Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1920-02-05
INCREASED INTEREST IN
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAS

t1S--tt7
.certs and operas, all over the coun-
try.
The explanation usually offered IS
that trashy popular" music has
ceased to satisfy the American public
and that people, seeking relaxation
from the strain Of war times and re-
construction problems, are finding it
in the fine arts.
Il There are many vino will not agree
with US, but our opinion is that the
growing demand for music of the
higher type is due to the graphopone,
the greatest single educational force
for the appreciation Of good music
that we have yet known.
Owing to the graphophone, thous-
ands of families have had the oppor-
tunity to become familiar with ex-
cerpts from the great operas and sym
( phonies, rendered by the best singers
and Observation-Disclosures in the world
The public has liked these samples"
and has become enough interested in
them to want to hear the operas and
symphonies in their entirety.
Hence the unprecedented sale Of
seats-and even standing. room-at
practically every performance Of sym
phony or grand opera, whereas for
merly a capacity house was rarity.
To most of US, the great modern
orchestra Of nearly 100 pieces, with
its bewidering variety of instruments
is a mystery.
knowledge of the names of these
Instruments, and the groups into
which they are separated, would add
to our enjoyment of the music they
create.
The orchestra conductor could ox-
plain that there are four groups Of
Instruments, called the Strings. Wood
wind, Brass and Percussion.
The Strings are those of the violin
family; the Woodwind are 50 called
!. because they are instruments Of wood
whose tone is produced by blowing
them; the Brass are wind instru-
ments made of brass; and the Per-
cussion group comproses all those
such as the drum, whose tone is made
by striking the instruments itself.
Most of us are familiar with the
first and most important group, which
comprises over half the orchestra.
Among the Strings are these instru
ments; the harp; the violin; the viola,
which is slightly larger than the
violin, and gives a deeper, more mel
ancholy tone; the violincello, or cello;
and the huge brass double bass, or
bass viol. Symphony orehestras
usually employ at least two1 harps,
fourteen first" violins, twelve "sec-
ond" violins, eight violas, ten 'cellos,
and eight double basses.
4 The Woodwind orchestra group
consists of the fue; the piccolo, the
highest and shrillest instrument in the.
orchestra; the oboe, an ebony instru-
ment whose mouthpiece contains two
reeds which give it a peculiar, plain
tive quality; the English horn, which
is not horn at all, but simply an
oboe of lower pitch, whose tone is
well suited to dreamy, melancholy
themes; the clarinet, of clear, mel
low, soprano tone; and the bassoon,
a sonorous double-reed instrument
that supplies the bass for the wood
wind choir of the orchestra, and has
such humorous quality of tone,
when played in staccato notes, that it
is called the clown of the orchestra.
The Brass choir includes the trump
ct, whose clarion notes ring out in
martial passages; the French horn, a
coiled metal tube with large flaring
mouthpiece, used effectively to i'm
itate the sound of the hunting horn
in the forest; the trombone and cor
onet, which need no introduction; and
the tuba, that huge bass horn which
used to be the mainstay of every tin
Grant German band.
AMONG the Percussion group are
the bowl-shaped, copper bottomed ket-
tie drums, or tympani, which are
beaten by means of sticks with padded
ends; the well-known snare and bass
drums, common to the theatre orches-
,, ira; the cymbals; the triangle; the
gong, of Chinese origin; the xylophone
composed of wooden blocks Of differ
ent length, tuned to the notes of the
scale; and the bells, which are SIM
liar to the xylophone except that the
blocks are of metal.
Sometimes used in the percussion
group are the celesta, keyboard in
strument resembling a small organ;
and the narimba, invented by Mexican
Indians, an instrument which consists
Of series of mahogany slabs of diff
ferent length, under each of which is
, resonator to increase the tore.
III - A.