The Western Symphony Orchestra

The hallmark and grandest feature of western art music is the symphony orchestra. Mozart, Beethoven and several other composers over the last 500 years wrote music for the orchestra and used it to bring their musical ideas to life. To grasp the potential of the orchestra, compare it to most forms of pop music, that generally limit musical instruments to guitars and drums. Generally speaking, pop music usually deals with a few emotions, mostly centered around the themes of love and heartbreak. In contrast, a symphony composer has many more instruments--e.g., flutes, bassoons, violas, trumpets, and so forth--to draw upon in order to create different timbres, textures, moods and emotions that can range from love and heartbreak to ecstasy and utter torment. Think of the effort that goes into writing a full-length symphony lasting about 30 minutes and uses all the instruments of the orchestra. It is quite an achievement. These symphonies do not grow on trees, which means that only a select few composers realize the opportunity to hear their works performed by a world class symphony.

In the first link below, learn some of the main highlights of how the orchestra began in history and then follow the second link to an interactive guide that will familiarize you with the sections of the orchestra and instruments (how they sound) as we know them today.


www.nyphilkids.org/lockerroom/history_f-r.html Links to an external site.

Link  The symphony orchestra Links to an external site.