Hang Around the World

Monday, August 3, 2020

Saint-Saëns - Danse Macabre

Celesta / celeste / bell-piano

Tchaikovsky - Nutcraker ‐ Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy

Castanets

(L) Fandango dancing in [14:08]-[17:20]

(R) Excerpts from Verdi's La Traviata (1982 movie)

- Entertainers perform for Fiona's party guests:

1) "We are gypsy girls who have come from afar"

2) "We are matadors from Madrid"

Others

(L) Albrechtsberger - Concerto for Jew's Harp & Mandora

(R) For a Few Dollars More (1965 movie)

Animation

Mashup

A comparison

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Music #507 - Instruments - Percussion (drums)

Percussion Instrument

(1) membranophones (e.g. timpani, drums)

(2) idiophones (resonant material)

- tuned (e.g. xylophone, tubular bells)

- others (e.g. cymbals, triangkes)

Percussion Section (a 2-hour overview)
(1) timpanum
(2) auxiliary percussion:
- bass drum, snare drum
- tambourine, cymbals, gong (tam-tam), triangle, wood block, castanets, maracas .....

(3) tuned percussion (producing melody and rhythm):
- vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, tubular bells
- handbells, tuned cowbells .....

(1) Timpani

(timpanist)

The timpanist is traditionally regarded as the principal of the percussion section.

Carl Orff - Carmina Burana cantata

- I. & XXV. "O Fortuna"

("O Fortuna" opens and closes the cantata)

Timpani can be tuned by altering the skin tension using turning screws or a pedal.

Richard Strauss - “Also sprach Zarathustra

(Thus Spoke Zarathustra)” tone poem

- Its first section, “Sunrise”, is the initial fanfare

that became well known to the general public,

due to its use in “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968 film).

Dvořák - New World Symphony - IV. Finale

(L) Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake

(R) Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6 - III

(L) Bach - Toccata and Fugue (BWV 565)

(R) Mahler - Symphony No.3 - VI

(2) Auxiliary Percussion

Side/snare drum

The snare drum has a set of gut or metal springs stretched across its lower drum head which vibrate when the upper head is struck.

* Maurice Ravel - Boléro

* Aram Khachaturian - "Gayane" ballet - Sabre Dance

* Drumline (2002) movie - final battle

* Grenadier Guards - Corps of Drums

Bass drum

Verdi - Requiem - II. Dies irae (Day of Wrath /《震怒之日》/《末日经》)

Funerary procession for Margaret Thatcher

Note the two big drums (in the second row)

that set the tempo of the march music

and the slow march footwork.

## varied from the funeral marches by

(L) Mendelssohn (Songs Without Words for piano - Bk 5 No.3)

(R) Chopin (Piano Sonata No. 2 - III)

Drum set

(R) Theme song for Rocky III (1982 film)

Grand bands

AC/DC Highway to Hell AC/DC Thunderstruck

Some others:

(L) Cymbals, bass drum, timpanis, triangle,

tambourines, snare drum

(R) Timbales, bongos (short), congas (tall)

1-2-3-4-

和太鼓 / Taiko / Japanese drums

Source: Wikipedia

Friday, July 31, 2020

Music #506 - Instruments - Brass

Bugle

(L) Taps - time for bed (or RIP)

(R) The Last Post

* To the Color - a bugle call to render honors to the United States. It is used when no band is available to render honors, or in ceremonies requiring honors more than once. It commands all the same courtesies as the National Anthem.

* Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B

- originally by the Andrews Sisters

Cornet

Saxhorn

Source: Wikipedia

＝＝＜＞＝＝

Early Brass

(L) keyed trumpet (late-18th-century)

(R) natural horn (18th-century)

(L) serpent (19th-century)

(R) cornett

＝＝＜＞＝＝

A Medley of Instruments

Mariachi Music (Mexican)

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Music #505 - Instruments - Brass

Brass

= a length of metal tubing ending in a flared bell

The air column is set in motion by vibrating the lips against a cupped mouthpiece.

(French) Horn

(hornist)

- usually has 3 or 4 rotary valves, operated by the left hand

- the right hand is inserted into the bell to sharp the sound

(L) Mozart - Horn Concerto No. 1

(R) Mozart - Serenade in D "Posthorn" - Mvt 4

Mambo in Havana

(L) Coach Horn (R) Post Horn Fanfare

Trumpet

(trumpeter)

- 3 valves

- inserting various mutes into the bell alters the timbre produced

Trombone

(trombonist)

- has a telescoping slide (rather than valves)

- 7 slide positions are used, each changing the pitch by a semi-tone

- soprano, tenor, bass, contrabass trombones

Rossini - Cat Duet

(L) trombone & trumpet with mutes

(R) tenor & soprano with a rose

Note the wah-wah mute on the trumpet, and

the toilet plunger mute on the trombone ^_^

Tuba

(UK: tuba/bass player)

(US: tubaist, tubist)

- provides the bass of the brass section

performance starts at [2:08]

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Music #504 - Instruments - Woodwind

Oboe

(oboist)

When the word oboe is used alone, it is generally taken to mean the treble oboe rather than other instruments of the family, such as the bass oboe, the cor anglais (English horn), or oboe d'amore.

