From the first violin to the timpani: In their podcast for musical beginners, Katrin Nussmayr and Wilhelm Sinkovicz devote themselves to the small and large ensembles of classical music.
When can an ensemble call itself an orchestra? What happens when a thousand musicians want to play the Blue Danube Waltz together? Who invented today’s seating arrangement – and why is it sometimes best if a conductor lowers the baton and just lets his orchestra do its thing?
In the third episode of “Classic for Tactless”, the podcast for beginners, Katrin Nussmayr and Wilhelm Sinkovicz explore what makes an orchestra. And while doing so, they also ask themselves – between the many audio samples that illustrate the role of the individual groups of instruments – how to recognize a good orchestra, what is special about the Vienna Philharmonic and why a note can sound all the quieter the more instruments play it.
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Excerpts from the following recordings can be heard:
– W. A. Mozart: Violin Concerto A major KV 219 beginning
– C. Debussy: Prelude to the afternoon of a Faune Anfang
– R. Strauss: Excerpt from “Don Juan” op. 20
– S. Prokofieff: The grandfather from “Peter and the Wolf”
– J. Haydn: Fragment from the 2nd movement of the symphony Hob. I/93
– A. Bruckner: Symphony No. 4 in E flat major. beginning
– J. S. Bach: 1st movement of the cantata “Lobet den Herr” BWV 137
– I. Stravinsky: Ebony Concerto 1st movement
– O. Respighi: 3rd part of the tone poem “Pini di Roma”
– A. Dvorak: Symphony No.8 final
Performers: Vienna Philharmonic – Karl Böhm (Prokofieff), Ensemble InterContemporain – Pierre Boulez (Stravinsky), Munich Bach Choir and Orchestra – Karl Richter (Bach), Vienna Philharmonic – Herbert von Karajan (Dvorak). All other examples: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra – Herbert von Karajan (all: DG).
“Classic for the Tactless” is part of the “Musiksalon” podcast and appears every four weeks.