The Roles of Keyboard Instruments in the Orchestral Symphony Ginger Larson Prof. Rudy Perrault Instrumental Ensemble Literature December 19, 2011 2 The Roles of Keyboard Instruments in the Orchestral Symphony Throughout the evolution of the symphony the core of instruments changed and grew based on the development of the individual instruments and the general use by the composers writing at the time. Outside of this core group composers would add instruments, sometimes just an extra for a desired effect in a specific movement and other times large groups would be used to increase the sound and range of the orchestra itself. The different instrument families grew into certain roles in the orchestra, though composers eventually worked to expand those roles themselves. The keyboard instruments have played a wide variety of roles in the orchestra from the beginning and development to the current modern-day orchestral repertoire. As the keyboard instruments themselves evolved and developed, their roles in the orchestra changed as well. While there is a large amount of concerto repertoire for keyboard instruments, the concerto’s sole purpose is to highlight the instrument over the orchestra. Instead, focusing on the general symphonic repertoire will give a better picture of the specific instrument’s role within the orchestra rather than as a guest soloist. The keyboard instruments that have been used with orchestra are the harpsichord, organ and piano. Each instrument is vastly different from the other, but they are all related as keyboard mediums. Within the orchestra they take on different roles than their solo function, some cases have them interchangeable with one another for the same purpose. In the solo keyboard repertoire prior to the mid-17 th century no distinction was made between any of the keyboard instruments. At the time, the harpsichord, clavichord and organ were the instruments available and the choice of which instrument to use was ultimately left to the performer. 1 There were 1 John Caldwell, et al., "Keyboard music," In Grove Music Online . Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/14945pg1 (accessed December 18, 2011). 3 certain practice that became common, for example organs were often used for liturgical works with long sustained notes or pedal notes and dance music was usually played on the harpsichord. Due to the quiet nature of the clavichord it was generally only used at home for practice or a small gathering of friends. As the Baroque music’s compositional style developed, so did the specific writings for each instrument. Pieces were being published that were written for a specific instrument 2 and would often be impossible or at least extremely difficult to perform on another medium. The invention of the piano added another medium to take into consideration, but the repertoire didn’t develop its own style until the late 18 th century. 3 The organ is the oldest of the keyboard instruments, though it did not use a keyboard for operation until the 13 th and 14 th centuries. 4 The first organ, known as a Hydraulis, was built in the 3 rd century BC in Alexandra by and engineer named Ktesibios and used water to stabilize the wind pressure to create sound. 5 In the 4 th century the water system was replaced by bellows, creating the pneumatic organ and increasing the volume of the instrument. 6 The pipes of medieval organs were much like that of the recorder, creating sound with a series of tongues or sliders that were pushed and pulled by the player to create the sound. This instrument required two people to sit at the same manual to play because each note required a different combination 2 John Caldwell, et al., "Keyboard music," In Grove Music Online . Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/14945pg1 (accessed December 18, 2011). 3 John Caldwell, et al., "Keyboard music," In Grove Music Online . Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/14945pg1 (accessed December 18, 2011). 4 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 5 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 6 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 4 of pipes to get the desired sound. The different pipes would create a variety of timbres and pitches, creating the unisons, octaves and octave plus a fifth higher. 7 As the organs continued to develop they also grew in size until the 13 th and 14 th century. The system of sliders to activate the pipes was replaced by a keyboard, which needed less room while also adding the benefit of being more flexible and sensitive. 8 From the 13 th to the 16 th century the portative organ, or organetto, were popular because of their mobility. These instruments consisted of two rows of pipes reaching up to two octaves, operated by one player using their right hand for the keyboard and the left to operate the bellows. Because the player could only use on hand, it was for singular melodies and was often used only for solo dance tunes. 9 The church organs continued to grow in size since being portable was not a necessity for their function. Additional keyboards were added to activate different pipes and create different sounds and tones. 10 In 1361, a church in Halberstad, Germany contained an organ with three manuals (keyboards) plus a pedal keyboard and twenty bellows. This organ required ten people to operate it, with such force coming from the wind pressure that the player would have to use the force of their arm just to hold down the key. 11 A third type of organ fell between the size range of the portative and church organs, known as the positive organ. This organ had two to three sets of bellows which could be operated by the player and still allow them to use both hands on the manual. It was not as portable as the 7 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 8 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 9 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 10 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 11 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 5 portative organ, but it was easily moved from place to place and was often used in churches and chamber music. 12 By the end of the middle Ages many improvements had been made to the organ to make it more responsive and require less people for its operation. Stops were added to the organ, which worked similar to the sliders in controlling the air flow to the pipes, allowing the changes to be dictated by the player and not need extra people to move the sliders. Contrasting stops were added along with reed pipes to change the tone and imitate other instruments. Different manuals could be joined together by couplers to combine sets of pipes without needing to play each individual manual. 13 From this point, the organ’s set up and function was continually refined to make a wider variety of sounds as well as making it easier to play. In 1867, Paris began using electricity for the key action, making it far less difficult to activate the keys and not have to fight against the wind pressure. 14 The organ itself is an instrument that elicits many different responses. Some refer to it as the King of all instruments for its age, size and versatility while others consider it a bore and avoid it at all costs. Symphonic composers reflect this variety in their use of the organ within the orchestra. In the beginning stages of the early Baroque orchestra and into the Classical period, the organ was considered a possibility as a continuo instrument. However, it was not often used with the symphony itself but rather in liturgical continuos. 15 Most likely this was due to the location of the organs that were strong enough to use with an ensemble were located inside churches and they could not move from place to place. 12 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 13 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011). 14 "Organ," In The Oxford Dictionary of Music , 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online , http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/opr/t237/e7521 (accessed December 18, 2011).