Most creative manipulations of an instrument

[Beyond Within]

Namely, pieces where the very idiomatic aspects of an instrument are brought forth and harnessed brilliantly; it is absurd to request, "the most," with their attendant rankings, but the title was meant as an attention-getter. My choices:

Villa-Lobos -- the use of natural harmonics at the end of his first Etude in E minor; also, the middle of Etude No. 11, where he utilizes that peculiar capacity to play the same exact pitch on 5 different strings.

Chopin -- pretty much everything, but more specifically, etude No. 11, op.25, and that descending chromatic pattern -- which not only is technically intriguing, but musically, I love how he creates this intricate descent downward!

Berlioz -- the part in the Fantastic Symphony where he somehow evokes the sound of skeletons on the instruments, I think using their bows in some unusual way (someone fill in the specifics for me here!).

Alexi Laiho -- the end of "kissing the shadows," where he uses a most peculiar combination of wah pedal and artificial harmonics.

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Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing. -- Act V, Scene V, Macbeth.

[Peter]

There are way too many examples but here are just a few:

Haydn - as far as I know he was the first to use col legno (strings played with the wood of the bow)in his symphony no.67. Berlioz did the same creating that skeleton effect you mention.

Beethoven - the use of timpani in the first movt of the 4th symphony. The incredible writing for double bass in the storm of the Pastoral where they literally slide rapidly over the notes. The wonderful passage in Op.31/1 1st movt where through use of pedal he creates an eerie ghost like atmosphere. The glissandi in the finale of the Waldstein sonata.




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'Man know thyself'

[Chaszz]

In Wagner's "Siegfried" from The Ring cycle, during the magical Forest Murmurs scene, the Woodbird sings a beautiful bird-like song, the meaning of which Siegfried tries to understand but cannot (until much later). I always wondered if this melody was played by piccolo, flute or clarinet. I finally saw at the Met that this single short melody is started by the piccolo, passed to the flute and then finished by the clarinet!

[Sorrano]

Originally posted by Chaszz:
In Wagner's "Siegfried" from The Ring cycle, during the magical Forest Murmurs scene, the Woodbird sings a beautiful bird-like song, the meaning of which Siegfried tries to understand but cannot (until much later). I always wondered if this melody was played by piccolo, flute or clarinet. I finally saw at the Met that this single short melody is started by the piccolo, passed to the flute and then finished by the clarinet!

That is one my favorite nature depictions in music!

A few effects I like:

The dies irae bells in the symphonie fantastique

The dawn sequence at the end of Night on bald Mountain

The orchestral pastoral effect in "From the Steppes of Central Asia"

Almost forgot: The xylophone in Danse Macabre

[This message has been edited by Sorrano (edited 05-19-2006).]

[Tegan]

Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture or Smetena's Moldau.

[Sorrano]

Maybe this is not so appropriate, but there are scores of modern composers who use "special" techniques with the piano, such as "inside-the-piano" effects. George Crumb is one I think of immediately. If done well there are certain percussive results that are extremely effective!

[Rod]

Originally posted by Sorrano:
Maybe this is not so appropriate, but there are scores of modern composers who use "special" techniques with the piano, such as "inside-the-piano" effects. George Crumb is one I think of immediately. If done well there are certain percussive results that are extremely effective!

In Beethoven's time you could order pianos with a whole host of pedal operated percussion effects built-in to the casing.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited 05-29-2006).]

[Sorrano]

Originally posted by Rod:
In Beethoven's time you could order pianos with a whole host of pedal operated percussion effects built-in to the casing.

And, pray tell, how were these used?

[Rod]

Originally posted by Sorrano:
And, pray tell, how were these used?

The 'host of pedal opreated percussion percussion effects' were operated, would you believe, via pedals. And you used them as and when you wished! Some pianos had seven or more pedals in those days. Imagine having a whole 'Turkish instrument' band hiding under the piano and you'll be near the truth.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[This message has been edited by Rod (edited 05-29-2006).]

[Sorrano]

Originally posted by Rod:
The 'host of pedal opreated percussion percussion effects' were operated, would you believe, via pedals. And you used them as and when you wished! Some pianos had seven or more pedals in those days. Imagine having a whole 'Turkish instrument' band hiding under the piano and you'll be near the truth.

Sounds interesting. As well as seeing what one could do inside the piano with the strings and soundboard of that era. I would love to hear an "inside-the-piano" composition played on an older era piano!

[Rod]

Originally posted by Sorrano:
Sounds interesting. As well as seeing what one could do inside the piano with the strings and soundboard of that era. I would love to hear an "inside-the-piano" composition played on an older era piano!

Considering the pianos then were made almost totally out of wood and the stringing much lighter I doubt they would have been of great use for this type of 'composition'.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[Michael]

Originally posted by Rod:
In Beethoven's time you could order pianos with a whole host of pedal operated percussion effects built-in to the casing.

I heard one of those in action last year during the Beethoven Experience on BBC. As I mentioned elsewhere, it was Beethoven's own arrangement of "Wellington's Victory" with a single piano and loads of different percussion sounds. I never realised such pianos existed until Rod mentioned it.

Michael

[Rod]

Originally posted by Michael:
I heard one of those in action last year during the Beethoven Experience on BBC. As I mentioned elsewhere, it was Beethoven's own arrangement of "Wellington's Victory" with a single piano and loads of different percussion sounds. I never realised such pianos existed until Rod mentioned it.

Michael

And we had an mp3 at this site too from the March for piano (4 hands) Op45 nr2 whereby Beethoven, on a rare occasion, prescribed the use of such effects. Very effective it sounds too.

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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin

[sjwenger]

If anyone has the Wellington as performed on the original instrument with the special effects, I'd love to hear it at this site! Wellington is not one of my favorite Beethovens, but maybe it's because I never heard it as it was intended to be heard : }

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[Rod]

Originally posted by sjwenger:
If anyone has the Wellington as performed on the original instrument with the special effects, I'd love to hear it at this site! Wellington is not one of my favorite Beethovens, but maybe it's because I never heard it as it was intended to be heard : }

If you'd heard the orchestrated version on period instruments you'd change your mind too. And not only hear but see, because this is not just music but a staged performance piece, the complexities of which were considerable. Schindler said it made the direction of Fidelio look easy by comparison.


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"If I were but of noble birth..." - Rod Corkin