Viennese sound style

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Viennese sound style is a relatively new collective term for properties that make up the special sound of Viennese orchestras . The term describes the specific type of interpretation of works from the orchestral and chamber music literature by Viennese (and partly Austrian) orchestras, which differs significantly from international customs in terms of stylistic execution and tonal preferences.

Emergence

The Viennese musicians did not go along with all of the innovations in instrument technology in the second half of the 19th century, which were aimed at a larger sound volume and easier playability. The term "Viennese sound style" was first found in 1966 in a letter from the then President of the Academy for Music and Performing Arts Vienna , Hans Sittner , to the Federal Ministry, in which he applied for the establishment of a new scientific institute for Viennese sound style . In 1973, a three-volume, handwritten work, Der Wiener Bläserstil, was published by Hans Hadamowsky , in which, for the first time, the peculiarities of the Viennese music tradition at that time were laid down and defined in writing from a largely subjective point of view.

In 1980, studies on a scientific basis followed on the structural, acoustic and technical characteristics of the Viennese oboe, the Viennese horn and the Viennese timpani. Numerous national, but above all international publications anchored the term Viennese sound style at home and abroad. Finally, in 2006 the term “Viennese sound style” was defined by Gregor Widholm in the Oesterreichischen Musiklexikon vol. 5 to describe the characteristics of the Viennese music-making style .

Viennese orchestral instruments

The Viennese sound style prefers a broad spectrum of timbres to a basically homogeneous sound, but a more uncomfortable way of playing is accepted. However , due to the numerous changes in the meantime, it cannot be said that today's sound corresponds exactly to the authentic sound of the Viennese classic .

Characteristics in horns

  • Economical and targeted use of vibrato as a means of expression and not generally as a stylistic device.
  • Preference for instruments that allow a strong change in timbre depending on the dynamics played.
  • In oboe , French horn , trombone and tuba due to the narrower scale or in the woodwind instruments due to a lighter reed generally a brighter (teiltonreichere) tone .
  • In the case of the clarinet and trumpet , a sound coloration that is much darker (with fewer partial tones ) is characteristic of the internationally used instruments .

Features of the striking mechanism

In timpani and drums only (and only in Vienna) are goat skins used. Due to the more pronounced radial vibration modes in these heads , the proportion of tonal components in the sound of the Viennese timpani is significantly higher. In addition, a choice of the material of the mallet head and the mallet position adapted to the properties of the head can be determined.

Characteristics in strings

There are no differences to the instruments used by other international orchestras, the characteristics of the “Viennese string sound” are based exclusively on the human component. For most string instruments from the time of the Viennese Classic to the present day there are continuous string schools in which the teachers themselves were concert masters of the great Viennese orchestras and continuously passed on the musical tradition according to the master-student principle. Independent of this, the application of chamber music principles in orchestral playing and the influence of Bohemian, Czech and Russian string schools are essential characteristics of the Viennese string sound.

general characteristics

Stylistically, the roots of the Viennese sound style lie in the rules of interpretation of the Viennese Classic , interspersed with influences from German Romanticism . As far as the timbre is concerned, the preference is clearly for instruments that allow the musicians a specific design of the timbre depending on the musical context. Just like the human being, the stylistic and tonal characteristics of an orchestra are also subject to continuous change. This permanent evolutionary process can be traced back to the example of the use of the vibrato by the strings of the Vienna Philharmonic during the 20th century. The Viennese sound style is therefore something that is changing. However, the adherence to the basic sound and stylistic principles remains unchanged. This holding on is the reason for the special set of instruments that are only used in Vienna among wind instruments .

In the course of the second half of the 19th century, all orchestral instruments were modified in the direction of greater volume ( sound power ). The wood and brass instruments were also redesigned due to the increased technical requirements. The valve version finally prevailed for trumpets and the double horn (invention by Eduard Kruspe before 1900) for horns .

It is noticeable that the Viennese orchestras rejected and still reject all instruments in which the more comfortable playability in the course of the redesign was at the expense of tonal differentiability. This is clearly evident in the woodwind instruments . While the instruments newly designed by Theobald Böhm and Guillaume Triébert in the second half of the 19th century are in use worldwide , the modern “Viennese oboe” is nothing more than a modified instrument by the Dresden instrument maker Carl Golde (deceased 1873). Slightly modified German instruments are used for the clarinet and bassoon , only in the case of the transverse flute , after a long hesitation, the decision was made to gradually switch to the Böhm model, which is used worldwide. The reason for this could be that - as recent studies have shown - the timbre produced with the flute, quite similar to the situation with string instruments, does not depend so much on the instrument but largely on the player.

