Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-04-11
CHORUS AND ORCHESTRA.
Concise History OF the Evolution Of the
Symphony Orchestra-May Festival.

Symphony Orchestra-May Festival.
The president of the w. v. c
u, Mr.. Wallis Nash, has tolt
in a most able, interesting ant
enthusiastic lecture of the live:
and works of such composers a!
will be represented by the ora
torios to be sung at the coming
May Festival. 1t remains fol
his sen to put in a plea for the
recognition of the orchestra ane
the proposed orchestral concert
That the choral work is to be
most popular cannot be denied,
for who does not like to sing In
a large chorus and to feel as a
part of the combined whole
also for the hearer. Singing is
more easily understood than any
! other form of music, for it saves
the trouble of personal analysis:
Sc singof the arms and the man, "
as Virgil says and the words are
a key to the emotion evoked.
| Singing, too, is more analag-
Gus to the human cry, and, as
such, arouses a corresponding
sympathy in the hearer. The
so. called rag time appeals to a
larger number of people than a
sonata. Why? Because rhythm
is the very foundation stone of
all musical structure-music has
evolved from it. In Central
Africa there are certain species
Of apes who ''beat rhythmically
on wooden objects of different
timbre" and the love of rhythm
lives, as many other actions of
babies and drowning men, to
link us to the past, and the beat
ing of drum will always>make
our blood run the faster.
Men were lovers of heroes be-
fore they were singers, and from
the effort to express the emotions
connected with or induced by
deeds of love and heroism,
song arose.
AS people gradually left their
nomadic existence and assembled
themselves together in cities the
same influence is traced on their
music-the chorus was formed.
Traced historically the chorus
has been through the following
stages: The ancient monody of
the Egyptians, Greeks and early
Christians; the cantus planus,
the plain or even chant of Greg
CRY the Great; the ars organum
the art of originating (singing in
the 4th and 5th octave) of Hue
bald; the introduction of the
measured time by Franco of Col
egne in 1900; and then the poly
phony, or combination of several
voices singing different parts, of
Palestrina and Bach. So, in our
choral music the two elementary
factors are present-rhythm and
the verbal expression of emotion.
The Symphonic Orchestra be-
gins as our exponent of musical
thought where the chorus ends.
The chorus is composed of four
treble, alto, tenor and bass.
Let us look at the orchestra. 1t
is primarily composed of three
distinct quartettes and each quar-
tette has four tone colors. The
wood wind-flute, oboe, clarinet
and bassoon; these are each dis
tinct in tonal expression. The
flute, soft, sweet, love sick; the
oboe, gay, pastoral, calling up
visions of shepherds and their
focks, an out of doors instrument;
the clarinet, heroic, daring, no.
Bile; the basseon, humorous, jek-
ing, funny-who can hear one
without laughing.
The bass; French horns, (gen-
orally a quartette of their own)
trumpet, trombone and tuba.
The strings; violins. violas, Gel
los and basses, and to produce
the proper effect the strings
should at least double in number
all other instruments combined.
The tone color then, of the or
chestra is capable of three times
the amount of effect and express
sien able to be produced by a
chorus.
To most of us, in our new
West the hearing of properly
balanced orchestra, is an event
to be looked forward to; an open-
ing of a new vista of mental and
emotional expression and impress
sion-for abstract music begins
where program music ends.
How the melody or theme is
banded about from instrument
to instrument, aow in the flutes,
then in the strings, floating
like a shell upon a sea OF harmo-
nv OF the combined instruments.