Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the players lips. Brass instruments are called labrosones, literally meaning lip-vibrated instruments, there are several factors involved in producing different pitches on a brass instrument. The view of most scholars is that the brass instrument should be defined by the way the sound is made, as above. Thus one finds brass instruments made of wood, like the alphorn, the cornett, the serpent, as valved instruments are predominant among the brasses today, a more thorough discussion of their workings can be found below. The valves are usually piston valves, but can be rotary valves, slide brass instruments use a slide to change the length of tubing. The main instruments in this category are the family, though valve trombones are occasionally used. The trombone familys ancestor, the sackbut, and the folk instrument bazooka are in the slide family, there are two other families that have, in general, become functionally obsolete for practical purposes.
Instruments of both types, are used for period-instrument performances of Baroque or Classical pieces. In more modern compositions, they are used for their intonation or tone color. Natural brass instruments only play notes in the harmonic series. These include the bugle and older variants of the trumpet and horn, the trumpet was a natural brass instrument prior to about 1795, and the horn before about 1820. In the 18th century, makers developed interchangeable crooks of different lengths, natural instruments are still played for period performances and some ceremonial functions, and are occasionally found in more modern scores, such as those by Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss. Keyed or Fingered brass instruments used holes along the body of the instrument and these included the cornett, ophicleide, keyed bugle and keyed trumpet. They are more difficult to play than valved instruments, Brass instruments may be characterised by two generalizations about geometry of the bore, that is, the tubing between the mouthpiece and the flaring of the tubing into the bell.
Those two generalizations are with regard to the degree of taper or conicity of the bore and the diameter of the bore with respect to its length, cylindrical bore brass instruments are generally perceived as having a brighter, more penetrating tone quality compared to conical bore brass instruments. The trumpet, baritone horn and all trombones are cylindrical bore, in particular, the slide design of the trombone necessitates this. Conical bore brass instruments are those in which tubing of constantly increasing diameter predominates, conical bore instruments are generally perceived as having a more mellow tone quality than the cylindrical bore brass instruments. The British brass band group of instruments fall into this category and this includes the flugelhorn, tenor horn, horn and tuba
Embouchure
The embouchure is the use of facial muscles and the shaping of the lips to the mouthpiece of woodwind instruments or the mouthpiece of the brass instruments. The word is of French origin and is related to the root bouche, the proper embouchure allows the instrumentalist to play the instrument at its full range with a full, clear tone and without strain or damage to ones muscles. While performing on an instrument, the sound is produced by the player buzzing his or her lips into a mouthpiece. Pitches are changed in part through altering the amount of muscular contraction in the lip formation, the performers use of the air, tightening of cheek and jaw muscles, as well as tongue manipulation can affect how the embouchure works. Even today, many brass pedagogues take an approach to teaching how a brass players embouchure should function. Many of these authors disagree with each other regarding which technique is correct, research suggests efficient brass embouchures depend on the player using the method that suits that players particular anatomy.
In 1962, Philip Farkas hypothesized that the air stream traveling through the lip aperture should be directed straight down the shank of the mouthpiece and he believed that it would be illogical to violently deflect the air stream downward at the point of where the air moves past the lips. In this text, Farkas recommends that the lower jaw be protruded so that the upper and lower teeth are aligned, in 1970, Farkas published a second text which contradicted his earlier writing. Out of 40 subjects, Farkas showed that 39 subjects directed the air downward to varying degrees, the lower jaw position seen in these photographs show more variation from his earlier text as well. This supports what was written by trombonist and brass pedagogue Donald S. Reinhardt in 1942. According to this text, players who place the mouthpiece higher on the lips, so that more upper lip is inside the mouthpiece. Performers who place the lower, so that more lower lip is inside the mouthpiece. In order for the performer to be successful, the air stream direction, lloyd Leno confirmed the existence of both upstream and downstream embouchures.
