Page 208 - ESSENTIAL LISTENING TO MUSIC

table 12.1 The Growth of the Symphony Orchestra
Mozart (1788) Symphony in G minor
1 flute
2 oboes
2 clarinets 2 bassoons
2 French horns
1st violins (8)* 2nd violins (8) violas (4)
cellos (4)
double basses (3)
Total: 36
berlioz (1830)
Symphonie fantastique
Woodwinds
1 piccolo
2 flutes
2 oboes
1 English horn 2 B♭ clarinets 1 E♭ clarinet
4 bassoons
Brasses
4 French horns 2 trumpets
2 cornets
3 trombones
2 ophicleides (tubas)
Strings
1st violins (15)* 2nd violins (14) violas (8)
cellos (12) double basses (8) 2 harps
Percussion
timpani
bass drum
snare drum cymbals and bells
Total: 89
Mahler (1889) Symphony No. 1
3 piccolos
4 flutes
4 oboes
1 English horn 4 B♭ clarinets 2 E♭ clarinets 1 bass clarinet 3 bassoons
1 contrabassoon
7 French horns 5 trumpets
4 trombones
1 tuba
1st violins (20)* 2nd violins (18) violas (14)
cellos (12)
double basses (18) 1 harp
timpani (2 players) bass drum triangle, cymbals tam-tam
Total: 129
watch . . . Berlioz’s colossal Grande Messe des morts, Op, 5 (Requiem), Dies irae, “Tuba mirum,” online.
*Number of string players estimated according to standards of the period
Compare, in Table 12.1, the number and variety of instruments required for a typical eighteenth-century performance of Mozart’s Symphony in G minor (1788) with the symphony orchestra needed for Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique (1830) and for Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (1889). In the course of a hun- dred years, the orchestra had tripled in size. But it went no further: The sympho- ny orchestra that we hear today is essentially that of the late nineteenth century.
Our reaction to the Romantic orchestra today, however, is very different from the response of nineteenth-century listeners. Modern ears have been desensitized by an overexposure to electronically amplified sound. But imag- ine the impact of an orchestra of a hundred players before the days of elec- tronic amplification. Apart from the military cannon and the steam engine, the
186 chapter twelve romantic orchestral music
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