Posted by Chuck(G) on September 07, 2001 at 12:57:30:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Seating Question posted by Rick Denney on September 07, 2001 at 11:45:32:
Even though I was one of the original posters who brought up the historical context of the work, I need to add something here that no one has touched on thus far (and then maybe we can close this thread out).
There has been much discussion about the use of various instrumentation in an attempt to satisfy the intentions of the composer. And, as Rick has pointed out, unless we have a convenient channeler or pyschic, we're probably not going to know what those really were.
But what's been ignored is the ears of the audience that was the SF's intended target. Certainly valved brasses were very new and exciting (like a Hammond organ was back in the 1940's) and audiences had never heard anything quite like them. So the potential for shock value was high. But we don't have those ears and we'll never know WHAT the audience subjectively heard.
The reason I brought up the "Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale" in my post was because I have no doubt that Berlioz would have scored it for the biggest contrabass grenade-launchers and bass chainsaws if they had been available. He was unsatisfied with the sound not being loud enough and rescored the Apotheose a couple of times over the years to make use of newer instrumentation. But this was also intended to be performed by a military band, so there you go. Yes, you can do it with two ophicleides, but outside of the curiosity value, the result won't be really satisfying. (Incidentally, during Berlioz' lifetime, it was quite a bit more popular than the SF. Wagner thought it was the best thing that Berlioz ever did. Which one gets played more nowadays? Audience tastes mutate).
If near-original instrumentation can lead to new insights into the music, then there is something to be said for being a musical Luddite. But we must remember that we cannot hear with ears of Berlioz' audience, nor can we ask the composer if we got it right. This, after all, is what interpretation is all about.
Would Bach have used a modern piano or Beethoven tubas? You betcha! And their audiences and performers would have been accustomed to the sound, too.
But I don't think Berlioz would have had any use for a Hammond B3...
FWIW,
Chuck