The Instruments of the Orchestra (Siepmann)

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Instruments of the Orchestra (more info)
Composed by: Jeremy Siepmann
Jeremy Siepmann, narrator


1.   Wagner: Tannhauser: Overture - 02:06
2.   Anonymous: Domna, pos vos ay chausida - 00:28
3.   We don't merely use instruments, we play on them. And they play on us. - 01:19
4.   Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 7 - 01:39
5.   The violin is one of the most tender and beautiful instruments ever invented. - 00:45
6.   Brahms: Violin Concerto in D major: II. Adagio - 01:08
7.   But for a long time it was seen as the instrument of the devil. - 00:17
8.   Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale: Triumphal March of the Devil - 00:45
9.   The manipulative seductiveness of the gypsy violin - 00:43
10.   Anonymous: Csardas Music - 03:33
11.   The violin and the imitation of nature - 00:23
12.   Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Spring: I. Allegro - 00:35
13.   Birds are again evoked in the second concerto, especially music's natural favourite. - 00:09
14.   Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Summer: I. Allegro non molto - 00:41
15.   Like the devil, the violin is a master of disguise. - 00:18
16.   Kreisler: Schon Rosmarin - 01:55
17.   The menacing sensuality of Ravel's Tzigane; a very different side of the violin: - 00:15
18.   Ravel: Tzigane - 00:51
19.   Do we now have the true measure of this instrument? Not just yet. - 00:15
20.   Paganini: Caprice No. 24 - 00:48
21.   Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4: III. Presto / Schubert: Quartettsatz in C minor - 01:57
22.   Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: VIII. Moto Perpetuo - 01:06
23.   Prokofiev's tremolo in Romeo and Juliet should not be heard just before bedtime - 00:22
24.   Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet: Act IV - 00:46
25.   Vivaldi uses it to illustrate the shivering of travellers crossing the ice. - 00:14
26.   Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Winter: I. Allegro non molto - 00:57
27.   The violin muted - 00:31
28.   Debussy: Clair de lune - 01:41
29.   The gentleness of muted strings persists even when a whole orchestra plays. - 00:30
30.   Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467: II. Andante - 01:26
31.   The pizzicato violin - 00:38
32.   Strauss: Pizzicato Polka - 02:29
33.   In Prokofiev's Second Violin Concerto, the accompaniment is pizzicato. - 00:26
34.   Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2 in G minor: II. Andante assai - 02:02
35.   Kabalevsky: Colas Breugnon / Warlock: Capriol Suite: III. Tordion / Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet: Act I - 03:09
36.   Holst: The Planets: I. Mars: The Bringer of War - 01:27
37.   Bach: Sonata No. 3 in C major for unaccompanied violin: II. Fugue - 02:09
38.   Brahms: Hungarian Dance No. 4 - 03:51
39.   Double-stopping is a standard feature of a lot of folk music. - 00:14
40.   Vivaldi: The Four Seasons: Autumn: I. Allegro - 00:37
41.   Now the same technique, but the sound might have come from another world. - 00:30
42.   Ravel: Bolero - 00:49
43.   Double-stopping can only approximate the sound of a real violin duet. - 00:20
44.   Joachim: Cadenza to the Violin Concerto by Brahms - 00:44
45.   Now compare that with a real violin duet. - 00:12
46.   Bartok: 44 Duos: I. Teasing Song - 00:52
47.   Another duo by Bartok, demonstrating the violin's rich lower register - 00:10
48.   Bartok: 44 Duos: II. Maypole Dance - 00:40
49.   And now what may be the most beautiful accompanied violin duet in history - 00:17
50.   Bach: Concerto in D minor for two violins: II. Largo ma non tanto - 06:43
51.   The soul of the violin is in song; but what about this weird passage? - 00:42
52.   Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major: II. Scherzo - 00:34
53.   The use of harmonics in the orchestra can be both magical and unsettling. - 00:29
54.   Mahler: Symphony No. 1, "Titan": I. Langsam, schleppend (opening) - 01:33
55.   Tchaikovsky's use of harmonics in The Sleeping Beauty is both strange and daring. - 00:11
56.   Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty: Act II, No. 15: Entr'acte - 00:33
57.   Ravel's harmonics in Mother Goose effect a magical transformation. - 00:29
58.   Ravel: Ma Mere l'oye (Mother Goose): IV. Beauty and the Beast - 00:36
59.   Stravinsky: The Firebird: Introduction - 00:32
60.   The natural upper notes of the violins have a unique emotional "grab" - 00:32
61.   Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra: Of the Afterworldsmen - 00:55
62.   Still in their upper register, the violins unleash the energy of a young colt. - 00:14
63.   Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge: V. Aria Italiana - 01:10
64.   Elsewhere, Britten uses the same high register to create a very different mood. - 00:11
65.   Britten: Peter Grimes: 4 Sea Interludes, Op. 33a: I. Dawn - 01:08
66.   To end this outing with the violins, a charming little elfin dance - 00:12
67.   Hellmesberger: Elfenreigen - 01:29

