Originally posted by Sorrano:
I'm thinking of a "lineage" or style of orchestration for the Symphony including Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, etc. Berlioz, on the other hand had his inspiration, undoubtedly, from the orchestrations of the French Grand Opera.
It appears to me that Beethoven was fairly conventional as an orchestrator and perhaps a tad conservative?
I'm thinking of a "lineage" or style of orchestration for the Symphony including Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, etc. Berlioz, on the other hand had his inspiration, undoubtedly, from the orchestrations of the French Grand Opera.
It appears to me that Beethoven was fairly conventional as an orchestrator and perhaps a tad conservative?
By 1685, you could not find a trombone or a trombonist in France. Only in 1774 with Parisian productions of operas by Gluck (a German!) were trombones reintroduced to France. Gluck utilized German trumpeters and hornists, already living and working in Paris, who were able to double on the trombone. Only from 1810 do trombonists appear on the payroll of the Grand Opera of Paris.
In French orchestral music at the time of Beethoven and Eggert, a single trombone often doubled the bass line during tutti passages. The trombone passages were totally denuded of any rhythmic or melodic significance. If the bass line displayed any thematic importance or technical difficulties, the trombones doubled a simpler line. In contemporary Austrian orchestral music, three trombones frequently doubled the strings or the woodwinds, in unison or an octave below, often playing intricate rhythms and ornate passages.
In light of the above, it seems that the French trombone writing is more conservative compared to Austrian trombone writing. This is strange since French music was considered avante garde in Austria. One thing for sure, French composers certainly did not trust their trombonists, relegating to them such simplified grunts every now and then. Then again, Beethoven seems to have his doubts about his trombonists. In the beginning of the 4th movement tutti in the 5th symphony, whenever the orchestra played rhythm figures of a dotted eighth followed by a sixteenth, the trombones are silent while everyone else is thundering!!
Hofrat
Comment