On Feb 15, 2006, at 3:19 PM, Lee Actor wrote:
dynamics do not denote some absolute level of sound
volume on a decibel scale, but are always contextual and relative.
Substitute "usually" or "traditionally" for "always," and I'll agree
with you.
In the famous passage at the end of the exposition in the first mvmt.
of the
Pathetique, Tchaikovsky writes a gradated series of dynamics, ending
with
pppppp in the low bassoon. Now whatever you think of Tchaikovsky's
music,
he had a profound understanding of orchestration, color, and balance,
and
knew exactly what he wanted and how to achieve it. Obviously what is
called
for here is an ever-decreasing volume and intensity of sound, ending as
quietly as possible, with a very "veiled" tone color. Granted, it is
difficult to play extremely softly in the lower register of the bassoon
(right, Andrew?), but Tchaikovsky was writing for the finest
professional
orchestras of his day,
An important aspect of T's orchestration, IMO, is that he deliberately
makes the players display struggle and effort. When, as often, he
writes very soft passages for the lowest notes of the double reeds, he
wants the audience to hear the player sweating to get the volume down.
At the other end of the dynamic scale, he routinely and deliberately
evokes a very ugly sound from the trumpets by having them play loudly
in octaves.
This kind of thing is not limited to Tchaikovsky. In Schoenberg's
_Gurrelieder_ there is a sustained ppp top B in the piccolo at the
beginning of the melodrama, before the speaker begins. When Simon
Rattle conducted the piece w. the Philadelphia Orchestra a few years
back, he decided to have the piccolo player use a specially-made little
pipe built just for that one note. The resulting ethereal whistle was
very pretty--but Schoenberg didn't want that. He wanted the audience to
hear the sound of Nature trying desperately to stay still in the hours
just before dawn. Will a piccolo sound desperate trying to play that
note ppp? You bet.
Andrew Stiller
Kallisti Music Press
http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/
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