More controversial was Reinhardts description and recommendations regarding a phenomenon he termed a pivot, whether the player uses one general pivot direction or the other, and the degree to which the motion is performed, depends on the performers anatomical features and stage of development. The placement of the mouthpiece upon the lips doesnt change, but rather the relationship of the rim, research supports Reinhardts claim that this motion exists and might be advisable for brass performers to adopt. Froelich noted that the symphonic trombonists used the least amount of direct and shear forces and recommends this model be followed. Other research notes that virtually all brass performers rely upon the upward and downward embouchure motion, other authors and pedagogues remain skeptical about the necessity of this motion, but scientific evidence supporting this view has not been sufficiently developed at this time to support this view. Some noted brass pedagogues prefer to instruct the use of the embouchure from an analytical point of view
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten OM CH was an English composer and pianist. He was a figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral. His best-known works include the opera Peter Grimes, the War Requiem, Born in Suffolk, the son of a dentist, Britten showed talent from an early age. He studied at the Royal College of Music in London and privately with the composer Frank Bridge, Britten first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy was Born in 1934. With the premiere of Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to international fame, over the next 28 years, he wrote 14 more operas, establishing himself as one of the leading 20th-century composers in the genre. In addition to large-scale operas for Sadlers Wells and Covent Garden, he wrote operas for small forces. Among the best known of these is The Turn of the Screw, recurring themes in his operas include the struggle of an outsider against a hostile society and the corruption of innocence.
Brittens other works range from orchestral to choral, solo vocal, chamber and he took a great interest in writing music for children and amateur performers, including the opera Noyes Fludde, a Missa Brevis, and the song collection Friday Afternoons. He often composed with particular performers in mind, Britten was a celebrated pianist and conductor, performing many of his own works in concert and on record. He performed and recorded works by others, such as Bachs Brandenburg concertos, Mozart symphonies, in his last year, he was the first composer to be given a life peerage. Britten was born in the port of Lowestoft in Suffolk, on the east coast of England on 22 November 1913. He was the youngest of four children of Robert Victor Britten and his wife Edith Rhoda, Robert Brittens youthful ambition to become a farmer had been thwarted by lack of capital, and he had instead trained as a dentist, a profession he practised successfully but without pleasure. While studying at Charing Cross Hospital in London he met Edith Hockey and they were married in September 1901 at St Johns, Smith Square, London.
The consensus among biographers of Britten is that his father was a loving but somewhat stern, according to his sister Beth, got on well with him and shared his wry sense of humour, dedication to work and capacity for taking pains. Edith Britten was an amateur musician and secretary of the Lowestoft Musical Society. In the English provinces of the early 20th century, distinctions of class were taken very seriously. Music was the means by which Edith Britten strove to maintain the familys social standing, inviting the pillars of the local community to musical soirées at the house. When Britten was three months old he contracted pneumonia and nearly died, the illness left him with a damaged heart, and doctors warned his parents that he would probably never be able to lead a normal life
Mandi, Himachal Pradesh
Mandi, formerly known as Mandav Nagar, known as Sahor, is a major town and a municipal council in Mandi District in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated 153 kilometres north of capital, Shimla. Located in the north-west Himalayas at an altitude of 850 metres. Mandi is connected to the Pathankot through National Highway 20 which is almost 220 km long and to Manali, Mandi is approximately 184.6 km from Chandigarh, the nearest major city, and 440.9 km from New Delhi, the national capital. According to the 2011 Indian census, Mandi city has a population of 26,422, Mandi district is currently the 2nd largest economy in the state next to Kangra. Mandi, in the state is having second highest sex ratio of 1013 females per thousand males and it serves as the headquarters of Mandi District and Zonal Headquarters of central zone including Districts namely Kullu and Hamirpur. As a tourist place, Mandi is often referred to as Varanasi of Hills or Choti Kashi or Kashi of Himachal, Mandi is the starting point for the famous trek of the region Prashar lake trek.
