In fact, in his music, the conventional orchestral construction, with its rigid woodwind, brass, and string departments, finds itself undermined or split up in the manner of the Impressionist painters. Ultimately, each instrument becomes almost a soloist, as in a vast chamber-music ensemble. ...
Instrumental ensembles of the Renaissance were not standardized, although consorts (groups) of viols, of woodwind instruments such as recorders and shawms (loud oboes), or of brass instruments such as the cornet and sackbut (early trombone) were common. More common, however, were mixed consort...
Its four classically structured movements reflect Beethoven’s concern with expressive woodwind writing and dynamics. The third movement (“Menuetto”) is prophetic of Beethoven’s later whirling scherzos. The slow introduction to the first movement is remarkable for its avoidance of the tonic, a ...
Its four classically structured movements reflect Beethoven’s concern with expressive woodwind writing and dynamics. The third movement (“Menuetto”) is prophetic of Beethoven’s later whirling scherzos. The slow introduction to the first movement is remarkable for its avoidance of the tonic, a ...