Instruments of the Orchestra (more info)
Composed by: Jeremy Siepmann
Jeremy Siepmann, narrator


1.   Introduction to the viola - 00:42
2.   Telemann: Viola Concerto: I. Largo - 02:46
3.   Khachaturian gets a very different sound from it: fuller, fruitier, more exotic. - 00:14
4.   Khachaturian: Gayane Suite No. 1: III. Armen's Solo - 01:15
5.   Very nearly the whole of the violin's upper register is also available to the viola. - 00:39
6.   Britten: Peter Grimes: Passacaglia, Op. 33b - 01:00
7.   Strauss: Don Quixote - 01:03
8.   Berlioz: Harold in Italy: IV. Orgy of Brigands - 02:00
9.   The muted viola: intimate, gentle, poignant in Dvorak - 00:34
10.   Dvorak: Cypresses: IX. Thou Only Dear One - 03:00
11.   The massed violas of the modern symphony orchestra in Mahler - 00:40
12.   Mahler: Symphony No. 4: III. Ruhevoll, poco adagio - 01:13
13.   The "period" viola in Bach - 01:05
14.   Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 6: III. Allegro - 05:18
15.   The cello: a voice of unique nobility - 00:28
16.   Bach: Suite No. 1 for unaccompanied cello: I. Prelude - 02:30
17.   Brahms and the "soul" of the cello - 00:19
18.   Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 in B flat major: III. Andante - 01:04
19.   Most orchestral composers tend to emphasise the cello's lower register. - 00:27
20.   Bach: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Aria: Bereite dir, Jesu - 03:03
21.   In the time of Beethoven the cello remained as fundamental as ever. - 00:14
22.   Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 "Eroica": IV. Finale - 00:46
23.   But the cello is not condemned to spend its life in the basement. - 00:33
24.   Popper: Elfentanz, Op. 39 - 02:55
25.   Not only in recital showpieces like that is the cello used in its highest register. - 00:10
26.   Tavener: The Protecting Veil: opening - 02:54
27.   A cello with an identity-crisis: the pizzicato Flamencan - 00:15
28.   Tagell: Flamenco - 02:48
29.   Double-stopping in the lower reaches of the cello's range - 00:31
30.   Cassado: Solo Suite for Cello and Piano: Sardana - 01:08
31.   It's in its middle register that the cello really comes into its own. - 00:21
32.   Rachmaninoff: Oriental Dance, Op. 2, No. 2 - 01:32
33.   Beethoven: Symphony No. 5: II. Andante con moto - 00:54
34.   Beethoven: Symphony No. 9: IV. Finale - 00:54
35.   Introduction to the double-bass - 00:43
36.   Saint-Saens: The Carnival of the Animals: The Elephant - 01:32
37.   But the double-bass can be intensely expressive and graceful. - 00:10
38.   Bottesini: Elegy No. 1 in D major - 02:37
39.   Bottesini: Allegro di concerto, "Alla Mendelssohn" - 00:47
40.   Bottesini: Capriccio di bravura - 04:42
41.   Mahler: Symphony No. 1, "Titan": III. Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen / Mahler: Symphony No. 3: I. Kraftig - 01:33
42.   Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije Suite: III. Kije's Wedding / Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet: Act III - 02:25
43.   Beethoven: Symphony No. 5: III. Allegro - 01:20

