Instruments of the Orchestra

by Jeremy Siepmann

Instruments of the orchestra, yes, but not just instruments in the orchestra. This is a set of portraits in depth, featuring individual instruments in many contexts and in pieces from the Middle Ages to the present. Joining regular members are such exotic visitors as the eerie ondes martenot, the wind machine, banjos, bagpipes, coconuts, typewriters, six-shooters, taxi horns, and migrating swans / and the hundreds of examples range from illustrative snippets to entire movements.

1 online resource (1 sound file)

Contents:
Violin --
Lower strings --
Woodwind --
Brass --
Percussion --
Interlopers --
The orchestra.

Written and narrated by Jeremy Siepmann.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Art

1 pages, Audio CD

First published October 1, 2002

About the author

Jeremy Siepmann (16 January 1942 – 6 April 2016), born in America and living in Britain for most of his career, was a broadcaster and writer on music.

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listen, learn and enjoy!

The intent and general content of THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA is made abundantly clear by a perfectly self-explanatory title. But, as always, the devil is in the details and Jeremy Siepmann is a past master at providing stellar commentary when it comes to "high brow" music, musical criticism, musical instruction, theory and history. His wonderful narration of THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA will make any classical music lover a more informed, more active and more appreciative listener of the music we already love.

Breaking down the typical orchestra into significant sections - strings, woodwinds, horns, brass and percussion - Siepmann provides a detailed explanation of the range, timbre, character and history of each instrument within a section. Most classical music lovers, for example, are probably already aware that the string section consists of the violin, the viola, the cello and the double bass. But many people may not be aware of the myriad of methods of playing each instrument and the use of such embellishments as muting, tremolo, harmonics and double stopping, for example. Siepmann's extraordinarily informative lessons even provide insight into how the instruments and the various playing techniques have evolved in time and how composers have changed the use and the intent of the instrument over time in the orchestration of their scores.

And, of course, what would such a set of lessons be without examples? Siepmann has done himself proud illustrating every point with absolute clarity giving the listener a musical example ranging in length from a few bars to entire movements. It is worth observing that a whirlwind tour of the orchestra completed in this fashion, if you change your perspective only slightly, amounts to a whirlwind tour of the entire history of orchestral music. Absolutely fascinating!

On a completely personal level, I took special delight in the percussion section. From guns to whips, snare drums to sandpaper, typewriters to tambourines, tympany and triangles, blocks and maracas to chains and wind machines, the ingenuity of composers knows no bounds in its attempt to create sounds to accompany music.

Having de-constructed the orchestra, Siepmann concludes THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA by re-building the orchestra one piece at a time to show how sound builds from duets to trios to quartets to ensembles to orchestras that are so massive as to beggar the imagination. Last but not least, he provides food for thought. As computers and synthesized sound come closer and closer to replicating any sound of any quality, any pitch, any duration, any timbre and any character, is it possible that our world faces the extinction of the reality of a symphonic orchestra?

If you love music, you will love THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA.

Paul Weiss

[Anne-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very impressed by how vividly Siepmann has managed to present the instruments!

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, again, so not technically a book, but I am loving the Jeremy Siepmann music history lessons available on Hoopla. If you ever wanted to take a Music Appreciation class, you can save some money and listen to this instead. Siepmann covers traditional orchestral instruments and includes some "oddities" that have found their way into symphonic music. Of course, he can't cover everything, and his assessment as to the value of certain composers/compositions/instruments is at times quite stodgy (read: stereotypical old English dude), but overall these works are an absolute delight.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of enjoyable, illustrative music.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

CD goes through each instrument in the orchestra and provides a lot of exemplary pieces. Fun listening.

[Stephanie H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed the music excerpts from this, I found the overall tone of the book rather pompous and some of the metaphors were inaccurate or strange. I also don’t know why he found the need to play the Bolero like four times... I liked the excerpts but the book itself was really nothing exceptional.

[Jean Donze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another interesting book by Siepmann describing all the instruments of an orchestra along with example pieces. Since I am a novice of classical music, I loved and appreciated this fun recording.

[Galicius · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not just an exposure to the sound of the instruments used in orchestras. Siepmann explores the whole world of how an instrument was and is used. Violin is the first and we hear examples from Vivaldi and Bach to Bartok and Prokofiev. The program is not just educational it’s a good deal of pleasure to listen. Viola and flute are considered next. Then on through a whole long list of strings, wind instruments, brass, percussion, small instrument groups, sections within an orchestra, symphony orchestras from Mozart to Messiaen. It is also a historical survey from Renaissance to twenty-first century.

[Clayton R. Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information and examples of instruments.