STANLEY tells it all – Studying Sousa: style/7
Does the musical instrument play a role in the matter of style?
In general, musicians perform music on a certain musical instrument. Since it requires many years of studies in order to reach professional levels, most choose just one instrument. This is where we are challenged, because in classical music we are asked to perform music of several periods across at least three centuries. Basically, we are trained in the Classical period (1740-1820), Romantic period (1820-1915) and Modern period (1915-now). The Baroque period (1600-1740) used to be part of that as well, but is nowadays dealt with by specialists.
During these periods, each of the musical instruments further developed. In the Classical period, the bore of wind instruments was small in size resulting in elegant performances. However, this did not suffice in the Romantic period where composers used extreme dynamics which required medium and even large bores.
The dominos fell in the Symphony Orchestra first. Since we all like to hear both the melody and countermelody plus harmony, musicians need to perform in balance. As a result, orchestras grew in size during the Romantic period due to the increasing number of strings in order to balance out the brass. At the same time, musicians had to perform music from several periods, thus becoming generalists. This brings challenges in the choice of instrument.
Performing Classical music with a small bore, allowes for the size of orchestra as originally intended. Using a large bore, requires a larger orchestra creating a heavier overall sound, resulting in a loss of elegance. That way, it is not possible to perform the style of this music as originally intended which thus changes or is completely lost.
Now what?
As always, there are three answers. The first is to keep on going. Things develop over the years, so the generalistic approach is a natural step in the evolution of classical music. The second is to purposely study on two instruments with different bores, enabling performance of all types, sizes and formations of orchestras. The multi-specialist approach. The third is to perform as originally intended, both in formation and size of orchestra, by using instruments with the original bore. The specialist approach.
All in all, we actually need to choose between the importance of style or intentionally allowing it to slip away. Most musicians prefer to be a generalist rather than a specialist or multi-specialist. So, how do we deal with that? More importantly, how did John Philip Sousa deal with that in his day?
To be continued.
Stanley E. van Wel MM – Music Director
Posted on LinkedIn.com dated 18 June 2024