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On Period Instruments:
The Sound World of the 18th and 19th Centuries

Imagine if we could bring back to life several of the greatest composers of the 18th and 19th centuries: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, and Wagner, for example. None of those composers would recognize the sound of a modern symphony orchestra such as the New York Philharmonic or the Philadelphia Orchestra, luscious and beautiful as those sounds may be. The sound that orchestras make is the direct result of the instruments on which they play. And instruments have changed dramatically since the lifetime of any of the aforementioned composers – much more dramatically than most listeners and even performers realize.

Stringed instruments in their current form are an invention of the 20th century. The Vienna Philharmonic, for example, did not begin using metal strings until the 1930s; up until that point they always steadfastly played with gut strings. Mahler, when he conducted the New York Philharmonic in the early part of the 20th century, would have expected to hear the sound of gut strings in the orchestra.

Woodwinds and brass have also metamorphosed over the last two centuries. Woodwinds were never composed of any materials other than wood until the Industrial Revolution, when instruments such as the clarinet, bassoon, oboe, and flute began being built with metal so that they would last longer and play louder to fill larger halls. Nor were brass instruments made with valves until the end of the 19th century. Brahms, a horn player himself, was very vocal in his preference for the sound of the valveless horns.

Moreover, recent research has found that performance techniques have also changed quite drastically since the end of the Romantic period. In his book Classical and Romantic Performance Practice 1770-1900 (Oxford, 2000), Clive Brown asserts that the idea of using constant vibrato while playing in an orchestra was a forbidden practice until Jascha Heifitz’s violin school began to grow in influence in the early 20th century. He goes on to describe in detail how customs of articulation, tempo, embellishments, and portamento, to name just a few aspects, have changed dramatically since 1900.

The Clarion Society recognizes that a major part of the genius of composers such as Bach and Mozart, Haydn and Handel, Tchaikovsky and Brahms, was their deep understanding and mastery of the instruments for which they composed. As part of the re-creative art of performing their music, we feel that utilizing their instruments and the performance practices of the period brings us closer to their sound world, thereby helping to reveal the most intimate aspects of their genius. Perhaps most importantly, this approach is not merely theoretical, as it is the players and singers of the Society, and our audience members who thoroughly enjoy the beautiful sound that authentic performance practice achieves.

Steven Fox

Clarion Music Society, PO Box 259, New York, NY 10021
212.580.5700 info@clarionsociety.org.