With the French horn , the Vienna orchestras forego the easier playability and higher security of the double horn in order not to lose the advantage of tonal diversity. The Viennese horn essentially corresponds to the natural horn of the Viennese classic with added pump valves by the instrument maker Leopold Uhlmann (1806–1878). In contrast to the perinet valve instruments used worldwide, the trumpets use the old German model with rotary valves ; the Viennese tuba in F is an independent type of instrument. Only with the trombones do the Viennese orchestras follow the generally increasing displacement of what is now known as the baroque trombone , although here too a tonal preference can be recognized through the choice of narrower lengths .

In the case of string instruments, the changes made in the 19th century (larger bass bar , steeper angle of the fingerboard and higher bridge ) did not have as much influence on the sonic behavior of the instruments as they did with wind instruments. This may also have been the reason for the acceptance of the new instruments by the Vienna orchestras. In addition, the timbre produced with string instruments depends less on the instrument than on the stringing (historically with gut or since around the middle of the 20th century with steel), but also on the playing technique.

The first scientific and, thanks to the participation of over a thousand test persons worldwide, also statistically sufficiently secured proof of the existence of a previously only alleged Viennese sound style was made in 2002 by Matthias Bertsch . On the basis of commercially available CD recordings by the Vienna , Berlin and New York Philharmonic , around 1200 people, including lay people, amateur musicians, professional orchestra musicians, soloists, sound engineers and students from music universities as well as top international conductors, made some of the recordings themselves led, like for example Zubin Mehta or Seiji Ozawa , examined the recognizability of the Vienna Philharmonic in a blind test . The results showed that the audibility essentially depends on the individual listening experience and familiarity of the listener with the special features of the sound and the rhythmic interpretation.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gregor Widholm: The Viennese oboe as part of a specific orchestral sound concept, in: Paul W. Fürst: "On the situation of musicians in Austria." Lectures at the music symposia in the Schlosshof Palace 1989–1993 . Institute for Viennese Sound Style , 1994, ISBN 3900914001 , pp. 169–176.
  2. ^ Gregor Widholm: G. Widholm, horns - V. Acoustics of horn instruments, in: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): Music in history and present (MGG) . Bärenreiter / Metzler, 1996, ISBN 3761811055 , pp. 395-416.
  3. ^ Gregor Widholm: The Vienna Horn. Its sound - its playing technique, in: Paul W. Fürst: "On the situation of musicians in Austria." Lectures at the music symposia in the Schlosshof Palace 1989–1993 . Institute for Viennese Sound Style , 1994, ISBN 3900914001 , pp. 99–112.
  4. ^ Matthias Bertsch: Vibration patterns and sound analysis of the Viennese Timpani, in: Proceedings of ISMA '2001, Stanzial, Domenico . Musical and Architectural Acoustics Lab. FSSG-CNR Venezia, 2001, ISBN 88-900646-0-9 , pp. 281-284.
  5. ^ Gregor Widholm: Wiener Klangstil in: R. Flotzinger (ed.) - Österreichisches Musiklexikon, vol. 5 . Verlag der Österr. Academy d. Sciences, 2006, ISBN 3-7001-3042-2 , pp. 2653-2654.
  6. ^ Gregor Widholm: Viennese Sound: Traditional belief or actual reality? . Leo S. Olschki Editore MMIV, 2002, ISBN 88 222 5337 X , pp. 101-110. , ISSN  0394-4395
  7. ^ Gregor Widholm: Viennese specialties - peculiarities of the Viennese orchestral instruments, in: "Das Orchester", Vol. 50, No. 9 . Schott Verlag International8, 2002, pp. 25–32. , ISSN  0030-4468
  8. ^ Matthias Bertsch: The Viennese Myth. The Viennese orchestral sound: A myth under scrutiny, in: “Das Orchester”, Vol. 50, No. 9 . Schott Verlag International, 2002, pp. 18–24. , ISSN  0030-4468 . ( PDF ( Memento of the original July 22, 2015 Internet Archive ) Info: . The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested Please review the original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this notice. ) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / personal.mdw.ac.at

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