Classical Music 101

[Beartalon]

I've sung the Rutter and Fauré Requiems, also.

[Beartalon]

Do you think the Hooked on Classics series of recordingas actually did anything for real classical music?

[Bicho the Inhaler]

quote:

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Mostly you have a choice to listen to compositions by harpsichord or piano, and I'd choose the latter option.

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Okay, I just have to cheer the underdog here: I like the timbre of a harpsichord. A piano is to a harpsichord as an apple is to a pear. The pear has a more delicate taste, and in my opinion tastes better. As you say, the harpsichord is very limited, dynamically. There are a number of keyboard compositions, though, that would not really suffer from dynamic flatness, and for these I think the harpsichord does very well (a lot of Bach, for instance). I think the harpsichord sounds great; to each his/her own, I guess

I think you're doing a great job, DP. I like what you said about the classical and romantic periods.

[Dragon Phoenix]

I have not forgotten about this thread, but don't have much time right now. Will try to get some things done the coming weekend.

[Beartalon]

poco a poco, DP.

[Termital]

Hmm.. how many of the wild stories that surround the "Symphonie Fantastique" (Berlioz) are true? You know, like containing instructions for using the bows' wooden side on strings, and the (shivers..) Jarre-like light show that was meant to accompany it?
Or are this sort of questions meant for a later term?

And what should we think, o teach, of the New Tonalists?
*takes off the annoying-as-termites-in-your shorts hat*

[Agamemnon]

Termital old bean,

Here you will find a nice little piece about the story behind the "Symphonie Fantastique"
As for the amazing light show, well, I'm sure I read somewhere that when it was performed at an open air venue, within the grounds of a famous French chateau I think (but not too sure), Berlioz requested fireworks to accompany certain parts. I'll reasearch further for you as this interests me too.

[Termital]

That was rather enlightening. Thanks Aga! As for the light show, I was refering to something I heard about an indoor performance that was to be accompanied by some color projections on a screen behind the orchestra. But I'm quite covered as it is.

[Bicho the Inhaler]

All right, I have a question for Dragon Phoenix or anybody else. I like Mozart's Requiem; does anybody recommend any particular recordings of it?

Also, can anybody recommend some particular guitarists who have arranged and recorded Johann Sebastian Bach's music on guitar? I heard some snippets of a 2-guitar recording someone had made of the Goldberg Variations; does somebody know who that might have been? I'm also looking for a guitar arrangement of Bach's Partita #2 in D minor for solo violin.

Thanks.

[Bicho the Inhaler]

All right, here's a slightly more interesting question.

I really like the sound of the viola. But I feel like the viola is sort of a "second-class citizen" among string instruments. I don't often hear music that really features the viola, like viola concertos, viola sonatas, etc., whereas there's plenty of music for both violin and cello. Why isn't the viola more popular?

[Sorry it's a bit long]

The Viola

The viola is the middle-range instrument of the violin family. It is sometimes cavalierly referred to as the "big fiddle." Its position in the violin family somewhat parallels the alto voice of the normal SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) arrangement in a choir of voices, the alto being just below the soprano range. In fact, the French word for viola is l'alto. As do other members of the violin family‹violin, cello, contrabass‹the viola has four strings, the lowest of which descends at an interval of a fifth below that of the violin.

The viola is played with a bow and placed on the shoulder, as is the violin, in contrast to the cello, which is placed between the player's legs. In German the viola is the Bratsche, which comes from the Italian braccio, meaning "arm," or to be played on the arm in contrast with being played on the leg. The etymology of the word viola, or viola da braccio, leads some historians to believe that when the violin family emerged as an entity in Italy during the early part of the sixteenth century, the viola may have appeared slightly before the violin, violino being a diminutive form of viola. Violists often like to think that they may indeed have been at the head of the family, at least historically.

Primrose, while establishing his career in America in the early 1940s by playing not only in the cultural centers but also in scores of midwestern communities and even numerous backwoods settlements was often asked the question, "What is the difference between the violin and the viola?" This question was posed by well-meaning people who had never heard the instrument. Primrose recalled that he usually went into a kind of esoteric exposition referring to the difference in sound and range, of course, but also explaining that the viola was on an average about two inches longer than the violin‹wider, thicker, etc. After offering this lengthy explanation innumerable times, he decided to shorten the answer by saying that the viola was a "violin with a college education."

Much has been conjectured and written about the historical and musical reasons for the viola's subservient position before the twentieth century to the more brilliant violin and powerful cello. Cecil Forsyth, in his widely used book, Orchestration (London; Macmillan, 1914), takes an over-the-shoulder glance at the viola's and violists's comparative humble station in musical life:

"The viola has perhaps suffered the ups and downs of musical
treatment more than any other stringed-instrument. In the
late sixteenth and early seventeenth century it held much the
same position in the orchestra that the 1st and 2nd violins
occupy today. The violin with its higher pitch and its more
exquisite tone-colour, was continually `knocking at the
door,' and the viola found itself servant where once it had
been master."


Forsyth invites the reader to examine scores representative of the post-Bach, or early classic period, and, here, in a rather hyperbolic review of the situation, he writes:

[Here] we feel that the viola is often merely a source of
anxiety to the composer. We feel that he must have regarded
its existence as something in the nature of a prehistoric
survival. The instrument was there and had to be written
for. Interesting but subordinate contrapuntal middle-parts
were, however, still a thing of the future. The viola,
therefore, either did nothing or something which by the
ingenuity of the composer was made to appear as much like
nothing as possible. If all else failed it could always play
the bass, and, though this often resulted in an unnecessary
and uncomfortable three-octave-bass, it was better than
filling the part with rests."


Concerning the instrument itself, Forsyth makes this observation:

. . . a betwixt-and-between instrument imperfect in
construction, "difficult" and somewhat uneven in
tone-quality, and undeniably clumsy to manage. The viola
more than any other stringed instrument is liable to have
some one or two wolf notes in its compass. In fact very few
violas are wholly free from this defect. The opposite
disease, commonly known as sleep, seems to affect it less.
Perhaps its constitution, inured for centuries to sleepy
passages, has by now become immune to the microbe of sleeping
sickness.


We can wonder to how many inadequately prepared violists Forsyth was subjected during his lifetime when he remarks:

[The top string's] quality has something nasal and piercing;
something suffering, even unpleasant. A prominent melody on
this string becomes unbearable after a short time.


He offers the listener some hope, however, when the viola is played on its two middle strings.

[They] are at once the least characteristic and the most
sympathetic. Lacking the piercing unhappy quality of the
top-string, they combine well with almost anything in the
orchestra . . . . It is on these two strings that the viola
does most of the accompanying and filling-up work, to which a
great part of its existence is devoted.


And finally, the reward for any who would wish to hear a viola:

The bottom-string of the viola is the most characteristic of
all. In fact, to the average concert-goer the viola is only
a viola when it is on its bottom-string. "Somber, austere,
sometimes even forbidding," its mere sound, even in the
simplest phrases, is sufficient to conjure up the image of
Tragedy.


In perhaps the most redeeming and forward-looking observation Forsyth offers from his turn-of-the-century viewpoint, he observes:

The above remarks must not be taken as pointing backwards to
the bad old days when viola players were selected merely
because they were too wicked or senile to play the violin.
Those days are happily gone forever.


Johann Joachim Quantz in his famous Versuch einer Anweisung . . . of 1752 adjured violists to be at least as technically well equipped as second violinists, and from the days of the first-known concert violist, Carl Stamitz (1745-1801), the rise of viola technique toward the vaunted legerdemain of violinists has been steady, albeit slow. Primrose in 1941 identified a long-standing problem with the viola from a listener's perception:

Whenever we hear it said that the viola ranks among the less
expressive instruments, we may be sure that the speaker has
not had the instrument properly revealed to him, and that his
opinion has been formed by listening to inferior playing. A
vicious circle of thought surrounds the viola. One hears it
badly played, one is well aware that it sounds unpleasant,
and one draws the conclusion that such an instrument must be
highly limited. In point of fact, it is not limited. Even a
cheap viola produces a pleasing sound, in hands that know how
to play it.


Another misconception that has haunted the violist and the instrument is the assumed "paucity" (a favorite adjective of concert reviewers, and especially uninformed critics) of the viola repertoir. Primrose in an interview with Burton Paige stated:

In approaching the viola we must rid our minds of several unwarranted preconceptions about it. First of all, it need by no means be confined to the realm of the purely ground bass instruments. We think of the viola chiefly as an orchestral and ensemble instrument, because so much of its notable music has been written for group playing. But it is also possible to find a vast amount of distinguished solo music for the viola. I (Primrose) have frequently presented solo recitals of viola music, in many parts of the world, building as many as eight different programs, none of them including as many transcriptions or arrangements as are to be found on the average violin program.

Violists themselves may be guilty of having contributed to the impression that the viola literature is limited. Certainly, it is smaller than that written for the violin or piano, but violinists and pianists, too, tend to present over and over the standard repertoire in their programming. This is a great disservice to composers who have left many outstanding instrumental pieces that, from lack of being know about, sheer laziness on the part of performers to investigate, or fear by soloists and managers of lowered box office receipts, have been neglected and, consequently, never introduced into the "hit parade" of popular repertoire. The general public tends to like what they know, and thus know what they like as do many soloists‹including violists‹who tend to play repetitively what they hear other soloists play. One consolation for the violist is that since a viola recital in comparison with a violin recital is much rarer, most of what he or she may present in a concert is relatively new to the listener.

To allay any doubts regarding the depth and breadth of the viola repertoire, one need only take to hand the monumental work of Franz Zeyringer, his Literatur für Viola (2nd edition, Hartberg, Austria, Schönwetter, 1985). With thoroughness Professor Zeyringer has attempted to codify all of the repertoire written for the viola, alone and in combination with other instruments, since the sixteenth century. It might astonish the reader to know, for instance, that at least 750 pieces have been written for viola without accompaniment: 1,300 for viola and orchestra, and 3,000 for viola and piano.

Potentially, a violist could select from an expansive repertoire of more than 14,000 pieces, according to Zeyringer's bibliography (at this time approximately one-third of this repertoire is housed in PIVA). Most of these are not transcriptions, but were originally conceived by composers for the instrument. Not all are masterworks, of course, but the same can be said for the repertoire of any instrument. Although the violist does not enjoy ten sonatas for the instrument by Beethoven, as the violinist does, or two concertos by Brahms, as the pianist, the violist need not lament. There is enough worthwhile literature to occupy a lifetime.

It is perhaps curious that some leading composers did not write more works for the viola, especially those who chose the viola as their performing instrument. Bach preferred playing the violas so that he could be "in the middle of the harmony." His second wife, Anna Magdelena wrote, "Whatever troubles there were [in the first few years in the Thomas School], they found no place in our home. They belonged `outside,' and there they remained when Sebastian sat down beside the klavier or took out his viola." Before permanently settling in Vienna, Beethoven played viola in the court orchestra at Bonn. His instrument can be seen today displayed in his native city at the Beethovenhaus. To this subject, Ralph Aldrich has penned:

Eat out thy heart, O Cello proud,
And Violin, go don thy shroud.
Pray Saint Cecilia's mercy mild
Forgive thy up and downbows wild,
For she in sacred restitution,
Bless'd VIOLA'S contribution,
Paying IT the compliment
Of genius' favoured instrument.
Mozart, Schubert, Dvorak, Britten,
All for orchestras have written.
Hear, O Man, and earth rejoice. . .
VIOLA played they all‹BY CHOICE!

Composers in the nineteenth century, beginning with Beethoven, started writing more equal voicing in the string quartet and the string section of the orchestra. Brahms, Dvo_ák, and especially Wagner gave the viola within the ensemble a more prominent, even soloistic role. Technical demands placed on violists by Richard Strauss were no less than for other instrumentalists of the orchestra. The viola was propelled into the twentieth-century, and with that came a new dawning.

The redoubtable Lionel Tertis (1876-1975), born on the same day as the master cellist Pablo Casals, was a feisty Englishman who would not take "no" for an answer when he demanded of composers that they write for his instrument, the viola, in an idiomatic fashion, treating it as a separate entity in the family of stringed instruments. Tertis was the first of three prominent violists who converted from the violin to the viola during the first half of this century, demonstrating that the viola was a viable concertizing instrument. Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), one of the foremost composers of our time, a highly skilled violist and widely known as a soloist and member of a distinguished string quartet, wrote copiously for his instrument. Hindemith bequeathed a lasting written legacy to violists. Completing this formidable triumvirate of twentieth century violists was William Primrose. Yehudi Menuhin puts it succinctly: "If Lionel Tertis was the first protagonist, Primrose was certainly the first star of the viola."

About half a century ago, Primrose noted that the viola and violists were emerging from generations of misunderstanding and benign neglect:

It is gratifying to observe the unmistakable awakening of interest in viola playing. There was a time, not too long ago, when the viola was not only neglected but thoroughly misunderstood. Indeed, the misunderstanding caused the neglect. A clearer comprehension of the uses, technic and scope of the viola has already increased its popularity and this fact also points to a still deeper penetration into one of the richest and most rewarding fields of musical activity.

Since the dawn of this century, violists have sensed an increasing respect coming their way from various corners of the musical and psychoanalytical-musical world. The great conductor Artur Nikisch came to the conclusion that a player's psyche depended upon the instrument he played. Nikisch characterized violists as being calm and good-natured. Henry Ellis Dickson, for thirty years a violinist in the Boston Symphony, wrote in a short volume, Gentlemen, More Dolce Please! (1969), that among the different sections of the orchestra, viola players are the least troublesome. Ralph Greenson, a Los Angeles psychoanalyst and an amateur violinist, has observed among orchestra string players the "Prima Donna on the first violin," the "Bon Vivant on cello," and the "Mortician on bass," while saying of the "Middleman on viola," that "the infighting for advancement that goes on among the more populous violin desks is not for him; that is why he switched over from the violin years ago. The cerebral sort, he lives for chamber music, which offers more challenge than the routine supporting role that composers give his instrument." Finally, the eminent music critic Irving Kolodin left this assessment: "As a fledgling viola player I naturally regard all other violists as studious chaps who don't have the finger facility of the notenfresser who make agile first violinists, but are better read, have heard more music, and are, altogether, men of superior taste."

Leading contemporary composers, such as Walton and Bartók, have discovered a new potential of the instrument, it seems, and more music has been written for the viola during our time than ever before. Running concurrently with this phenomenon is the rising technical standard of playing among younger violists (notable among women) and, most interesting, the appearance more and more of echt violinists, those who started on the instrument rather than changing over from violin later. This would have been unheard of a generation ago.

The twentieth century has discovered the viola, and violists appear to have found their own identity. If the ignominy suffered by players who were "too decrepit or immoral to play the violin and were sentenced to scrape away the winter of their discontent as violists" still lingers in the minds of some modern violists, one senses that the memory is fading fast.

[SaberKitty]

yes, but very informative.... too bad it's about the viola

[Agamemnon]

That's what the question was about! So that's why I posted it!
Sorry Saberfelineperson, I'll research whatever for you if you like?

[Bicho the Inhaler]

Thanks, Agamemnon. Very informative.

[Dragon Phoenix]

Recap of outstanding requests to be tackled later:

* Shostakovich
* Requiems (including Brahms, Durufle and Mozart + recommendation for Mozart CD)
* what should we think of the New Tonalists

Definition of a segue:
An immediate transition from one part to another, to continue without break to or into the next part. Googled that one, hardly 101 stuff...

Rules for a fantasia:
In music a fantasia is a continuous composition, not divided into what are called movements, or governed by the ordinary rules of musical design, but in which the author's fancy roves unrestricted by set form or formal rules. Link. So there appear to be no rules at all - and it is not clear to me whether there is a real distinctions between Variations on a theme... and a Fantasia on a theme by....

Do you think the Hooked on Classics series of recordings actually did anything for real classical music?
Personally, I hate it. But it may get people who think they dislike classical music without actually knowing it to start to listen to the real thing. Cross-over acts like Andrea Bocelli, Sarah Brightman and Vanessa Mae could have the samre result at a much higher musical level.

Also, can anybody recommend some particular guitarists who have arranged and recorded Johann Sebastian Bach's music on guitar? I heard some snippets of a 2-guitar recording someone had made of the Goldberg Variations; does somebody know who that might have been? I'm also looking for a guitar arrangement of Bach's Partita #2 in D minor for solo violin.

Rodarmer recorded the double guitar version of the Goldberg variations. Don't know it personally.
For the Partita, Julian Bream is a good choice - I like his Bach renditions.

More on the other subjects later.



[This message has been edited by Dragon Phoenix (edited 01-20-2003 08:38 AM).]

[Termital]

"Cross-over acts like .. Vanessa Mae could have the samre result at a much higher musical level."

I really think Mae belongs to the highest level - somebody should please send her play atop Everest - for ever.Pleease.

------------------
And No I said No I won't No

[Agamemnon]

Termital, you may not like Vanessa, but surly you cannot deny her violin studies and dedication through her short, but successful life so far.

A short piece from her biography, prominent sections highlighted;

" Vanessa-Mae was born in Singapore on
27th October. Paganini's birthday, and
moved to London at the age of four, where
she started her early music education on
the piano and the violin. After training as
the youngest student with Professor Lin Yao
Ji of the Central Conservatoire of China in
Beijing and with Professor Felix Andrievsky
of the Royal College of Music in London,
Vanessa-Mae made her concerto debut in
London with an orchestra at the age of 10.

By the time she was 12 she had toured
internationally as concerto soloist and
recitalist, released 2 classical recordings
and embarked on her third, which was to
set a world record establishing her as the
youngest ever to record the Tchaikovsky
and Beethoven Violin Concertos.

Critical acclaim for her work in a wide
classical repertoire ranged from
"super-natural" to comparisons with Mozart
and Mendelssohn for being a "true child
prodigy."

You may still dislike her, but she still has an ability that deserves respect.

[Coyote]

quote:

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Recap of outstanding requests to be tackled later:

* Shostakovich
* Requiems (including Brahms, ...

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I hope you'll go into particular detail on Brahms here, as I've never been especially keen on his work--he's always seemed a bit 'heavy-handed' to me, though I can't really say why. I realize that discussing his works as far as Requiems go isn't really the best way to convince me he's not heavy-handed...

Aga, I must say that was a very impressive write-up about violas! I now know more about that instrument than I ever thought I wanted to know!

Thank gawd I didn't bother posting my 'bassoon' question.

------------------
When in danger, when in doubt,
Run in circles, scream and shout.

[This message has been edited by Coyote (edited 01-20-2003 05:59 PM).]

[SaberKitty]

well aga, i have an instrument question:
how did snare drums develop? i mean, you've gotta be a bit mad to attatch little metal thingies to the bottom of a drum.... i've always wondered where they came from

[Agamemnon]

Thanks coyote, but to a large percentage I Plagiarised an article by David Dalton, and added parts of Aga inbetween, sorry.

As for Brahms, I too have never been a fan of his, probably due to the fact I rather dislike piano works, as was his forte from his early compositions. I would especially like to hear something positive about his 1st and 3rd symphonies, as I rate them hughly less highly than others seem to do.

[Agamemnon]

Hold on a moment......

Originally posted by Aga the person who strangles the English language:

---

hughly less highly

---

It was the beer, honest!
Pah!

[Agamemnon]

Oooooh, Saberkitty! History and classical music together, two of my favourite things.

Snare drum history.

Snare drum construction can first be traced to the three important civilizations of ancient Egypt, Arabia, and Assyria. Snares were in all likelyhood first put on drums to create extra noise that would frighten enemies. Egypt had versions of both a long drum without snares and a field drum with snares. Commonly, the Egyptian drums were carried with the help of a shoulder strap. The drums usually had parchment heads. If there were snares, the snares were on both heads. Snares at this time were made of catgut. The long drum was struck on both heads with the hands while the early version of the snare drum was struck with sticks.

The Arabians had drums similar to those of the Egyptians. The names were different and the playing practice usually involved playing them on horseback or camelback. The Assyrians, on the other hand, used shoulder straps and carried their drums like the Egyptians did, but unlike the Egyptians, they struck only one head of the drum

different versions of the snare drum during the medieval times were the tabor and the side drum. The heads of these drums were held down and tensioned by a rope-tension system. The tensioning looked similar to a zip with no teeth. A tab could be pulled in a direction either bringing together or separating two ropes.

In the 1500's the Dutch were the first to make a recognisably modern snare drum. Snares were removed from the top head and more snares were put on the bottom head. During this time the snare drum principles and playing techniques, started to become standardized. In the late Renaissance period the first written works about percussion technique began to appear.

[Agamemnon]

Sorry Dragon, I'm hijacking the thread again.

~Wanders into obscurity~

[Bicho the Inhaler]

[Dragon Phoenix]

* makes mental note to do a Brahms special (one of my 5 favorite composers) *

And Old Bean, continue to hop in please.

[Bicho the Inhaler]

All right. I bought the Rodarmer recording yesterday. I think I have a new favorite CD

[robichelli]

Oh my god!
Why haven't any of you people talked about Tchaikovsky! He's the best composer. His first symphony is probably the most famous, next to his 1812 overture (Which in my opinion sucks).

Oh, BTW, do any of you know where I can find sheet music to Tchaikovsky's Lullaby?

------------------
Even if I had a sense of humor, I wouldn't laugh at this sentence

[jadesmar]

Any cello players here?

Anyone know of any other (ie. not Bach) good cello solo pieces that I should pick up? I need bigger repetoire.

How about a Grades 1 -> 10+ syllabus if such things exist for this instrument?

[jadesmar]

Sorry, I didn't mean to kill the thread

[Dragon Phoenix]

I am still in need of more time to prepare some of the outstanding requests.

The only solo cello repertoire I can think of right now is Britten and Kodaly - you might want to check them out (they are no match for Bach though).

Re Tchaikovsky - are you not thinking of the sixth (Pathetique) rather than the first symphony? And his most famous works certainly include his ballets (like Swan lake, Nutcracker), his Serenade for strings and his violin and (first) piano concerto. That said, he is not a favorite of mine (although I do appreciate some of his works).

[Bicho the Inhaler]

Bump. A 3-fold question for anybody who can answer.

a) When did people start using the term "Baroque" to refer to what we now call the Baroque Period in classical music?
b) When did people start using the term "Classical" to refer to what we now call the Classical Period in classical music?
c) When did people start using the term "Romantic" to refer to what we now call the Romantic Period in classical music?

[RequiemEternam]

Followup to Bicho's ?'s:

When did people start using "Classical" to describe all of Baroque, Classical and Romantic music?

[Dragon Phoenix]

Someone else's view on these two questions.

[The Doctor]

Originally posted by Aga:

---

Dufay: Se la face ay pale

---

Yes, I too reccomend this piece. It was first a ballade, and then he used the tenor line as the cantus firmus (the line of music that is borrowed kept the same while writing other lines on top and often below it) for his Mass of the same name. I have only heard the Gloria from it, which uses the cantus firmus 3 times, each time at a different speed, and it is fabulous. The Norton Anthology of Western Music does a great job, and uses brass instruments doubling the voices on the final time.

I reccomend the entire NAWM for anyone interested in Early Music. I love, well basically all music, but certainly Early Music is unlike anything you'll ever hear. Other Early Music pieces I'd reccomend are:

Philippe de Vitry (1291 - 1361)
In arboris/Tuba sacre fidei/Virgo sum
This Mediæval motet, you will notice, has 3 titles. This is because a motet is a piece of music that uses a cantus firmus, at least another line, but that line is of a completely different text (although usually related in theme)! Virgo Sum here is the cantus firmus sung by the aptly named tenor, which holds out the music.

Guillaume de Machaut (1300 - 1377)
Rose, liz, printemps, verdure
(a Mediæval Rondeau)

Jacob Arcadelt (c. 1505 - 1568)
Il bianco e dolce cigno
(Renaissance Madrigal)

Cipriano de Rore (1516 - 1565)
Da le belle contrade d'oriente
(Renaissance Madrigal)

Luca Morenzio (1553 - 1599)
Solo e pensoso
(Renaissance Madrigal)

Anything by J. S. Bach, especially his cantata (basically an unacted scene from an opera--although, DP, is it only religeous??) Wachet Auf (25 November, 1731).

(All of these are in NAWM, btw.)

The Doctor

(P. S. In order to give credit where credit is due, most of the info came from my memory, since I recently I took a course using NAWM and Consise History of Western Music, but a bit came directly from these when my memory was sparce (e.g. the dates).)



[This message has been edited by The Doctor (edited 05-09-2003 12:29 AM).]

[Bicho the Inhaler]

DP, you're an organist, right? Have you played Bach's famous "Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor"? A little while ago I became obsessed with that piece, listening to it about 10 times a day.

[Dragon Phoenix]

Nope. I did play a simple arioso of Bach on a church organ once (empty church), that was awesome. For the rest, I just play electronic organ to amuse Bambi. I can do a decent version of Haupt voll Blut und Wunden (Matthaeus Passion) though.

I now realise that there are still some outstanding requests. I'll see whether I can put some things together the coming weeks.

[Beartalon]

Why do you suppose it is that almost every culture has at least three basic instrument types - drum, stringed, and flute or pipe. Why did those three types of instruments seem to develop separately in disparate regions of the world?

[Dragon Phoenix]

Could it simply be that the materials are easily available? Reed or hollow twigs, et voila: flute. Tie a bit of cat gut over a hollowed out melon or something - there's your violin/guitar. And the drums are the most simple of all.

[Bicho the Inhaler]

Yeah, and plucking a string/making air vibrate in a hollow pipe are two easy and reliable ways to make a sound of a certain frequency. Although the physics of it wasn't understood, it wouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to realize that interesting things happen when you pluck a taut string or blow across a hollow tube.