From Mandi, trekkers go to Bagi village, which serves as the village for Prashar lake. Indian Institute of Technology is an institute located in the city. This one time capital of the state of Mandi is a fast developing city that still retains much of its original charm. The city was established in 1527 by Ajbar Sen, as the seat of the Mandi State, foundation of the city was laid on the establishment of Himachal Pradesh in early 1948. Today, it is known for the International Mandi Shivaratri Fair. The city has the remains of old palaces and notable examples of ‘colonial’ architecture, the city had one of the oldest buildings of Himachal Pradesh. The name mandi has its roots from Great Sage Rishi Mandav who prayed in this area, the name may have been derived from the common word mandi which means market in Hindi. It may possibly be connected with the Sanskrit root mandaptika, meaning a hall or shed. While the citys name has always pronounced in the local language. This change is now the most widely used name for the city, Mandi is renowned for its 81 ancient old stone Shaivite temples and their enormous range of fine carving.
Because of this, it is often called the Varanasi of the Hills
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the worlds largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and these include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall. The museum is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. Like other national British museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001, the V&A covers 12.5 acres and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America and North Africa. The museum owns the worlds largest collection of sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, Japan, the East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world.
Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world, New 17th- and 18th-century European galleries were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600–1815, at this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection, by February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed South Kensington Museum. In 1855 the German architect Gottfried Semper, at the request of Cole, produced a design for the museum, but it was rejected by the Board of Trade as too expensive. The site was occupied by Brompton Park House, this was extended including the first refreshment rooms opened in 1857, the official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting, in these early years the practical use of the collection was very much emphasised as opposed to that of High Art at the National Gallery and scholarship at the British Museum.
George Wallis, the first Keeper of Fine Art Collection, passionately promoted the idea of art education through the museum collections. From the 1860s to the 1880s the scientific collections had been moved from the museum site to various improvised galleries to the west of Exhibition Road. In 1893 the Science Museum had effectively come into existence when a director was appointed. The laying of the stone of the Aston Webb building on 17 May 1899 was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. It was during this ceremony that the change of name from the South Kensington Museum to the Victoria, the exhibition which the museum organised to celebrate the centennial of the 1899 renaming, A Grand Design, first toured in North America from 1997, returning to London in 1999
Alphorn
Similar wooden horns were used for communication in most mountainous regions of Europe, from the Alps to the Carpathians. Swiss naturalist Conrad Gesner used the words lituum alpinum for the first known detailed description of the alphorn in his De raris et admirandis herbis in 1555, surviving artifacts, dating back to as far as ca. AD1400, include wooden labrophones in their form, like the alphorn, or coiled versions, such as the Büchel. The alphorn is carved from solid softwood, generally spruce but sometimes pine, in former times the alphorn maker would find a tree bent at the base in the shape of an alphorn, but modern makers piece the wood together at the base. A cup-shaped mouthpiece carved out of a block of wood is added. An alphorn made at Rigi-Kulm and now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Swiss alphorn varies in shape according to the locality, being curved near the bell in the Bernese Oberland. Michael Praetorius mentions an instrument under the name of Hölzern Trummet in Syntagma Musicum.
The alphorn has no lateral openings and therefore gives the natural harmonic series of the open pipe. The notes of the harmonic series overlap, but do not exactly correspond. Most prominently within the range, the 7th and 11th harmonics are particularly noticeable. Accomplished alphornists often command a range of three octaves, consisting of the 2nd through the 16th notes of the harmonic series. The availability of the tones is due in part to the relatively small diameter of the bore of the mouthpiece. The well-known Ranz des Vaches is a traditional Swiss melody often heard on the alphorn, the song describes the time of bringing the cows to the high country at cheese making time
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard. The most common of these are the piano and various keyboards, including synthesizers. Other keyboard instruments include celestas, which are struck idiophones operated by a keyboard, and carillons, the term keyboard often refers to keyboard-style synthesizers. Another important use of the keyboard is in historical musicology. Particularly in the 18th century, the harpsichord, the clavichord, and the piano were in competition. Hence in a phrase like Mozart excelled as a player the word keyboard is usefully noncommittal. The earliest known keyboard instrument was the Ancient Greek hydraulis, a type of pipe organ, the keys were likely balanced and could be played with a light touch, as is clear from the reference in a Latin poem by Claudian, who says magna levi detrudens murmura tactu. Intent, that is “let him thunder forth as he presses out mighty roarings with a light touch”, from its invention until the fourteenth century, the organ remained the only keyboard instrument.
