But European culture is alone in the breadth and size of the band that has evolved to perform art music: the orchestra. The second is how, as the orchestra grows, the gap between the music and the listener grows — the listener becomes a passive force, rather than one who could potentially get up and sing, dance, or strum a lute. In the 16th century, art music in homes wealthy enough to allow this sort of leisure activity consists of virginals, small consorts of viols a group of instruments from the family ranging from soprano to bass and a woodwind or two.
This period also saw the birth of musical theatre which turned into masques in England and opera in Italy by the end of that century. The sheet music gave each piece shape and direction, and it was up to the musicians to work out what it would actually sound like in performance. Here they are in a snippet from their program on the confluence of musical styles in Venice:.
Then along came the Italian opera composers, like Claudio Monteverdi, who started requesting specific instruments to accompany their operas. For his landmark Orfeo , the first surviving opera of the current era, Monteverdi asks for: two violins, bowed string quartet, a string trio, two harps, two cornetts and organ. One thing becomes clear from this point on: stringed instrument families are central to the ensemble. In early 17th century France, for example, one of the most significant orchestras as the Violons du Roy, made up of six violins, 12 violas and six cellos.
String orchestras became common in Italy, as well. By the end of that century, Versailles had a standard orchestra of strings with the violin family steadily forcing out the old-fashioned viols , two oboes, bassoon and continuo keyboard portatif small organ and harpsichord. Listen Up Homepage. Mayor of London's Open Rehearsal initiative. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
Explore the BBC. Radio 3 Home. New Music. World Music. About Radio 3. The Mannheim school included Johann Stamitz. The most important symphonists of the latter part of the 18th century are Haydn, who wrote at least symphonies over the course of 36 years Webster and Feder , and Mozart, with at least 47 symphonies in 24 years Eisen and Sadie With the rise of established professional orchestras, the symphony assumed a more prominent place in concert life between approximately and Beethoven dramatically expanded the symphony.
His Symphony No. By the end of the 19th century, some French organists e. At the beginning of the 20th century, Gustav Mahler wrote long, large-scale symphonies. The 20th century also saw further diversification in the style and content of works that composers labeled symphonies Anon. The modern symphony orchestra varies in size, but typically has a strength of about The largest lot of these are from the strings, which contain some 60 to 70 players.
This typically comprises some 16 first and second violins, 14 violas, 14 cellos and 8 - 10 double basses. However these numbers are sometimes reduced when playing 17th century pieces to simulate a 17th century orchestra. Next is the woodwinds which are usually composed of 2 flutes, a piccolo, 2 oboes, one cor anglais, two clarinets, 1 bass clarinet, 2 bassoons and a double bassoon.
Then there is the brass, which normally consists of 2 trumpets, 3 trombones 2 tenor and 1 bass , a tuba and 4 horns. Sample of Modern Orchestra Music.
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The term was revived during the late 17th century and evolved to mean the players themselves. Orchestras has its roots from the 16th century consorts employed in noble households, and to groups of instrumentalists especially assembled for important occasions.
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