Instruments of the Orchestra

Radio Record, Volume III, Issue 29, 31 January 1930, Page 12

Instruments of the Orchestra

Lhe Strings |

(By

C.

Whitaker-Wilson

£ fils is the second of a series of splendid articles on the instruments of the. orchestra. The first, on the brasses and woodwinds, was published a few weeks ago. This articles explains in simple terms the function of cach of the stringed instruments and why some sound better than others over the air.

|} HEN considering the full orchestra as distinct from the smaller combinations of strings, the addition of the double-bass is necessary, apart. from which it should be made perfectly clear that the string 22, quintet is only a loose term, because five only would be quite inadequate. It does not strain the imagination of anyone to realise’ that fire stringed instraments would never be heard against wood-wind brass, and drums, -.

indeed, many a conductor of a municipal orchestra, where expense has had to be considered, has had to fight his council on the matter 6f obtaining enough strings. The larger bands will] have as many as thirty first violins: such a number is by no meang ulicommon. . In broadeasting, however, the difficulty is solved another way: by placing the stringed instruments nearest the microphone and the brass farthest away a reasonable balance is easily obtained. But such a method ean only apply where a microphone is used. In "real life," so to speak, unfess enough Strings be employed it is impossible to secure 2 proper orchestral balance. The stringed instruments are naturally important-they are the most important of all, so far as that goes-and it may be of interest to listeners to treat them here from the point of view of broadcasting. Let us consider the violin first. It is an instrument which is entitled to great respect, if only upon account of its antiquity. It is not known who first constructed a perfect violin: it fs quite likely that several good ones were made by different men about the same time. But such names are Stradivarius, Amati, and Guarnerins come to the mind immediately one thinks of a vioin. Extraordinary History. PPHERE is something extraordinary ~ about the history of the violin ' é€ompared with that of the piano, Without going deeply into the evolution of either instrument, I might do worse than pédint out that the fact that no one wints a new violin if he can get an old one and no one has any yse for an old piano if he can get a new one, It is an ofld thought that the violin has passed its height of perfection two centuries ago and that the piano has yet to reach its perfect form. Every day of the month hew patents are taken out for the. protection of some improvement in piano action. I played upon 2 new one by a leading maker a few months ago which had what seemed to me to be a perfect tone and touch. It ought to' have had, for the price was over £600. Such & sum would not be out of the way for a violin by Stradivarius, by any means; but if dne paid that amount for a piano two hundred years old it would only be because it was something of a curio, Neither ‘would it be a real piano; it would probably be 2 harpsichord-one of the predecessors of the piano. But a violin two hundred years old is younger than eyer it was. To handle an instrument by Stradivarius or Amati is something of a thrill; one Ands one's self wondering who has

played upon it, loved it, and conxed the tones from its very soul. But a piano, or rather a harpsichord, of that age is merely a curio, an relic of the past; it has little or no ; Meaning in these days. ~ So that the Yiolin is, as I haye said, entitled to some respect. We can afford to honour it as a br adcasting medium, for it "comes through" as well as any instrument in the orchestra. I haye several friends who are violinists, and we are always arguing the matter of the comparative difficulty of playing a stringed instrument with that of a keyed instrument like the piano or the organ, It is useless for mé is an organist, for exampde, to say that I have to use both hands and both feet to produce: my notes; the violinist always throws it: in my face that he has to make his notes, whereas mine are already there. There is not spree here for me to lay forth both sides of the argument, but it has often proved to be interesting. Have you ever exaunimed a violin? If you have, yon eannot have failed toa be impressed by the apparent simplicity of its construction: a resonant body of wood, a finger-board, a neck terminating in a head or seroll, and four strings carried from a tail-piece over a slight-looking bridge to tuning pegs in the neck, . The strings are of varying thickNess, The thickest is the G string, and, is tuned to the G below middle C on the piano. The next is the D string, the third is tuned to A, and the fourth to F.. Soe that the violin cannot sound below the G, but each string is capable of being raised considerably by means of what ‘is called stopping, effected by the fingers of the left hand. ' Shortening the String. RACH note of the scale-up to a con+ . siderable height-may be produeed by placing the fingers on the string -Sshortening it, in other words-while the sound is produced by the bow held in the right hand, or by means of plucking the string with the fingers of the right hand, an excellent device (known as pizzicato) occasionally employed. : : To those who play the violin this explanation will not be particularly in- teresting ; but I am supposed te be ad(essing those readers who do not play any orchestral instrument. ONE other point about the violin as used in the orchestra; it is the question. of first and second violins. The "firsts" play a part higher than the seconds. That is all; there is no

