The use of a piano in the orchestra (apart from pianoforte concertos) belongs almost entirely to the Russian school.[11] The object is two-fold: the quality of tone, either alone, or combined with that of the harp, is made to imitate a popular instrument, the guzli, (as in Glinka), or a soft peal of bells. When the piano forms part of an orchestra, not as a solo instrument, an upright is preferable to a grand, but today the piano is gradually being superseded by the celesta, first used by Tschaikovsky. In the celesta, small steel plates take the place of strings, and the hammers falling on them produce a delightful sound, very similar to the glockenspiel. The celesta is only found in full orchestras; when it is not available it should be replaced by an upright piano, and not the glockenspiel.
Glockenspiel, Bells, Xylophone.
The glockenspiel (campanelli) may be made of steel bars, or played with a keyboard. The first type is the more satisfactory and possesses greater resonance. The use of the glockenspiel is similar to the celesta, but its tone is more brilliant and penetrating. Big bells in the shape of hollow discs or metal tubes,[12] or real church bells of moderate size may be considered more as theatrical properties than orchestral instruments.
The xylophone is a species of harmonica composed of strips or cylinders of wood, struck with two little hammers. It produces a clattering sound, both powerful and piercing.
To complete this catalogue of sounds mention should be made of the strings playing col legno, that is with the wood or back of the bow. The sound produced is similar to the xylophone, and gains in quality as the number of players is increased.
A [table] is appended showing the range of the celesta, glockenspiel and xylophone.
Percussion instruments producing indefinite sounds.
Instruments in this group, such as triangle, castanets, little bells, tambourine, switch or rod (Rute. Ger.), side or military drum, cymbals, bass drum, and Chinese gong do not take any harmonic or melodic part in the orchestra, and can only be considered as ornamental instruments pure and simple. They have no intrinsic musical meaning, and are just mentioned by the way. The first three may be considered as high, the four following as medium, and the last two as deep instruments. This may serve as a guide to their use with percussion instruments of determinate sounds, playing in corresponding registers.
Comparison of resonance in orchestral groups and
combination of different tone qualities.
In comparing the resonance of the respective groups of sound-sustaining instruments we arrive at the following approximate conclusions: