Scan 312
the american history and encyclopedia of music, 1910
4 lines. Read by computer on 15 September 2026. Printed page 270. See the scan on archive.org.
1In size it is next to the violin and is tuned four intervals lower. It blends beautifully with the violoncello, whose strings are tuned an octave lower. The violoncello possesses a marvelous capacity for expression, next to that of the violin, and it can speak the language of tender passion more effectively than any other of the stringed instruments. The doublebass provides the foundation for the harmonic structure of the orchestra. Solos are only seldom given this instrument. It sounds an octave lower than the music written for it and is called therefore a transposing instrument.
3The wood-wind instrument group is capable of playing by itself in full harmony or may be divided into small groups, each of which can produce melody and harmony. The entire choir can be combined with all the strings or all the brass, or with parts of either of these groups. It is not difficult to distinguish these instruments as they are so frequently used in solos. Each wood-wind instrument has a strongly characteristic voice adapted to certain styles of music and it is only by combinations among other or with other groups that they possess any great range of expression. Flutes and oboes are purely soprano. The flute is an instrument of marvelous agility and can be blended with great effectiveness with other instruments, though brilliancy and superficial sentiment are about all that are required of it as a solo instrument, for while its voice is sweet, at times soft and complaining, its low tones are not rich, and, compared with the oboe or clarinet, it is expressionless. The oboe is a melody instrument of a pastoral nature and is frequently used in the orchestra in imitative music. It can well express feelings of joy, grief and tenderness, and Beethoven has used it to give the melody of the funeral march of his Heroic Symphony. While the oboe is a grave and rather timid instrument, the bassoon, while using the same grave voice, becomes almost humorous because of its deeply solemn voice combined with its great flexibility of utterance. The clowns in Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream" are introduced by music for two bassoons.
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