Pen Sonata No. 1 in S-flat minor: Range Rover for Orchestra

Original link: https://blog.si-on.top/2023/Pen-sonata-no1-in-S_sharp-Minor/

Anything, if you don’t understand it, don’t try to master it.

– Goethe

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As we all know, objects that can make sounds can be used as musical instruments.

For example, a kind of stone was produced near Surabaya in ancient times , Knocking can make a very clear and pleasant sound, because it is so pleasant, it is even used as a sacrificial vessel. This is the Sibin floating chime. But the stone is natural after all, and the tone is the tone it knocks out. It is difficult to get the desired tone through post-correction. For example, in recent years, there are all kinds of strange musical instruments ^[1] made by great people with wrenches, steel pipes, cups, etc., which can be described as dazzling. Although there are so many musical instruments in the world, under the requirements of portability, tuning, standardization, etc., these musical instruments are not perfect, and after all, they can only be a small hobby.

In the development of human civilization for thousands of years, no matter in the East or the West, two main musical instruments have evolved from various utensils at the same time: wind instruments and stringed instruments.

Wind instruments have sound holes on the tube body, and different pitches can be produced by blocking and releasing specific sound holes to change the effective length of the tube body . For example, the western bassoon, oboe, and French horn, and the eastern xun, sheng, guan, flute, xiao, suona, etc., all belong to wind instruments.

Stringed instruments produce sound by vibrating the strings by hammering, plucking, rubbing, etc. Such as the violin and guitar in the west, the erhu, pipa and guzheng in the east.

Different combinations of orchestras constitute rich music, which is the orchestral music that this article will talk about.

In addition, there are various weird musical instruments such as pianos, gongs, drums, organs, and cannons ^[2] . Although they are not included in the above four categories, they are still indispensable components of orchestras. Especially the piano, in modern society, has long been able to rival the strings, and it is not an exaggeration to list them alone.

orchestral composition

The Western Orchestra can be divided into four parts: Wind, Strings, Brass and Percussion . For the convenience of understanding, here we use Prokofiev’s popular and beloved “Peter and the Wolf” ^[3] to understand the “personality” of various musical instruments.

Because there are many professional words in English, it is difficult to understand directly. The following example is the Chinese version remade by the Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra in 1970. The content is more substantial and vivid than the original version. It is like a fairy tale. You can listen to it and play. , so interesting .

other recommendation

Strings

All my life I’ve done what I’ve been assigned to do, which is play second fiddle, and I think I’m doing pretty well.

— Engels

Strings are characterized by a wide range of range, very uniform timbre, good at expressing emotions, singing, and flexible performance. “Silk is not as good as strings”, and strings are usually the protagonist of the entire orchestra. String music is mainly composed of violins:

• Violin: The highest pitch, as the main melody. Although there are first and second violinists, the difference seems to be little.
• Viola: auxiliary main melody
• Cello: low-pitched, generally non-existent
• (double bass): the lowest pitch, rarely used.

Here is my favorite string piece: Bach Suite for Unaccompanied Cello No. 1 in G Major (JS Bach: Suite For Cello Solo No.1 In G Major, BWV 1007 – 1. Prélude): the deep and soft characteristics of the cello Perfectly expressed, the piece is extremely elegant, soft and harmonious, no wonder Douglas Adams said “Bach tells you what it’s like to be the universe (Bach can tell you what the universe looks like)”. [^6]

Another Edward Elgar song ” Salut d’amour ” has a very cheerful rhythm and is also used on the cello. It is also a frequently used episode in the podcast “More to Read”.

wind instrument

• (piccolo): High pitched, less used
• Flute: The treble part is bright and clear, while the bass part is hollow and deep. The timbre is extremely varied, making it the first choice for solo instruments.
• Oboe: It is made of two reeds bound together, and the sound is produced through the vibration of the reeds. Its sound quality is unique, in the symphony orchestra, it often appears in the form of solo in the accompaniment of other instruments.
• Clarinet: The clarinet has a lower pitch than the oboe, but is better able to handle large melodic changes. The clarinet has unique timbres in different registers: the bass register is deep, the middle register is thick, the treble register is bright, and the timbre is close to the human voice, suitable for expressing various musical personalities.
• Bassoon: Also known as the bassoon , it has a unique tone, strong and powerful low range, and is used to imitate funny and bulky old people,
• (Saxophone ): Non-mainstream wind music, mostly used in jazz/blues music, for example, in the episode of “Cowboy Bebop”, there is a saxophone playing ^[4]

