The symphony orchestra, The Brass Section

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Part of The Young Citizen: The Magazine for Young People

Title
The symphony orchestra, The Brass Section
Year
1939
Rights
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
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1-00 THE YOUNG CITIZEN March, 1919 MUSIC APPRECIATION SECTION .The Symphony Orchestra . By BERT PAUL OSBON* (Continued! from the February number) Ill. THE BRASS SECTION Trumpet French horn Trombone Bass trombone Tuba I N. previous is~ues of the T~e Young Citizen. you road about the string section of the symphony orchestra and the woodwind section. Now I shall take up the third or brass section. This group of instrument is sometimes called the brasswind sect.ion, or "the brass." Each of these instruments is played by having wind blown into it, and ea.ch of the~ is made of metal. Formerly this metal was brass; hence the name brasswind. NowAda..;vs they may be made of brass, or may •Formerly Supervisor of Public School Music, Mount Lebanon, Pittsburch, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. be plated with nickle, silver, or even gold. But they are still called brasswind. There are four instruments in the brasswind group: (1) the trumpet, . (2) the French horn, (3) the trombone, and ( 4) the tuba. Sometimes a cornet .is used instead of a trumpet. A cornet looks like a trumpet, but the tone is not so brilliant. There may also be a large trombone which is called a bass trombone. Each 0f these instrumenti has a mouthpiece into which the player blo~s. and this mouthpiece is shaped something like a little cup. Thre,e of the bras~wil!d instruments March, 1939 THE YOUNG CITIZEN 101 have valves which are opened and closed by keys when they are being played. These three instruments are called "valve instruments" for this reason. The valve instruments are the trumpet, the French horn, and the tuba. The trombone which is usually employed in a symphony orchestra is the slide trombone, so called because it does not have valves, but has a slide which is pulled back and forth to make different tones. The: players in the brasswind section usually numb0 er as follows: 4 trumpets, 4 French horns, 3 trombones, one tuba. These players sit toward the rear of the orchestra; the powerful tuba is farthest back. These instruments are behind others because they have a rather loud, "brassy" tone. For securing variety of tone color in the <lfchestra many combinations of instruments from the three sections-the string section, the woodwind section, .and the brass section -are used, or each section may be played without other instruments, because the instruments of each group (often called a choir) are capable of playing harmony-soprano. alto, tenor, and bass. Many kinds of tone coloring are possible by means of various combinations of these instruments, and in this manner the clever romposer or arranger shows his skill. In order to learn to make skillful combinations of instruments, the stu<lent must study that subject in music eduC'ation known as orchesiration. The variety possible has no limit, apparently, and composers are constantly inventing nt'W effects by the use of various combination~ of instruments, especially in modern orchestral music. However, the composer of music for the symphonic orchestra S"till follows the fundamental instrumentation which Haydn (pronounced hi-dn) chose. In the next number of The Youmg Citizen I shall mention some of the most important instr.uments of the percussion section, . .a.pd in later issues I will discuss very briefly each insti:urnent used in the symphony orchestra. If you will reaa .and study all these articles very carefully, you will have a good general idea cf the instrumentation of a symphony orchestra. Sometimes I am asked this question by the . youqg music student: What is the difference between A. symphony orchestra .and a military band? There is considerable difference between the two, and the difference is largely in the instrumentation with a resulting difference in the tonal char.acteristics. ,Usually in a band there are no string in· struments. You will remember, perhaps, that the string section of a symphony orchestra is the most important section. This section is lacking in a band, which is composed entirely of woodwind, brasswind, aIJ.d percussion instrumt:nts. Sometimes all of the wind instruments of a band belong to the brasswind group; such a band is known as a brass band. Most band conductors, however, prefer to use both bra:;;s - and woodwind instruments. Sometimes in very excellent bands-such as the symphonic band in Manila-the conductor uses a few string instruments: double-basses, a harp, cellos, or other string instruments. (Please turn to page 115.) MtJrck, 1939 WHEN SHORT-TAIL WENT TO THE FIESTA (Continued from page 93) er until I come." Father drew his hat firmer on his head. Turning to Mother and Rita, he asked, "What color is the dress Baby is wearing today?" "Pink!" they both said at the same time. "She also has a pink ribbon on her head," Rita added. "Let's start· the search," urged Carlos, after which they all went on their different ways. Soon Father was talking with a husky and very dependable looking policeman. "How large is she?" "This high," F.ather showed him with his hand. "She is wearing a pink dress and she answers to the name 'Baby.'" "We'll find her," assured the policeman. "I shall telephone the chief and every policeman will be on the lookout for her. Stop worrying.'' Mother, at her post by the church door, was thinking. "Why did I ever let go her hand?" she said as she b1amed herself. Meanwhile Rita had begun a thorough search of the stands selling toys and dolls. Carlos soon had a Boy Scout h e 1 p i n g him. They all searched for some time, but did not find tlie lost Baby. Carlos returned tG Mother first, so when Fiather arrived he found them both there. When Mother saw Father without Baby she was very frightened. Suddenly they heard a faTHE YOUNG CITIZEN miliar bark. Looking up, they saw Short-tail jumping up and down excitedly. A little way behind him was Rita carrying Baby. Carlos ran to relieve her of her b u r de n. Mother ran to her too. "Where did you find her?" asked Mother when at last she could talk. "In that empty stall there -asleep on a pile of grass." "Asleep?" Carlos asked. "Asleep. And Short-tail was gu_arding her. There were some people standing by, and they told me Shorttail would not let them get near her. He saw me first." "The best dog In the whole world!" cried Carlos hugging him. "And to think we tried fo leave you behind," he w h i s p e r e d to Short-tail. "How glad I am that you got out of the house and came 'to the fiesta!" 'l'HE FOOLISH FARMER AND HIS CARABAO (Continued from page 94) carabao ate and drank that in no time, and looked and looked for more. But the rn an said, "Enough, my friend, for I am going to train you not to eat or drink." On the third day the farmer gave his work-animal only a ver'y little grass and jusi a small coconut-shell filled with water. The carabao did not look at his master this time after drinking and eating, D.nd the farmer thought, "See that now? My good carabao is about to learn the trick. T must be a very wise man, .115 for I can teach something that no other man has ever taught before. I think I am a wonderful teacher." On the fourth day the man went to visit his carabao. The animal would not look at him to ask for food and drink. The simple farmer said to himself, "Surely. he no longer cares for grass and water. He has learned the wonderful trick.» So he gave the animal only a handful of grass and just a mouthful of water. The carabao took a long time to eat the grass and drink the water. The man promised himself that he would not give anything to his canabao next day. But when he came to see his carabao the following morning, the poor animal lay dead under a tree. "What a foolish carabao !" the man exclaimed. "What a foolish anim.al to die just as he was about to learn not to eat or drink! Now I shall have no carabao.'' Was the carabao or the farmer foolish? SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (Continued from page 101) A n o t h e r difference between a band and an orchestra is that' certain insiruments are used in a band which are not found in an orcliestra, such as a baritone horn, .a euphonium, various sizes of the saxOphone, etc. Unless a band is a very good one, it generally sounds better out of doors than in a concert hall.