are able to hear music composed centuries ago.

The ancestors of today's musical instruments appeared several thousand years ago. Historically, instrumental ensembles (groups of people playing together) can be traced to the flutes and lyres used at the time of the Greek drama festivals of 2,200 years ago.
 

The Early Years
In the Middle Ages, ensemble music consisted of chamber groups of five or six, but sometimes more for special ceremonial and festive occasions. There was no set combination of instruments. Whoever was available played whichever instrument was available. These were mostly mixed groups used to accompany vocal music by playing the melody in unison with the singer. In other words, both the musicians and the singers performed exactly the same music at exactly the same time. For a terrific look at Medieval and Renaissance musical instruments, check out this link.

The late 16th century saw the creation of the opera, a dramatic play or comedy in which the actors sing their lines instead of recite them. In one of the first operas, Orfeo (1607), by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, instrumental tone colors were used to create mood, character, and special effects.

During the past three centuries, what we now know as the symphony orchestra changed many times. The orchestra's growth follows closely behind the improvements made to the orchestral instruments themselves. Craftsmen and manufacturers have sought to build ever more accurate, reliable, and audible (easier to hear) string, wind, brass, and percussion instruments. They have also tried to make the sound as beautiful as possible.
 

Sizes and Shapes
In the 17th century, the modern orchestra  further developed when violin design was perfected and kept the same. During the Baroque period the stringed instruments gained wide use because of their expressive qualities. The orchestra, called in French "Les Vingt-quatre violons du Roi" (the twenty-four violins of the King), consisted of 24 violins. This orchestra served the French king, Louis XIV who hired composers to create music dramas and dances for his court. Many of these dances were ballets involving ornate dances in which the dancers tell stories through their movements. These groups owed their existence to the nobility who used them to entertain at celebrations and other functions. The size and composition of an orchestra were directly related to the wealth of the patron.
 

The First Concerts
The first known public concert took place in London in 1673. Arcangelo Corelli, an Italian violinist and composer, contributed much to the use of the bow. The strings were divided into four sizes (violins, violas, cellos, and double-basses). They were often balanced with the winds (flutes, oboes, bassoons). The brass (trumpets, horns, and trombones) was increasingly more included as part of ensembles as the 1770s passed.

Christoph Willibald Gluck was one of the major composers who used the newly invented clarinet and omitted the traditional harpsichord in his ensembles. What is most important, Gluck was largely responsible for the orchestra shedding its role as merely accompanying singers or other instrumentalists. Instead of only performing background music, orchestras eventually became the center of attention at performances. Audiences learned to sit quietly and listen to what the composer was saying through his music. After Gluck, an orchestra became an independent, dramatic, and musical ensemble.
 

The Stage is Finally Set
The term symphony can refer to a group of musicians or a type of music that they play. Sometimes the pieces included in symphonies were bright and cheerful and other times very melodic.  Still other times they were dance-like and highly ornamented and embellished. One of the reasons why a symphony is divided into sections or movements is that the musicians had to retune their instruments more frequently in earlier times. They often played; in drafty, unheated rooms. There was no air conditioning then either.

By the end of the Baroque era (mid-1700s), the cello had become an important solo instrument, the full range of the bassoon was discovered, and the timpani was used in most compositions. Two major composers of the Baroque Period are Bach and Handel. Johann Sebastian Bach composed works for keyboard instruments, small ensembles, and choruses. His Brandenburg Concertos are very popular today. George Frideric Handel also composed works for small ensembles and operas. One of Handel's greatest works is called "The Messiah" which features the famous "Hallelujah Chorus."

Four events happened to make a symphony orchestra always be the same configuration of instruments.

1. Audiences began to expect to see and hear the same number and kind of instruments at each orchestral concert.

2. Many cities were able to assemble about this same number of musicians to perform regular concerts.

3. Musical instruments were produced in far greater quantities than in the past because of increased demand. The population of European cities had become greater.

4. The finest composers wrote a wide variety of  music which required this same size orchestra. People demanded to hear these compositions again and again.

Artists (painters, sculptors, architects, and composers) reacted to the ornateness and embellishment typical of the Baroque  Period by returning to a more simplified style typical of the works of Ancient Greece and Roman. This period became known as the Classical period. The composers most typical of this period are Haydn and Mozart. Franz Joseph Haydn is called the father of the symphony.  He wrote 104 of them. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a child prodigy and one of the greatest musicians who ever lived, wrote music in all forms.
 

