At 7:45 PM +0100 1/15/07, Johannes Gebauer wrote:
That is not to say there were no larger orchestral performances. Handel's Messiah is a good example.
Oh?? I doubt his orchestra was more than 20, and about the same for his chorus. Mozart was the first to start expanding the size of the Messiah orchestra. Handel's was string band, oboes, trumpet (or was it 2?), and probably bassoon in addition to basso continuo.
What may have happened after his death, with annual performances by increasingly large choral societies, I've never really studied. But were there really any large concert halls before 1800? Seems to me that even opera houses were small by modern standards, but I suppose that L'Opera puts the lie to that.
John -- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
