The Largest Instrument, the Orchestra - WEA Sydney

The Largest Instrument, the Orchestra

The orchestra is a large and very complicated instrument which has grown since Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Beethoven and Wagner enlarged the orchestra and Mahler in his Symphony No. 8 pushed the boundaries even further. At the same time, instruments changed and the saxophone was added. The conductor became a necessity, becoming the one who plays this enormous instrument. Orchestras may have titles such as ‘Symphonic’, ‘Philharmonic’, ‘String’, ‘Youth’ and are also employed for ballet and opera. Symphonies, Concertos, Overtures and Tone Poems are the banquet this course provides.

COURSE OUTLINE

  • History of the orchestra; Parts of the orchestra; Instruments
  • Concertos – Guitar, Violin, Cello, Horn, Clarinet
  • Symphonies – Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz. Brahms, Mahler
  • Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Goreki
  • Overtures – Rossini, Offenbach, Brahms
  • Tone Poems – Copland, Borodin, Strauss, Gershwin, Debussy

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Have a knowledge of the parts of the orchestra and the role of the conductor
  2. Know the function of tone poems.
  3. Be aware of the different solo instruments in concertos
  4. Name three overtures
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