Orchestras and Orchestral Instruments essays

Orchestras and Orchestral Instruments essays Classical music and the evolution of the orchestra started in 500 BC. It has changed a lot since then. Not only have new instruments been introduced but the instruments that are still in existence have been modified greatly. From 500 BC to about 300 AD music was made up of various chants which were mostly in monotone, with no pitch variation. Nothing like the music that we hear today. People believed that music was created by the Greek god Apollo. That idea was dismissed when Egypt first started the "orchestra." Egypt was the first to have their people playing instruments and creating different melodies. During that period the Romans despised music in an informal setting, this is why there are so few written pieces from that time. Soon music playing disappeared in Rome in all aspects but church. After the fall of the Roman empire, music reappeared. Rome hadn't contributed much to the instrument evolution; they did, however, bring about some brass instruments which they used in battles to give signals to their armies. The 12th century solved two problems; firstly they created a primitive music staff, which lead to their second creation, fixing their pitch problem. Music before the creation of the music staff had varied dramatically from group to group. There was no standard pitch so each time something was played it was different. Also without a way to write music down, there was no easy way to reproduce the music. The 16th century saw its changes. What is considered now to be an orchestra start to evolve then? The music consisted of more organized instrumentation which included harmonies as well as melodies. There were three ways to make a living by being a musician, at church, at a noble's court or a rich man's home. The 17th century was a century of movement. The composers of that time wrote music to be more selective. For example, Bach wrote during that time, and he wrote many pieces for string quartets and small groups o...