Hello,
I love the idea of this forum and wish more people would post on it.
One thing I was thinking about is the saxophone family. I have always felt that the saxophones could fill a gap that occurs in the mid range of the woodwind section when used together (rather than soloistically) within the orchestral sound. Usually when writing for the overall woodwind choir, composers have to do either one of the following:
1) write soft, exposed parts that allow the flutes to be in a relatively low range so that the clarinets and oboes can fill in the lower parts of the chord above the bassoon bass line;
2) in a loud tutti, put the flutes up very high so they can be heard over the other instruments. Since the oboe disappears completely in an ff, you have to use the clarinets up high as well, just below the flutes. So that leaves a huge gap below them and above the bassoons, which are usually doubling a bass line in a tutti.
I think that both Richard Strauss and Mahler were trying to address this problem with their massively expanded woodwind sections. But it is a solution that doesn't seem entirely adequate because even when adding three additional clarinets or oboes, the sheer volume of sound is not there.
This is exactly where the saxophones can be used perfectly to fill in the middle range harmonies very powerfully. I even think it may be partly what Adolphe Sax was thinking of when he created the saxophone. I guess I adapted this idea from playing for years in concert band, where you hear the saxophones competing against the brass all the time and still being audible. When one hears this completed woodwind choir, it is a beautifully balanced sound, unlike the standard, stretched-out orchestral woodwinds.
By the way, my grandfather played in a saxophone band that toured the east coast USA in the 1920's and they had within that band soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and one CONTRA-BASS sax which is a monstrous creature larger than the player. I showed a picture of this band to Iwan Roth who liked it, and told me there are only a few of these instruments now in the entire world.
What is the range of the contra-bass? I have not been able to find it in my orchestration books.
Sincerely,
William Kersten
I love the idea of this forum and wish more people would post on it.
One thing I was thinking about is the saxophone family. I have always felt that the saxophones could fill a gap that occurs in the mid range of the woodwind section when used together (rather than soloistically) within the orchestral sound. Usually when writing for the overall woodwind choir, composers have to do either one of the following:
1) write soft, exposed parts that allow the flutes to be in a relatively low range so that the clarinets and oboes can fill in the lower parts of the chord above the bassoon bass line;
2) in a loud tutti, put the flutes up very high so they can be heard over the other instruments. Since the oboe disappears completely in an ff, you have to use the clarinets up high as well, just below the flutes. So that leaves a huge gap below them and above the bassoons, which are usually doubling a bass line in a tutti.
I think that both Richard Strauss and Mahler were trying to address this problem with their massively expanded woodwind sections. But it is a solution that doesn't seem entirely adequate because even when adding three additional clarinets or oboes, the sheer volume of sound is not there.
This is exactly where the saxophones can be used perfectly to fill in the middle range harmonies very powerfully. I even think it may be partly what Adolphe Sax was thinking of when he created the saxophone. I guess I adapted this idea from playing for years in concert band, where you hear the saxophones competing against the brass all the time and still being audible. When one hears this completed woodwind choir, it is a beautifully balanced sound, unlike the standard, stretched-out orchestral woodwinds.
By the way, my grandfather played in a saxophone band that toured the east coast USA in the 1920's and they had within that band soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass and one CONTRA-BASS sax which is a monstrous creature larger than the player. I showed a picture of this band to Iwan Roth who liked it, and told me there are only a few of these instruments now in the entire world.
What is the range of the contra-bass? I have not been able to find it in my orchestration books.
Sincerely,
William Kersten
http://www.vsl.co.at/upload/forum/saxband0011.jpg">