* conical bore strapped with a double reed

* treble oboe is often given prominent melodies

(L) Mozart - Oboe Concerto - Mvt. 3

(R) Mozart - Oboe Quartet

* cor anglais (or English horn) is a type of oboe;

its tenor voice is popular as a solo instrument:

William Tell - Overture

* oboe d'amore is the mezzo-soprano of the oboe family,

between the oboe (soprano) and the cor anglais (alto):

(L) La Cumparsita (a little procession)

- a tango music piece written in 1916

- by Gerardo Matos Rodríguez (of Uruguayan)

(R) Bonjour Paris

Bassoon

(bassoonist)

* conical bore strapped with a double reed

The range of the bassoon is just over 3 octaves, similar to that of the male voice:

* its lower notes correspond to the low notes of a bass singer;

* its top notes are somewhat higher than a tenor.

This range is similar to that of the cello and the trombone.

The large contrabassoon adds a deep bass to the woodwind section.

Clarinet

(clarinetist)

* single reeds

The range of the clarinet, 3 and a half octaves, corresponds to the female voice:

* its lowest notes are in the alto region;

* its high notes, most powerful, are close to those of a high soprano.

The oboe, trumpet, and violin have similar ranges to the clarinet.

Mozart - Serenade No.10 for winds (aka 'Gran Partita' <大組曲>)
- Scored for 12 winds and 1 string bass

- Its name should have been spelled as 'Grand Partita'.

* Mvt.3 Adagio

Mozart - Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622
- the one and only clarinet concerto by Mozart, who died 2 months later.

(L) alto clarinet (R) bass clarinet

Saxophone

(saxophonist)

“... a family of woodwind instruments usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece.”

The saxophone appears occasionally in the orchestra, but is more common in wind and jazz bands.

Types of saxophone

Aerophone / 電吹管

＝＝＜＞＝＝

Early Woodwind

(L) Shawm (R) 18th-century recorder

(L) Crumhorn (R) a 17-th century wind concert

＝＝＜＞＝＝

Alphorn / alpenhorn

Didgeridoo

Pan flute

Panpipes

Bagpipes

(L) Highland Cathedral @Campushalle

(later renamed Flens-Arena) of Flensburg, Germany

(R) Highland Cathedral @Rotterdam

(L) Scotland the Brave! @Edinburgh Military Tattoo

(R) a Christmas truce during World War I

- excerpt from Joyeux Noel (2005 film)

(L) “Chou Chou Sheng”

- by Corvus Corax (Latin for Common Raven), a German band playing Neo-Medieval music using authentic instruments, such as(Celtic) bagpipes

- they perform with bizarre look: half-naked, dressed in unusual clothes, wearing primitive tribal decorations, often tattooed

Harmonica

Spivakovsky - harmonica concerto

Source: Wikipedia

Friday, July 24, 2020

Music #503 - Instruments - Woodwind

ORCHESTRA

The Wind Section

- harnessing the breath

Woodwind Instruments

2 to 4 flutes - (one doubling piccolo)
2 to 4 oboes - (one doubling English horn)
2 to 4 clarinets - (one doubling bass clarinet)
2 to 4 bassoons - (one doubling contrabassoon)

* the size of the woodwinds section can be expressed as 1-1-1-1 (chamber), 2-2-2-2 (Brahms), 3-3-3-3 and 4-4-4-4 (with doubling)

* the standard woodwind section of the modern orchestra comprises of 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, and contrabassoon
* continued to be called woodwinds though no longer made of wood
* bore: conical or cylindrical

Brass Instruments

4 to 8 French horns
2 to 6 Trumpets
2 to 6 Trombones (1 or 2 doubling Bass Trombones)
1 Tuba

Transposing Instruments

* double horn in F
* B b clarinet

Source: Wikipedia

Flute

(flute player, flutist...)

* transverse (side-blown) woodwind instruments made of metal or wood

* usually providing the top woodwind voice, the flute also has a mellow low register

* the air in a flute is set in motion by blowing across the edge of the embouchure hole

Flute Player
- Dirck de Quade van Ravesteyn
(fl.1589–1619, Southern Netherlandish)
- oil on canvas (111 × 127.5 cm) c.1600
- Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna)

Baroque flute

(L) Bach - Badinerie (R) Handel - 8 flute sonatas

(R) Portrait of William Wollaston (1730-1797, British MP)

- Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788, English)

- oil on canvas (128 x 100 cm) c.1759

- Colchester & Ipswich Museums (Essex)

Western concert flute

(R) The long tube of the bass flute or the alto flute is bent

so that the valves are comfortably within reach.

piccolo

The smaller piccolo can cut through the entire orchestral texture to great effect.

“The piccolo, a small flute, is the smallest woodwind instrument and thus produces the highest pitch of all the woodwinds. Its range is nearly 3 octaves and can reach higher pitches than the female voice.”