The orchestra and orchestral music

by W. J. Henderson

This truth having been acquired, and the purely military value of trumpets and drums being already known, it was inevitable that composers should move gradually but slowly toward the establishment of the string and brass choirs of the modern orchestra. The wood-wind came to its position more slowly, chiefly because of the rude and difficult system of fingering, which made the instruments troublesome to learn. The value of their tonal differences was not perceived at an early date, and indeed it was not until near the middle of the eighteenth century that any direct attempts at tone-coloring were made.

The establishment of the string quartet was really the first vital step toward the arrangement of the orchestra of to-day, and this step was the direct result of Monteverde’s experiments. For a time there was a tolerable system in which viols of various kinds were used. The thorough-bass was played by the deeper-toned viols, and the harpsichord filled out the harmonies. It must be remembered that at the end of the sixteenth century and beginning of the seventeenth, there were two kinds of viola, the viola da gamba (held between the knees), and the viola da braccia (held at the shoulder), and there were a dozen or more species of these two kinds. But the study of the special characters of instruments led to the selection for permanent use of the best of these. The bass viol became our double-bass; the tenor viola da gamba, the violoncello; the tenor viola da braccia, the viola, and so on. The violin began to make known its value, and after that progress was steady.

In 1649 Cavalli, in his opera “Giasone,” wrote an accompaniment for two violins and a bass in a style which endured for half a century. Only a few years now elapsed before the modern string quartet, in its primitive form, found its way into the orchestra. Alessandro Scarlatti, born in 1659, was one of the great geniuses of Italy, and founded that style of opera of which Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini were the most popular modern exponents. He enlarged and improved almost every department of operatic writing, and contributed much to the development of the orchestral part.

In its general features his orchestra was not unlike that of to-day. Violins, violas, and basses were its foundation, but their employment was naturally crude. The ’celli always played in unison with the basses, and so, for the most part, did the violas; but there were many instances in which he used his violas independently and even in two parts. The oboe was the principal wind-instrument, while the bassoons were used to strengthen the bass and were seldom heard alone. Flutes were introduced for their special character.[2] Scarlatti’s use of violas independent of the basses and in real parts led him toward the true distribution of the string quartet, and in several of his operas we find him writing accompaniments for two violins, viola, and bass in a style which has been employed frequently by all subsequent composers.

[2] The German flute, as it was called, was introduced into the orchestra by Lully, in his “Isis,” 1677.

It is not possible to say that Scarlatti invented this style, for it must have been the result of long experimenting; but he saw its superiority and used it so systematically that it was copied by his successors together with other salient features of his style. The chief importance of this manner of writing was its establishment of the proper distribution of the four notes of a chord among the four instruments. The balance and solidity of tone thus gained was of vital importance to the development of orchestral writing, and of the orchestra itself. Scarlatti gave the treble part to the first violin, the alto to the second, the tenor to the viola, and the bass to the bass; and that is what composers have done ever since. About the same time we find Alessandro Stradella writing, in a manner afterward employed in their concerti grossi by Bach and Handel, for two solo violins and a solo violoncello, with an accompaniment of violins, violas, and basses.

In France the most important musician of the period was Jean Baptiste Lully (1633-87), who was also a composer of operas. His orchestra was less elastic than Scarlatti’s, yet it was of a type which survived for many years. Its foundation was a body of strings, violins playing the upper parts, and viols of different registers the middle and lower parts. These were supported by a harpsichord, to which was given a figured-bass part. Trumpets, flutes, and oboes were employed to increase the volume of tone and to produce certain obvious color-effects. For example, trumpets were heard in martial passages and oboes in pastoral scenes. Tympani came into the orchestra at this time also. It cannot be said that Lully showed genius for orchestral writing, and for that reason his orchestra is an excellent example of the conventional arrangement of the day. The use of the harpsichord goes to show that composers of that time did not know how to get a full and sonorous harmony out of the purely orchestral instruments, and their attempts to supply the deficiency with the tinkling percussive notes of the keyed instrument were foredoomed to failure.

Giovanni Legrenzi, a famous Venetian composer (1625-90), employed what looked like a fairly rational orchestra. It consisted of 19 violins, 2 violas, 2 viole di gamba, 4 large lutes, 2 cornets, 1 bassoon, and 3 trombones. The chief shortcoming of this orchestra, aside from its deficiency in wood-wind, is its want of stringed basses. A most important contributor to the development of the orchestra at this period was Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). He was a great violinist, and, in composing for the violin as a solo and chamber-music instrument, he explored its resources and illustrated its relation to other instruments. Some of his important works were: “Twelve Sonatas for Two Violins and Violoncello, with Bass for the Organ” (Rome, 1683), “Twelve Chamber Sonatas for Two Violins, Violoncello, and Violone, or Cembalo” (Rome, 1685), and “Concerti Grossi,” for two solo violins and solo violoncello, with accompaniment for additional instruments (1712). In these works Corelli did much to point the way toward modern chamber music and its forms, and in doing so contributed directly toward that understanding of the relative powers and limits of the members of the string quartet without which good orchestral writing is impossible.

We have now reached the beginning of the eighteenth century. The typical orchestra of the time consisted of strings, distributed in the fashion set by A. Scarlatti, but not always with a correct adjustment of the number of each kind, two pairs of wind-instruments, and the harpsichord as the impotent agent to fill out the harmonies. It was at this period that two great composers arose and exerted an influence which affected the entire subsequent development of music. These composers were George Frederick Handel (1685-1759) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). Both of these writers made improvements in the orchestra and in orchestral music. Something has already been said about their methods of writing for the orchestra, but the reader will pardon some repetition of facts which throw light on the constitution of the orchestral body under these composers. Bach was essentially a polyphonic writer, and he treated his orchestral instruments as if they were voices. Each one had an essentially melodic part to sing, and the beautiful interweaving of these voice parts constitutes one of the never-ending charms of the great master’s music. He contrasted with this style passages of extreme simplicity, in which the strings and the keyed instrument—organ or clavier—were used.

Handel, on the other hand, was chiefly a composer of operas and oratorios, and his orchestral style was developed to a considerable extent in the direction of building up huge climaxes by means of mass effects. It may be said, therefore, with some reservation, yet with general correctness, that Bach’s orchestral style has afforded later composers a model for solo effects in the orchestra, while for solidity and sonority of the entire instrumental body Handel has been mainly followed. One of the forms in which Bach exercised his genius was the Concerto Grosso, in which two or three solo instruments, instead of one, are heard with orchestral accompaniment. In 1721 Bach wrote six of these works, known as the Brandenburg Concertos. Only one of these, the first, would be regarded as an orchestral work in our time. The others belong rather to the department of chamber music, though by increasing the number of instruments in each part they may be made to have an orchestral effect. The first concerto, however, was written for the string quartet, aided by the double-bass and the violino piccolo (a little violin with a high compass), two horns, two oboes, bassoon, and harpsichord. These instruments were employed in three groups: horns, wood, and strings; but one must remember that Bach’s polyphonic method of using his wind-instruments was altogether different from the manner in which the same instruments are now employed.