Here I recommend Haydn’s Serenade (Serenade, Op. 3, No. 5) to feel the charm of wind music. (This is an episode often used in “More to Read”)

Pan flutes should also be regarded as wind music. I fell in love with PopCorn for a while in my freshman year. I found various versions to listen to, because this song has a fast rhythm and is a popular song. The photos are either too harsh or the lyrics are too loud. Dirty. In the end, only the popcorn performed by the pan flute artist Edward Simoni met my expectations very well. The smart wind music performed the fast-paced pop tunes. This combination is wonderful:

Brass

It is a kind of musical instrument that uses the airflow to vibrate the lips to produce sound, and with the assistance of the mouthpiece, introduces the musical instrument to resonate and sound, also called the lip vibrating air-sounding instrument. There are two ways to change the pitch of brass instruments: 1. Press and release the keys or push and pull the slide tube to change the length of the tube body. 2. The player changes the sound frequency of lip vibration.

pipes made of metal blow,

• French Horn: Also known as the French horn, it looks handsome and is a mid-range brass instrument with the widest range. ^[5]
• Telescoping horn: just the horn, beep beep, beep beep, nothing worth introducing.
• Woofer: The tone is deeper, as above.

Speaking of brass music, there are not many brass music that interprets the theme song of Ultraman ^[6] – “ウルトラマン ON BRASS”. The majestic timbre of the brass music matches the theme of Ultraman very well. Tiga’s “Take me higher” is also very exciting.

Percussion

Percussion, as the name suggests, is the production of sound by tapping, striking or rubbing. Mainly includes timpani, cymbals, trumpet and xylophone.

• Timpani: A percussion instrument consisting of a large head and frame that is produced by striking the head with sticks or sticks. Timpani are often used in orchestral music to highlight important rhythms and emphasize the climax of music .
• Cymbals: It is a pair of disc-shaped percussion instruments made of metal. The drummer hits the edge of the cymbal with two drumsticks to make a crisp metal sound. Cymbals are often used to emphasize the climax of a piece of music or as an intensifying element of rhythm.
• Xylophone: It is a percussion instrument composed of multiple pieces of wood of different sizes, and different wood pieces are struck with wooden sticks to produce sound. Its timbre is pure and beautiful, and it is often used to play melodic music or add a layered sense of sound to the band.

Orchestral music form

Orchestral music is played by combining different instruments (nonsense), and through various magical combinations, harmonious, harmonious and classical music is produced. There are various forms of orchestral music. For the convenience of introduction, we divide orchestral music into four types according to the number of instruments used in performance: solo (one instrument), concerto (usually two instruments), chamber music (several instruments) , on a smaller scale) and symphonies (huge number of instruments, huge momentum, “Ah! Golden Hall”).

This part of the playlist was made by the way while reading ” Western Classical Music Stories ” while reading and listening. Originally, it was prepared in Spotify, but the embed code provided by Spotify could not be loaded in China. Netease cloud searched again. It’s a pity that many good performance versions can’t be found in Netease Cloud. The following songs may not be the best version, but they are quite satisfactory. If the ears are not so picky, they can all be appreciated. Laymen just listen a feeling of.

solo (sonata)

Solo ^[7] refers to a person who sings or plays alone, and there is no other person to match or assist him during his singing performance, so that it is easier to highlight the superb talent of the solo and soloist, and the solo is a proof for the musicians. Opportunities for musical attainment.

Sonata is an instrumental piece composed of two, three, or four consecutive, but differently featured movements; one or more melody parts, each played by only one of the melodies. Each movement has the following characteristics:

1. The first movement: Allegro, and adopts “sonata form”, and the tonality is the main tune of the music.
2. Second movement: usually Adagio, in contrast to the first movement. There is no certain musical form, it can be two-stage (body), three-stage (body), or variations.
3. The third movement: If the music consists of three movements, the third movement will have the momentum of the final chapter. In the period of classicism, especially in the sonata works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, the three-movement sonatas accounted for the absolute majority. If the work has four movements, the third movement is mostly a lighter minuet (minuet) or scherzo (scherzo) movement. fast range.
4. The fourth movement: It has the momentum to end the whole piece, and must be able to echo the first movement. Composers occasionally use the “sonata form” or the lively “rotational sonata form” to create.

