Wind band

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Symphonic wind orchestra
Rural amateur brass band in the GDR

Wind orchestra is a collective term for orchestras that mainly consist of wind instruments and play wind music . This genre encompasses a wide range of very different orchestral formations that vary widely in line- up and repertoire. The most famous representatives are the symphonic wind orchestra and the brass band . Important international forms that also influence German-speaking countries are the concert band and brass band, as well as harmony , fanfare and banda . The genre includes professional wind orchestras (e.g. in military music ) as well as amateur orchestras.

In addition to wind instruments, most of the wind orchestras also have drums , drums and percussion . In large symphonic wind orchestras, the line-up is expanded to include additional instruments such as double basses, cellos, piano and harp as required.

Harmony

"Harmony" just means that the orchestra is made up of wood and brass players. Even Mozart has "put on harmony" his own works as well. Classical harmony music usually consisted of 2 oboes, clarinets, bassoons and horns.

The standard line-up of a symphonic wind orchestra that is common today in the Benelux countries and Germany as well as with modifications in Austria is shown below. Depending on the piece, however, the number of parts may vary (parts required from time to time are put in brackets), depending on the composition, additional instruments may be required. Over time, however, the line-up continued to develop and evolve (see also the notes).

In addition, there are historically, regionally and nationally more or less large differences in the cast.

Sometimes instruments are required in individual compositions that do not correspond to the standard line-up of the symphonic wind orchestra. Examples for this are:

enarrow gauge
wwide bore
1Flutes and piccolos in Des were in use for a very long time, because on the old flutes before the Boehm flute the sharps are easier to play and in compositions for wind orchestra - for reasons of purer intonation with brass instruments in Bb - Bb keys were preferred. Even Boehm flutes in Des were offered until the 1970s, but were gradually replaced by C instruments. These instruments are rarely found today, but old sheet music still contains dis voices, which is why military musicians are expected to be able to transpose these voices.
2Until the middle of the 20th century, the saxophone was not part of the standard line-up of the wind orchestra. The tenor saxophones are mostly double-cast only in those works that stylistically go in the direction of dance music or jazz . Internationally, the alto, alto, tenor and baritone quartet is gradually making its way into this register.
3The low E-flat trumpets that were to be found for a very long time in Austria - and in many countries of the former Danube Monarchy - have almost completely disappeared. The Prussian- German and Austrian military music also originally used four E-flat trumpets, but the first two voices were soon blown transposed to B flat trumpets. As Heinrich Saro noted, this resulted in considerable intonation problems with the thirds, because the fingered a (sounding g) of the Bb instruments is significantly higher than the g of the Eb instruments, because there it is a natural tone, a pure, harmonic third is. For amateur bands, the publishers then had to offer B-flat voices, as these usually did not know how to transpose parts. The Eb trumpets were of great value as an accompanying instrument, because their sound is full and round, but not as obtrusive as that of the Bb trumpets in the lower register. But as early as 1895, John Philip Sousa no longer had any E-flat trumpets in his Military Band. This tendency was also noticeable in the symphony orchestras, because there the classical (low) F trumpets disappeared soon after 1900. The comparable bass trumpets in B flat have also almost completely disappeared. In Austria-Hungary one bass trumpet was played in Bb, in Bavaria there were two. Especially small, rural chapels gave the accompaniment (the look ) like two Eb trumpets and a tuba; or in Bavaria two bass trumpets and one Eb trumpet. The E-flat trumpets were notated in the classic way, ie they transpose upwards. With the lowest voices, there were so often many unnecessary guidelines. After about 1955, attempts were made in Austria and in what was then Czechoslovakia to establish the high notation of these instruments, which was successful, but these instruments disappeared by the 1980s at the latest. Even the Czech orchestras rarely use them today.
4thEnglish-speaking composers use mainly narrow-bore cornets instead
5The round-shaped alto horns in Eb, which were still common thirty years ago and were mainly used as accompanying instruments, have almost disappeared today. By contrast, French horns are used in practically all wind orchestras today, which were hardly widespread here 30 years ago. In marches they replace the look-up of the alto horns, to which they look similar, but differ greatly in sound. In addition, however, they have become more and more prominent in instrumentation at the expense of the tenor horns. In Switzerland the alto horn is or was often used in oval construction as the "alto horn melody in Eb". This voice was almost like the 1st tenor horn.
6thmostly notated transposing in the treble clef; the tenor horn is still one of the melody-leading instruments in traditional brass music. For some years now, however, it has been observed how the tenor horn is being replaced by the euphonium . However, this is only useful for concert band music. These compositions in the classical style are often orchestrated with only one voice (which is played several times in unison).
7th mostly notated in the bass clef, but often also available in the treble clef
8thmostly notated in the bass clef; in Prussia and partly in the United Kingdom the tenor clef for the high trumpets was popular.

score

It was only in the last few years that it became common practice to publish scores . For a long time only - more or less good - managerial voices with two to six staves , in the best case with their own headline, were common ( conductor / condensed score ). The German Army Marches were reissued in this way in 1970/76 for the Bundeswehr by Friedrich Deisenroth . Often the direction was even notated in Bb because many conductors played a Bb melody instrument such as clarinet or flugelhorn and could not or would not transpose it. In simple works such as marches, waltzes and other similar dance music works, there was usually only one flugelhorn / cornet or clarinet director part, which only contained the most important entries. These voices are useful for conducting during a stand concert, where the notes - because of the weather - always have to be clipped on. but not for exact orchestral rehearsals. Since very many conductors could not read a score - or did not want to read - this last resort was used for a long time. Thanks to the possibilities of digital notation , scores are now easy to produce.

However, to this day there is no reasonably binding score arrangement. The recommendations of US publishers, while often accepted, do not make sense for all types of brass music. Classically trained musicians often find it annoying that the horns after the cornets / trumpets are above the trombones.

A very independent tradition has existed in Italy for a long time, which has been slightly modified in Russia . The two families (wide / narrow) of brass instruments are clearly separated there. It is based on the symphony orchestra by giving the flugelhorn / cornet family the place of the strings. The percussion is notated below the bass in Italy and below the trombones in Russia. This arrangement - which Hans Felix Husadel favored - is still the rule, especially in Eastern Europe and in the area of ​​the former GDR . The lack of a single standard also has the advantage that it can be varied slightly from case to case.

Well-known symphonic wind orchestras (examples)

German-speaking area

other important orchestras

Associations

See also

Web links

Commons : Brass bands  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Harmoniemusik after The Abduction from the Seraglio. In : kammermusikfuehrer.de. Retrieved July 8, 2016 .