Often, the organ did not feature a keyboard at all, almost every keyboard until the fifteenth century had seven naturals to each octave. The clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century—the clavichord probably being earlier, the harpsichord and clavichord were both common until widespread adoption of the piano in the 18th century, after which their popularity decreased. The piano was revolutionary, because a pianist could vary the volume of the sound by varying the vigor with which each key was struck. The pianos full name is gravicèmbalo con piano e forte meaning harpsichord with soft and loud but can be shortened to piano-forte, which means soft-loud in Italian. In its current form, the piano is a product of the late 19th century, in fact, the modern piano is significantly different from even the 19th-century pianos used by Liszt and Brahms. See Piano history and musical performance, keyboard instruments were further developed in the early twentieth century. Early electromechanical instruments, such as the Ondes Martenot, appeared early in the century and this was a very important contribution to the keyboards history.
Much effort has gone into creating an instrument that sounds like the piano but lacks its size, the electric piano and electronic piano were early efforts that, while useful instruments in their own right, did not convincingly reproduce the timbre of the piano. Electric and electronic organs were developed during the same period, more recent electronic keyboard designs strive to emulate the sound of specific make and model pianos using digital samples and computer models. Concerns celebrated keyboard players and the various instruments used over the centuries
Wolf tone
A similar phenomenon is the beating produced by a wolf interval, which is usually the interval between E♭ and G♯ of the various non-circulating temperaments. Wolf tones are only noticed on bowed instruments, most notably the violin family, since the tones produced are played for much longer periods. Frequently, the wolf is present on or in between the pitches E and F♯ on the cello, and around G♯ on the double bass, a wolf can be reduced or eliminated with a piece of equipment called a wolf tone eliminator. This is a tube and mounting screw with an interior rubber sleeve. Different placements of this tube along the string influence or eliminate the frequency at which the wolf occurs and it is essentially an attenuator that slightly shifts the natural frequency of the string cutting down on the reverberation. While it has said that Lou Harrison wrote a piece that exploited the wolf specific to Seymour Barabs new cello. Naldjorlak I, composed by Éliane Radigue for realisation exclusively by the cellist Charles Curtis is in fact composed solely around the manipulation of the tone of Curtiss cello.
It is rumoured that the Amadeus Quartet were in professional circles nicknamed the Wolf Gang, punning on the name of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, mechanical resonance String resonance Wilkins, R. A. An Empirical Investigation into the Mechanism of Cello Wolf-Tone Beats, Journal of the Violin Society of America, Fall 2013, Vol. XXIV, No.2. An Investigation into the Techniques for Controlling Cello Wolf-Tones, Journal of the Violin Society of America, Fall 2013, Vol. XXIV, No.2
Tromba marina
The tromba marina consists of a body and neck in the shape of a truncated cone resting on a triangular base. It is usually four to seven long, and is a monochord. It is played without stopping the string, but playing natural harmonics by lightly touching the string with the thumb at nodal points. Its name comes from its trumpet like sound due to the construction of the bridge. In most cases the bottom end of the instrument is open, the single string, generally the D string of a cello, most often is tuned to the C three octaves below middle C. It attaches at the soundboard and passes over one foot of the bridge, leaving the foot to vibrate freely on a plate of ivory or glass set into the soundboard. A string called a guidon is tied around the string below the bridge. The guidon adjusts the balance of the bridge by pulling the playing string, the measurements of the tromba marina varied considerably, as did the shape of the body and the number of strings. In the days of Michael Praetorius, the length of the Trumscheit was 7 feet 3 inches, there was at first only one string, generally a D cello string.