The Great Beethoven
The music of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) falls into three periods. His early compositions were in the same style as Mozart and Haydn. In his middle period, he expanded the size of the symphony orchestra and the complexity of the music played. His final compositions show a vision of the future.

Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of this great man of music was that he began to lose his hearing. He was completely deaf when he composed his final works. He significantly changed the image of a composer—and all artists—from that of an employee to that of a uniquely creative person.
 

Local Color
As the decades passed, composers experimented with the size of the orchestra but its basic shape remained the same. They expanded the number of musicians and thus increased the volume of the ensemble. The orchestra could now be heard in larger concert halls. They also created new tone colors. The range of notes many of the instruments could play had been extended. This enabled the composers to write music that would have been virtually impossible fifty years before.

During the 19th century, tubas and harps became regular features of the symphony orchestra. The celeste, a keyboard instrument in which a hammer strikes a chime, was used quite effectively by the great Russian composer Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky in his "Nutcracker Ballet."

Also in the 19th Century, many of the nations of Europe were establishing their own political power and identify. Music became associated with specific nationalities. All of these had distinctive folk music from lullabies to party dances. Composers used these recognizable tunes in their works for symphony orchestras.  From Norway to Australia, composers produced works easily recognized as music from those nations. Finnish composer Jean Sibelius who wrote "Finlandia" and Modest Mussorgsky who composed "Boris Godunov" are closely identified with the music of  their specific countries.
 

And the Beat Goes On
The 20th Century—our own time—was one of experimentation. The talking machines and gramophones allowed everyone to hear music anytime they wished. Symphony orchestras began to broadcast their performances on the radio and television.

Composers reflected the sounds of the cities in their compositions. George Gershwin used actual car horns in his "American in Paris." In Aaron Copland's "El salón México" a 1930's dance hall comes alive. Electronic instruments and computers have become additional tools for composers. Drums from Africa, marimbas from Latin America, gongs from Asia, and musical instruments of Australian Aborigines have been used to achieve effects within a standard symphony orchestra.

Movies and television have also required composers to create sounds which enhance the content of their films. John Williams has composed music which is immediately recognized and associated with hit films like Star Wars and Jaws.

Today's CD-Rom players combine  spoken words, written texts, pictures, films, graphics, and symphonic music, all to interact with you.
 
 
 
 

A symphony orchestra is made up of four "families," or groups of instruments which are related to each other in the way they sound, the way then are constructed or the way they are played.
 

I. Strings
The String Family consists of four kinds of instruments: the violin, viola, cello, and doublebass.

The VIOLIN is the "soprano" or highest voice in the string section. There are two groups of violins in an orchestra, called the first violin section and the second violin section. The violins play the melody. The second violins may play exactly what the first violins are playing or they may play the same music but at a somewhat lower tone or they may play entirely different music which complements what the first violins are playing. You may have also heard the word "fiddle" instead of violin. Fiddle is the Old English word for this instrument. Violin, viola, and violoncello are all variations of the word Italian word, "viol."  (photo)

The VIOLA (vee-OH-la) looks almost the same as the violin, but it is larger and therefore has a deeper voice. It plays in the alto and tenor range of the music. It is played similarly to the violin. The musician rests the instrument on the left shoulder, holds it with his or her head, and draws a bow across the strings. (photo)

The CELLO (CHELL-o) was originally called the violoncello.  It is much larger than the viola and is pitched an octave lower. It plays in the baritone and bass range of the music, although composers often use it to sing the melody also. The musician holds the cello between his or her legs. The cello has a long metal point at the bottom which rests on the floor. A bow is drawn across the strings. (photo)

The DOUBLEBASS is the biggest string instrument and has the lowest or deepest pitch. It adds the very deep sounds which make the music sound full and rich. The musician must stand behind the instrument or sit on a high stool. The doublebass like the cello has a long metal point at the bottom which rests on the floor. A bow is drawn across the strings.
 

II. Woodwinds
The woodwind family gets its name because it originally contained by wind instruments made of wood. Today, the flutes are made of metal and the other "blown" instruments have metal parts. They make their sounds as wind passes through various lengths of hollow tubing. The basic members of this family are the flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon.