Piano: Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2 is recommended

and The Waltz of the Flowers by Richard Clayderman

Violin: It is recommended to listen to the violin in high school + the album “Revenge” by the heavy metal band Jelonek and “Viva La Vida Violin Variations” by David Garrett

concerto

Refers to a piece (or pieces) of solo instruments and orchestra playing together, which are both contrasting and blending works. The orchestra creates a magnificent musical backdrop for the soloists, who respond to the orchestra through instrumental technique and expressiveness.

When it comes to the concerto, how can Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” be missed!

And Beethoven’s Piano and Violin Concerto: Sonata For Violin And Piano No.5 In F, Op.24:

When I was a sophomore in high school, I often used this to hypnotize me. At that time, the school did not allow smartphones, so I brought a pseudo-old phone (the same Nokia E72) to listen to songs. I downloaded a bunch of songs on Xiami Music on weekends, and then went to school to listen. One night, the dormitory management made a surprise inspection. At that time, I was drowsy from the lingering piano and violin. When I saw so many people coming, I hurriedly stuffed my mobile phone into my pants. When we were all standing in the middle of the dormitory and the dormitory supervisor was checking the beds, one accidentally tore off the earbuds. The music didn’t automatically pause, and the song was played directly! ! ! The whole dormitory was suddenly silent, all the roommates were motionless, and the housekeeper who was making the bed also froze, immersed in the music of Beethoven together, and it took three or four seconds before I regained my senses and hurriedly Turn off the phone. However, it was too late, and the mobile phone was confiscated afterwards, and I was given a training. So, this song, from that suffocating moment, has been deeply engraved in my head.

chamber music

Chamber music is a small-scale orchestral form, usually composed of three to eight musicians. This form emphasizes harmony and balance between instruments, each with its own unique sonic role. The venue for chamber music is small, and you can feel the beauty of the details of the instrument at close range.

I don’t like chamber music very much. Chamber music doesn’t have a strong sense of rhythm and is too loose. For example, Haydn’s “String Quartet “Emperor”” and Schubert’s “Trout Quintet” are not so impressive, so they are not recommended here.

Symphony

The symphony is the most massive form of orchestral music, usually composed of hundreds of musicians. It pursues the grandeur and magnificence of the sound, and creates a vast and magnificent musical picture through the ensemble of various instruments. Symphonic works are usually divided into several movements, and each movement is independent and connected with each other, showing rich musical changes. The symphony kicked off the spectacular prelude of the band ensemble, which shocked and moved the audience.

There are too many symphonies to listen to, Beethoven’s fifth symphony “Fate” and ninth symphony “Ode to Joy”, Tchaikovsky’s sixth symphony “Pathetique” and so on and so on, There are countless, but they are too popular to recommend.

It is worth mentioning Haydn’s frightening “Surprise” (Symphony No. 104 In D Major, “Surprise”), because I have a deep impression on this symphony: I was listening to it at noon, and I felt a little sleepy. There were so many “loud noises” that really startled me, and I wondered what the hell kind of music it was, and I had a heart attack. I saw that it was Surprise, and the key was that it was written by a famous writer. The old man is really good humor. (The scary part is in the second movement, so be prepared when you listen to it)

other

In addition, the soundtracks of many operas are also very good, such as the “Peer Gynt” suite, the first movement ” Morining Mood ” and the fourth movement ” In The Hall Of The Mountain King ” are very “early”.

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1. Teacher Zhao Hongxiao introduced more strange musical instruments in this online class , which is really eye-opening. ︎

2. That’s right, I’m referring to Old Chai (Tchaikovsky)’s “1812 Overture” which used cannons to simulate war scenes, Boooow ︎

3. It is recommended to watch this video, the animation of the serif design is extremely elegant: Prokofiev Peter and the wolf, the animation adaptation of the aesthetic super online ︎

4. Cowboy Bebop Music Awards Vol. 12&13 – Sir Jupiter ︎

5. In the history of music, the use of French horns symbolizes images such as hunters and forests ︎

6. Two more videos are recommended: Altman’s theme song symphony and Ultraman’s 45th anniversary symphony . ︎

7. However, it is shown on Wikipedia: Sonata means sonata, which is somewhat different from the book. Here we will introduce it according to sonata. ︎

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