difference in the actual instruments themselves, The Viola. OW let us consider the third of the so-called string quintet-the viola, Not many ppople can easily recognise a yiola from a violin-at least, at’ a distance, It is really about one-seventh larger in size than the violin; it is consequently lower in pitch. That is a rule with orchestral instruments: the larger they are, the lower they are in tone, The viola has a G string, just as has the violin, but it is not its lowest string. It possesses one tuned *o what is called tenor ©; that-is to say, the © below middle © on the piano, The other three strings are the same as the three lowest on the violin, that is G, D. and A, Consequéhily the viola cannot soar as high as the violin, nor does it suit it to do so. :

There is something very different about the viola-it is hot so brilliant. All the same, it is a great mistake to suppose, as many do, that it is not a solo instrument. It is, on the contrary, exceedingly effective when played solo.. In its place in the stringed portion of the band it corresponds to the tenor in a yoral quartet: in fact, it is often colled the tenor... Some very fine compositions have lieen written for the viola; strangely enough, many of the great composers played upon it rather than upon the viola, If you happen to see any work for viola in the broadcasting programmes may I suggest that you listen carefully, comparing your impressions with those you ’gain when listening to a violin? ‘The Visloneello. HE fourth of the stringed instruments is, of course, the. violoncello -usually called the ’cello (pronounced chello). This noble instrument is easily recognised owing to its considerable size, It is tuned one octave below the viola, and its strings are much thicker, Also, the bow for it is wider and. shorter altogether than that belonging either to the violin or the viola. The ’cello has always been a favourite instrument, probably on account of its deep, sonorous tone. As a solo instrument it is largely a one-stringed instrument by which I mean that the top string is in ‘great demand owing to its melodie value. In the ‘orchestra, however, the ’cello generally plays a much lower part. It forms the bass of the string quartet and usually plays a bass part in the full orchestra, even though the double-bass is able to go down’ so much lower.‘ As a matter of fact, the double-bass is generally playing the same part as the ’cello an octave lower.

a The ‘cello is always worth listening to on the wireless hecause, not soaring too high nor. yet descending : too low, it seems to. suit the requirements of the microphone. Perhaps there is no instrument which is more effective on the witeless, There is something very noble about the tone of several of them .when playing together in a large orchestra, The Double-Bass. Wwe now come. to tlie last and the: largest ‘of the stringed instru) ments-the double-bass or contra-basso: This unwieldy instrument is the making of the orchestra, for its depth. of tone makes it as yaluable to the orchestra as the pedals are to an organ, I am not sorry I do not play the doublebass; I always feel sorry for those Who do, because of the difficulty of taking it abont. It generally means a taxi everywhere! ; Perhaps you may have seen the excellent picture which ‘appeared some years ago in one of the humorous papers of a double-bass’ player who was extremély annoyed because a small urchin followed him along the road. (He was carrying’ his instrument on_ his back, ) In response to his inquiry, the boy said he was waiting to see him "chin" that thing! fhe double-bass. can have either three or four strings; four is the general number. Its lowest note is Bthe lowest E,on the piano-but the music is written fot it an octave high-

er, merely as a matter of convenience _in both writing and reading. It is not a solo instrument in any sense of the term; neither can it be said to be wholly satisfactory on the Wireless, because its lowest. notes are so low that the microphone is inclined to miss them gnd the average set cannot reproduce them in any case. The same thing applies. to. gramophone recording; it is diffienlt to be sure of the deepest notes getting through. But there has been a great development recently, and the day may come quite soon when we shall feel the grip of the double-basses in orchestras which are broadcast and recorded. JT, 0OKING at the strings as a whole, there is no doubt that they afford & great contrast with all wind instruments, whether wood-vind or brass, and there is no mistaking their tone on the wireless.