This is the story of the orchestra, from 16th-century string bands to the 'classical' orchestra of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Spitzer and Zaslaw document orchestral organisation, instrumentation, social roles, repertories, and performance practices in Europe and the American colonies, concluding around 1800.
This is the story of the orchestra, from 16th-century string bands to the 'classical' orchestra of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Spitzer and Zaslaw document orchestral organization, instrumentation, social roles, repertories, and performance practices in Europe and the American colonies, concluding around 1800 with the widespread awareness of the orchestra as a central institution in European life.
...this book has been worth waiting for. Not only is it handsomely produced and well illustrated, it is also beautifully written. The authors organize their material logically and effectively, and have the knack of marshalling large amounts of data in a way that is easy to read and refer to, helped by an intelligent use of tables and graphs. One of the strengths of the book is that it is not just a history of a series of musical institutions, but is also concerned with the musical effect of orchestras, and with questions of orchestral performance practice.