Instruments of the Orchestra (more info)
Composed by: Jeremy Siepmann
Jeremy Siepmann, narrator


1.   The antiquity and magic of the flute - 00:20
2.   Debussy: Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune - 03:19
3.   The versatility and agility of the flute - 00:21
4.   Bach: Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor: VII. Badinerie - 01:18
5.   The flute in fifteenth-century Spain - 00:24
6.   Anonymous: Sa'dawi - 00:55
7.   Other flutes: the bass and alto - 00:29
8.   Sallinen: Chamber Music II - 01:12
9.   The Piccolo - aptly named - 00:19
10.   Rameau: La Naissance d'Osiris: VI. Premier et deuxieme tambourin - 00:47
11.   From a piccolo of the eighteenth century to one of its descendants in the twentieth - 00:09
12.   Stravinsky: Suite No. 2 for Small Orchestra: II. Valse - 00:54
13.   A variety of techniques - 00:19
14.   Sallinen: Chamber Music II - 00:31
15.   Flutter-tonguing. But Tchaikovsky got there eighty years before. - 00:28
16.   Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker: Act II, No. 2: Scene - 00:44
17.   From the transverse to the vertical: the Baroque recorder - 00:40
18.   Telemann: Recorder Suite in A minor: Menuet II - 02:12
19.   An unfamiliar, early vision of the instrument - 00:23
20.   Baston: Naelden, Naelden - 01:09
21.   The Bachian oboe - 00:35
22.   Bach: Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80: Duetto: Wie selig sind doch die - 03:34
23.   Introduction to the cor anglais or 'English horn' - 00:41
24.   Dvorak: Symphony No. 9, "From the New World": II. Largo - 01:24
25.   The loneliness of the cor anglais - 00:11
26.   Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela - 01:49
27.   The cor anglais joins the French horn in Haydn. - 00:17
28.   Haydn: Symphony No. 22, "The Philosopher": I. Adagio - 01:43
29.   Introduction to the oboe d'amore, beloved of Bach - but also of Ravel - 00:22
30.   Ravel: Bolero - 00:50
31.   Herrmann: The Egyptian: Violence / Janacek: Taras Bulba: The Death of Ostap - 00:37
32.   Stravinsky: Petrushka: Peasant with Bear / Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique: V. Songe d'une nuit / Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet: Act II - 01:38
33.   As the high clarinets tend to be loud, so the bass tends to be soft - 00:18
34.   Khachaturian: Gayane Suite No. 1: V. Gayane's Solo - 00:54
35.   Stravinsky: Petrushka: The Blackamoor / Albeniz: Iberia: Almeria - 01:44
36.   The range of the normal clarinet parts goes quite high... - 00:14
37.   Tchaikovsky: The Snow Maiden: Scene 5: Melodrama - 01:17
38.   ....and quite low. - 00:05
39.   Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf: The Cat - 00:45
40.   The clarinet as concerto soloist - 00:19
41.   Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major: III. Rondo - 02:48
42.   But that's not the instrument Mozart wrote it for; this is: - 00:16
43.   Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A major: III. Rondo - 02:47
44.   Introduction to the saxophone - 02:47
45.   Kodaly: Hary Janos Suite: IV. The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon - 01:03
46.   The soprano saxophone has quite a different feel to it - 00:09
47.   Bizet: L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1: II. Minuet - 01:17
48.   The little sopranino sax goes even higher - 00:12
49.   Ravel: Bolero - 00:53
50.   The most famous use of the saxophone is in an orchestration by Ravel - 00:16
51.   Mussorgsky: Pictures at an exhibition: The Old Castle - 00:55
52.   The saxophone can be quite contagiously good-humoured. - 00:11
53.   Wiedoeft: Sax-o-phun - 00:22
54.   The puffa-puffa image of the bassoon - 00:25
55.   Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf: Grandfather - 00:46
56.   The Bachian bassoon, in accompanimental mode - 00:20
57.   Bach: Weicher nur, betrubte Schatten, BWV 202, "Wedding Cantata": Aria No. 1 - 01:19
58.   Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1: V. Les Dragons d'Alcala - 00:56
59.   And Ravel, also in Spanish mode, does likewise - 00:16
60.   Ravel: Bolero - 00:59
61.   The bassoon as a voice of high seriousness, indeed desolate loneliness - 00:15
62.   Bax: Symphony No. 3: I. Lento moderato - 01:03
63.   The eerie bassoon in its highest register - 00:15
64.   Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring: opening - 00:58
65.   Stravinsky now draws on its lowest register, lonely and melancholy. - 00:21
66.   Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1919): Berceuse - 01:01
67.   The bassoon as concerto soloist, avoiding all exaggeration - 00:14
68.   Molter: Bassoon Concerto in G minor: III. — - 02:02
69.   The deep-voiced contra-bassoon, as a fairy-tale beast - 00:28
70.   Ravel: Ma Mere l'oye (Mother Goose): IV. Beauty and the Beast - 01:30
71.   The French Horn under its woodwind hat - 00:25
72.   Nielsen: Wind Quintet, Op. 43: III. Praeludium - Tema con variazioni - 01:42
73.   Now a more prominent role, in a woodwind quintet from an earlier era - 00:12
74.   Reicha: Wind Quintet in A minor, Op. 100, No. 5: II. Andante con variazioni - 01:32
75.   The horn in harmonious blend with strings in another quintet - 00:16
76.   Mozart: Horn Quintet in E flat major, K. 407: III. Rondeau - 03:55