The FLUTE has silvery tones which are among the most beautiful sounds in the orchestra. The flute's close relative, the PICCOLO, can play the highest notes of all the wind instruments. (photo) (photo)

The OBOE is known as a double-reed instrument. The player's breath passes between two small surfaces of bamboo reed. This sets up the vibrations which make the tone you hear. Composers often give the melody to the oboe when they want the music to have a plaintive (sad) sound or when they want to describe a peaceful pastoral scene in music. The oboe has a larger relative called the ENGLISH HORN which has a sad tone quality and is lower in pitch. (photo)

At the start of most symphony orchestra concerts, you are likely to hear a solo oboe play prior to the conductor's entrance. In order for all of the instruments to play in the same pitch, the concertmaster (first chair, first seat violin) calls on the oboe to "give the A" for all tuneable instruments. You will hear the wind instruments tune and then the string instruments. In physics, this "A" vibrates at 440 cycles per second and is the standard for all musicians.

The CLARINET has only a single reed which vibrates to produce the tone you hear. The clarinet is a most useful instrument to composers. It has a wide pitch range and can sound either happy or sad. There are two close relatives: the BASS CLARINET with a silken bass voice and the E-flat CLARINET with a higher, piping sound which composers sometimes use for comic effect.

The BASSOON, like the oboe, is a double reed instrument. It is much larger and therefore has a much lower voice. It provides the bass part for the woodwind family, but is sometimes used to play the melody. It can be funny too, when the composer gives it a comical tune to play. It is occasionally referred to as the "clown" of the orchestra. Its still larger relative, the CONTRABASSOON, plays the lowest notes possible among the woodwind instruments.
 

III. BRASS
The brass instruments are the most powerful in the orchestra. Composers use them to give the music volume and excitement. This family includes the trumpet, french horn, trombone, and tuba.

The TRUMPET is the soprano or high voice of the brass family. When a composer wants a melody to sing especially loud and clear, he gives it to the trumpets. It is one of the oldest instruments. Because it is loud and its sound carries for great distances, the trumpet was used by armies to signal an attack during a battle. (photo)

The FRENCH HORN has a mellow, golden tone and plays in the middle range, although it can play deep bass notes, too. It is often associated with fox hunts. When one of the horseback riders spotted the fox, he would blow this horn.

The TROMBONE, unlike the trumpet, tuba, and French horn has no valves. Instead, the players must slide a length of tubing in and out to achieve different pitches. There are three TROMBONES in a standard symphony orchestra, two tenor trombones and one bass trombone. A trombonist must have a very good ear in order to stop the slide at just the right place to get the pitch he wants.

The TUBA is the deep bass voice of the brass family. It is so big and powerful an instrument that only one of them is usually needed in the orchestra. (photo)

IV. PERCUSSION
The PERCUSSION family includes many different instruments but all of them have one thing in common. They produce their sound by being struck, scraped, or rattled. Some of them have definite pitches and can be used to play a melody or to reinforce the harmony of the music.

PERCUSSION instruments with definite pitches include the TIMPANI (also known as the KETTLE DRUMS), the BELLS, XYLOPHONE, and CHIMES. (photo) (photo)

Other PERCUSSION instruments are not tuned to definite pitches but are used to produce stirring rhythms or to achieve special sound effects. Some of these instruments are the SNARE DRUM, BASS DRUM, BONGO DRUMS, CYMBALS, TRIANGLE, GONG, TAM-TAM, RATCHET, and TAMBOURINE.

Finally, there are some instruments which do not belong, strictly speaking, to any of the regular orchestra families but which are used by composers as what might be called "special guests" of the families.

A frequent guest is the HARP, which is actually the oldest of all string instruments. (photo)

The PIANO is sometimes a guest of the orchestra.  It makes its sound when hammers strike strings. Its percussive sound is often used as a special effect. Two other keyboard instruments which are occasionally included in a symphony orchestra are the ORGAN and the HARPSICHORD. The ORGAN produces its sound when wind passes through various lengths of pipe. A HARPSICHORD works like a piano but instead of hammers striking strings when the keys are pushed, mechanical picks pluck strings. The CELESTE (chel-LEST) looks like a small piano and makes its sounds in much the same way.  Instead of the hammers striking strings like they do in a piano, they strike tubular chimes. (photo)

The woodwinds sometimes have as a special guest the SAXOPHONE, particularly if  the composer wants his music to have a jazzy sound.