The heavy bow, similar to that of the cello, is used between the highest positions of the hand at the nodal points and the nut of the head. In a Trumscheit in the collection of the Kgl, hochschule, at Charlottenburg the frets are lettered A, D, F, A, D, F, G, A, B, C, D. In Germany, at the time when the trumpet was used in the churches. The instrument fell into disuse during the first half of the 18th century, in modern times, the group Corvus Corax still regularly plays the tromba marina. Crwth Long-string instrument Attribution This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Schlesinger. Tromba Marina - A Study in Organology Tromba Marina
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptised as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. Born in Salzburg, he showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood, already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, Mozart was engaged as a musician at the Salzburg court, while visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame, during his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons and he composed more than 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, chamber and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers, Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart, and Joseph Haydn wrote, posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on 27 January 1756 to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria, née Pertl and this was the capital of the Archbishopric of Salzburg, an ecclesiastic principality in what is now Austria, part of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the youngest of seven children, five of whom died in infancy and his elder sister was Maria Anna Mozart, nicknamed Nannerl. Mozart was baptized the day after his birth, at St. Ruperts Cathedral in Salzburg, the baptismal record gives his name in Latinized form, as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. He generally called himself Wolfgang Amadè Mozart as an adult, Leopold Mozart, a native of Augsburg, was a minor composer and an experienced teacher. In 1743, he was appointed as fourth violinist in the establishment of Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. Four years later, he married Anna Maria in Salzburg, Leopold became the orchestras deputy Kapellmeister in 1763. During the year of his sons birth, Leopold published a textbook, Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule.
When Nannerl was 7, she began lessons with her father. Years later, after her brothers death, she reminisced, He often spent much time at the clavier, picking out thirds, which he was ever striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good. In the fourth year of his age his father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and he could play it faultlessly and with the greatest delicacy, and keeping exactly in time. At the age of five, he was composing little pieces
Crook (music)
Early horns had unalterable lengths and permanently attached mouthpieces. This presented problems in concert situations, a different horn was required for different keys, and the instrument could not be tuned. Around 1700 the Leichnamschneider brothers in Vienna developed a horn with a mouthpiece which could be connected to a short piece of tubing. Additional pieces, couplers, of different length were inserted between the crook and the body of the horn to change the horns length. Fine tuning was done with even shorter segments called tuning bits and this simple and relatively inexpensive solution remained in use even into the 19th century. Charles Tullys Tutor for the French Horn, published in London, the master crook and coupler system presented some problems. Moreover, the instrument became so long that it was difficult to reach the bell for hand-stopping. This important innovation had been introduced around 1720, and codified by Anton Hampel of Dresden in about 1750, so that the horn could be played chromatically.
To get around these problems Hampel devised a new instrument, the inventionshorn, in which detachable crooks were inserted not in the mouth pipe and this presented the new problem of fitting the longest and shortest crooks into the same small space. Working with the Dresden instrument maker Johann Werner, Hampel perfected the Inventionshorn sometime between 1750 and 1755, the new horn was capable of the full range of transpositions and quickly became a regular member of the developing symphony orchestra. Fine tuning of the Inventionshorn remained a problem until J. G. Haltenhof replaced the tenon, the Inventionshorn design was applied to other brass instruments. Some examples are a pair of invention trumpets by Michael Saurle at the National Music Museum, for photographs and a detailed description of the Saurle trumpets, see here. Around 1800 in France terminal crooks were invented, which proved to be extremely popular and these instruments used a separate crook for each key, and the crooks maintained a fairly uniform distance between the mouthpiece and the body of the instrument.
Horn players typically needed at least eight crooks, for B♭-alto, A, G, F, E, E♭, D, after about 1828, an additional crook in A♭-alto was included. Although crooks for low B and B♭ were occasionally made, Horns constructed with the large number of crooks needed for playing in an orchestra are sometimes referred to as orchestral horns. The main disadvantage of this system was that so many crooks needed to be transported, the large cases required for carrying them were often works of art themselves. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the low B♭ and C crooks have a rich, dark almost muddy tone, because of their length — B♭ has 18 feet of tubing — are slow to speak. Indeed, the difference in response between a horn crooked in B♭ alto and one in B♭ basso is akin to the difference in handling between a car and a lorry
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