Instruments of the Orchestra (more info)
Composed by: Jeremy Siepmann
Jeremy Siepmann, narrator


1.   The Trumpet as virtuoso soloist - 01:02
2.   Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2: III. Allegro assai - 02:37
3.   The special brilliance of paired trumpets - 00:19
4.   Vivaldi: Concerto in C for two trumpets, RV 537: I. Allegro - 02:54
5.   The ceremonial trumpet - 00:36
6.   Copland: Fanfare for the Common Man - 01:25
7.   Trumpets and drums - an incomparable alliance - 00:34
8.   Handel: Messiah: The Trumpet Shall Sound - 04:10
9.   The versatility of the trumpet, from the most public to the most lonely - 00:38
10.   Gershwin: Piano Concerto in F: II. Andante con moto - Adagio - 01:14
11.   Gershwin: An American in Paris / Stravinsky: The Soldier's Tale: The March - 02:05
12.   Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2: II. Habanera - 00:55
13.   The trumpet as the voice of strength and courage - 00:13
14.   Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 2: IV. Toreador's Song - 02:20
15.   Stravinsky: Petrushka: The Blackamoor / Prokofiev: Lieutenant Kije Suite: I. The Birth of Kije - 01:14
16.   Copland: Billy the Kid - 01:16
17.   The trumpet as character actor - 00:31
18.   Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition: Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle - 02:25
19.   The trumpet as the voice of God - 00:15
20.   Bach: Mass in B minor: Et expecto - 04:35
21.   The birth of the trombone - 00:38
22.   Anonymous: Aenmerckt nu hier - 01:36
23.   The birth of the brass as a family - 01:24
24.   Gabrieli: Canzon a 12 in Double Echo - 03:18
25.   The trombone in the eighteenth century - 00:36
26.   Albrechtsberger: Trombone Concerto in B flat major: III. Finale - 03:06
27.   Hoser: Romance for trombone and organ / Berlioz: Requiem: Dies Irae - 02:18
28.   Liszt: Hosannah, S677/R409 - 01:20
29.   The trombones become part of the orchestra - 00:47
30.   Beethoven: Symphony No. 5: IV. Allegro - 02:46
31.   Wagner: Tannhauser: Overture - 01:04
32.   The Trombone as caricaturist - 00:13
33.   Stravinsky: Pulcinella: No. 19: Vivo - 01:37
34.   Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra: IV. Intermezzo interrotto - 01:46
35.   The horn and the hunt - 00:40
36.   Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4 in E flat, K. 495: III. Rondo - 03:39