woodwind and brass

Haydn Symphony No.31 (Hornsignal):

• Written for strings, one flute, two oboes, four horns

• Double usual amount of horns

• Celebration of his horn section at Eisenstadt returning to full strength

• Movements 2, 3 and 4, haydn makes extensive use of soloists with orchestra

• Horn solos in all 3 of those movements

• In the 1st movement, opening uses horns as a fanfare

• At the end of the finale, opening material from first movement returns to give horns another chance to stand out

Mozart No.31 (Paris):

• Wrote on his tour to Paris in 1778

• Clarinets became introduced to orchestral music in the Classical period

• This symphony was Mozart’s first use of clarinets in a Symphony

• Used 2 clarinets in A but only in an accompanying role

• Used in movement 1 but not in movement 2 unlike the other woodwind instruments

Mozart No.40:

• Very independent use of woodwind and brass

• Strings, 1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns

• Trio in movement 3, strong use of woodwind with melody taken by flute, oboe and bassoon

• Clarinets also take a more prominent role, playing solos throughout

Haydn No.104:

• clarinet was still a newcomer so used in mostly accompanying role

• In recapitulation, bar 201 woodwind trio with melody played by oboe 2

• Similarly reduced to just wood wind at bar 38 in movement 2

• Flute often added to double melody an octave higher, e.g. bar 74 movement 2

• Horns add fanfare like motif bar 122

• Flute cadenzas e.g. ba 131

• Horn melody at end of movement 2 e.g. bar 149

Beethoven No.5:

• Introduces new instruments and uses instruments in new ways

• Number of instruments in orchestra grew

• First time a trio of trombones was used in a symphony (an alto, tenor and bass to add more depth to sound)

• Trombone was the first chromatic brass instrument so it was the first to be used for melodies

• These trombones make their first appearance in movement 4 along with a contrabassoon

• First use of a piccolo in a symphony

• Increase weight of finale

Beethoven No.6 (Pastoral):

• Used woodwind and brass to support programmaticism

• Trombones joined brass section

• In movement 2, woodwind represent different bird calls through different techniques e.g. flute trill

• Flute (nightingale), cuckoo (clarinet), oboe (quail)

• Movement 4 (Storm), high pitched dramatic flashes in high woodwind represent lightning

• Similar orchestration to previous symphonies but instruments used in different ways

Mendelssohn’s No. 4 (Italian):

• Uses relatively conservative orchestration

• Created distinctive colours and textures through creative use

• Symphony opens with pulsating woodwind chords

• Second part of 1st subject played by clarinet and bassoon in 3rds

• Reversed in recapitulation where this is played by strings accompanied by arpeggiating woodwind figures

• Movement 2, bar 4 high bassoon, low oboe and viola play melody

• Sparse two part texture but richly scored melody creates solemn feel

• Gentle bassoon fanfare opens trio at bar 77 introduce distinctive violin

• Creates characteristic melodies and harmonies but overall quite traditional

Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique:

• First time an Eb clarinet was used in an orchestra

• In movement 1, idee fixe presented by the violins, and in development, a new theme is presented for the oboe which is idee fixe in counterpoint

• In movement 2, wind chords provide colour while the clarinet plays the idee fixe as a solo

• First scherzo in movement 3 is a duet between a cor anglais and offstage oboe, including unison melodies painting a programmatic picture of solidarity

• In final movement, idee fixe transformed grotesquely by a high pitched Eb clarinet, playing a distorted version

• Syncopated brass interjections 

• Wind and brass used to reflect programmatic features