The orchestra has gone a long way. Today, some of the most popular orchestras in the world include the Chicago Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra and Trans Siberian Orchestra, among many others.
How Did the Orchestra Begin?
Up to around the mid-1500s late Renaissance, instrumental music had always played a subsequent role as accompaniment to singers and dancers. The word orchestra in ancient Greek drama referred to the circular space in front of the stage in which the dance or “orchesis” was performed by the chorus. By the time of the early Baroque period following the Renaissance, composers had begun to write independent instrumental music.
Orchestra Pioneers – Renaissance Period
The foundation of the orchestra date back as early as the 16th century with Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli (1554-1612), who composed his sonatas for wind instruments. The sounds produced by the specific instruments were constrasted from the vocal polyphony of the time.
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), further developed this orchestral idea in his opera, La Favola d’Orfeo, in 1607. Though the orchestra was basically a Renaissance chamber group, he selected with great care the component instruments to highlight contrast in tone and dynamics.
Orchestra Pioneers – Baroque Period
Jean Baptiste Lully (1632-1687), the director of King Louis XIV’s court musicians, had his own orchestra called Les vingt-quatre violons du Roy. Lully made advances in the orchestra style and technique. His group was supplemented by a military woodwind band from the Grande Ecurie. Following Lully, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), a prominent French composer of his time introduced interesting passages on the flutes, oboes, and bassoons for a more vibrant treatment of the orchestra.
By the early 1700, new instruments were introduced and old favourites were steadily improved. The Baroque period reached its peak with Johann Sebastian Bach, and some contemporaries including George F. Handel and Georg Telemann. Bach gloried in instrumental technique and his strong contrapuntal outlook.
Handel had fairly large professional orchestras at his disposal although at the height of his career, he commanded dramatic effects with a combination of twelve violins, two or three violas, cellos, basses, oboes, trumpets, horns, and a percussion.
Classical Music Period
The most far-reaching influence of the orchestra during the beginning of the Classical period was exerted by a group of expert composer-musicians at the court of Elector Karl Theodor at Mannheim.
There was Johann Stamitz, the virtuoso violinist who directed the court musicians. The Mannheim group became famous throughout Europe that other musicians were determined to emulate this new style of ensemble playing.
Also worth mentioning is Christoph Gluck for his solid style orchestration. With his influence on opera reforms, the orchestra gained prominence with the transformation of operatic prelude to the symphony.
By the time Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart entered the scene, the orchestra was more or less stabilized. They worked on the high and difficult horn parts. Clarinet became popular from the second half on the 18th century and its potential as a solo instrument was recognized in symphony, along with opera, concerto and oratorio.
However, due to the enormous popularity of Mozart and Haydn’s work, the correct number of musicians performing was necessitated. At this point, the keyboard no longer formed part of the orchestra, the string sections were heavily reinforced, while percussion was still restricted to timpani.
Late Classical to Romantic Periods
By that time of Beethoven, the orchestra has very much organized, requiring music composed for it as a unified whole, exploiting its various timbres and sonorities within the unity of the sonata form, rather than pitting them against each other as Baroque ensembles had done.
Music is never the same again with the advent of the orchestra.
Sources:
- Kennedy, Michael, editor. The Oxford Dictionary of Music, Revised Edition. Oxford: OUP, 1994
- Sadie, Stanley, editor. The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1994
- The Great Composers and their Music, Part Collection. London: Marshall Cavendish Ltd. 1991.
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