Today, the cello is a very important part of the musical world. The cello is very popular today because there are many pieces of music that have cello parts, even cello solos. But, the cello wasn’t always this way. The history of the cello is full of change because it has drastically changed in size, sound, and significance.
One example that shows that the history of the cello is full of change is because it has drastically changed in size and shape. According to Andrew Dunn, if you were to compare today’s cello to the viol da gamba family, which was one of the cello’s ancestors, you would see a lot of difference in just the shape of it. It was shaped a lot like that of today’s double-bass and had frets on the fingerboard (1). The frets added more texture to the cello, and bulged out a bit, causing a slight difference in shape. Another one of the cello’s ancestor’s, the viola da braccio family, was different in size and shape compared to the cello too. Jack Boeve says that these instruments had flatter necks, were held
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After and even before the cello had some changes in sound, around “the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, musicians came not only to accept, but to admire the sound of the instrument (Dunn).” This was a great milestone for the cello, as it seemed to have very little recognition in the past. According to Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, concertos and unaccompanied suites were written for the cello when the baroque period (one of the musical eras) came along in around the 1720s, allowing it to grow greatly as a solo instrument (1). This allowed the cello to grow significantly as a solo instrument because it gave it a chance to show off what could really be done with a cello, what sound it could really produce. And as previously stated, people thought it was a fabulous instrument, as people “broke out in rapturous applause” for it
The Venetian School lasted from the mid 1500s to the early 1600s. It was created by a group of composers who worked in Venice. What’s so significant about this school is that it marked the end of the Renaissance and the start of the Baroque period. It produced some of the most famous musical events that influenced those in other countries immensely. There were many emerging instrumental forms during this time period. Beginning with the Concerto Grosso, it was a form of music that involved one large group of instruments and a small group of instruments. Together they had a complementary effect in which one might play by itself or they both might play together. A Sonata da camera has a similar concept, but instead is split into three or four musical compositions.
As the late Baroque period morphed into the new period known as the classical period, technological advances and new compositional techniques and ideas created new opportunities for the musicians of the period. The changes allowed for new performance techniques, forms, performance venues, and newly available compositional orchestrations to be improved and evolved into something new and improved for the new period.
Antonio Stradivari, a man known by many as on of the greatest luthiers of all time. The question at hand is why? From as early as the early 1700’s Stradivari was well known in the music world and still is. His instruments are reproduced in order to fool consumers into buying an instrument that has the same design as a Strad. There are also luthiers that try to replicate Stradivari’s beautiful design for their own satisfaction. Antonio Stradivari’s instruments have become socially and technically popular over time due to his superior craftsmanship, and for others, its large price tag. Stradivari’s life, affecting how his instruments were made, changed the perception of his instruments technically and socially.
The Forte Piano was introduced in 1720 by Bartolomeo Christofori. It slowly became more popular and eventually took precedence over the harpsichord. The Classical era, however, had a more simplistic, rather than complex design as well as the brighter contrasts between colours. It was also a time where music began to flourish, as orchestras increased in their capacity and the pieces became more expressive in the use of dynamics.
TitleAuthor/ EditorPublisherDate James Galways’ Music in TimeWilliam MannMichael Beazley Publishers1982 The Concise Oxford History of MusicGerald AbrahamOxford University Press1979 Music in Western CivilizationPaul Henry LangW. W. Norton and Company1941 The Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Classical MusicRobert AinsleyCarlton Books Limited1995 The Cambridge Music GuideStanley SadieCambridge University Press1985 School text: Western European Orchestral MusicMary AllenHamilton Girls’ High School1999 History of MusicRoy BennettCambridge University Press1982 Classical Music for DummiesDavid PogueIDG Books Worldwide,Inc1997
...ike today. The period between the baroque and renaissance paved a new way for not only music, but for art. The change that took place was gorgeous causing art to become so vivid and images are portrayed to be so real. I never was a fan of art nor music, but if one actually pays attention to the evolvement of it throughout time one would have great appreciation.
To satisfy the middle-class amateur, classic composers supplied a ton of new chamber music for all imaginable combinations. The piano sonata became a very important form of chamber music, especially after being refined by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. After 1765, the string quartet began to increasingly dominate the chamber music field.
The most famous Bassist in the world is Sir Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney is a former band member of The Beatles. The first electric bass guitar was introduced in the 1930s by a man named Paul Tutmarc from Seattle, Washington. The first models of electric bass guitars were Model 736 Bass Fiddle. The company only made one hundred of these guitars. The electric bass guitar consists of a neck and body, and the bridge, tuners, pickups, strings, and amplification makes this instrument the backbone of a song.
Also, with organs of this size, the bellows took up large amounts of space, thus
Another distinctive feature is the rising importance of the woodwind section. Before the 19th century, the string section played a main role in presenting the melody while woodwind instruments were only adopted to create some orchestral colors to the piece. However, the use of the woodwinds became very different during the 19th century that not only melodies were assigned to them, sometimes they were even accompanied by the strings (Ex 4):
The clarinet is a woodwind instrament consisting of a cylindrical wood, metal, or ebonite pipe with a bell-shaped opening at one end and a mouthpiece at the other end, to which a thin reed is attached. The clarinet has five different sections, the mouthpiece, the barrel, the upper section, the lower section, and the bell. The length of the entire instrument is 60 cm long. The mouthpiece section consists of a slotted cylinder, to which a reed is attached by a metal clamp called a ligature. The mouthpiece plugs into the next section which is a barrel. The barrel is simply a connecting cylinder to which the mouthpiece and the upper section plugs into. The upper section is a cylindrical pipe consisting of 4 holes and 9 keys placed in different locations along the pipe. On the back of the pipe there is a hole and a key that is used by the thumb. The lower section plugs into the upper section and is also connected via a special bridge key. This piece consists of 3 holes and 8 keys. On the inward facing side of the pipe, there is a protruding piece of metal called a thumb rest, which supports the entire clarinet. The bell plugs into the lower section. It consists of a cylinder that flares out into a bell shape and ends the clarinet.
Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.
Before the pianoforte was brought into existence, the keyboard instrument of the orchestra was the harpsichord. The timbre of the harpsichord was much different than that of the pianoforte, this being primarily because of the harpsichord’s strings being plucked, whereas the piano’s strings
Bie, Oscar. A History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players. trans. by E. E. Kellett
The electric guitar was first made in the Oklahoma. This electric guitar design that was made in Oklahoma was the first of its kind and changed music for everyone. The simplicity of the electric guitar surprised many people. All electric guitars since then have been based on this simple guitar design. Many famous musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and many other have made electric guitar more affordable and widely available.