Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 2.djvu/573

ORCHESTRA. were perfectly audible, and its performances as completely under the command of the Conductor as they would have been in an ordinary theatre. Not the least of the difficulties which presented themselves, during the time that this bold experiment was in progress, was that of so regulating the numerical strength of the Instrumentalists as to neutralise the deadening effect of the enclosure: this however was so triumphantly vanquished, that, so far as the audience were concerned, the result left nothing to be desired. The performers however were not equally well satisfied with the arrangement: and there certainly does seem room for fearing that their convenience was—perhaps unavoidably—made a secondary consideration. So great was the distress caused by the heated atmosphere of the house, and the absence of proper ventilation, that many of them, it is said, announced their firm determination never again to submit to such severe and health-destroying discomfort. That the grievance was a real one is admitted on all hands; but it must not be forgotten that this was the first experiment of the kind that had ever been tried on an extensive scale; and it is not at all improbable that an efficient remedy for the evil may suggest itself in time for the next grand Festival.

In concert-rooms, the Orchestra is usually placed at one end of the apartment, at such a height above the general level of the floor that the 'full length' figure of a Performer, standing in front, may be visible to a seated audience. In these cases, the seats in the Orchestra are generally placed in rows, one above another, in the form of the segment of an amphitheatre; while in order to throw the sound more forcibly into the midst of the Auditorium, the wall behind is frequently moulded into a quasi-hemispherical form. The arrangements at the old Hanover Square Rooms were very perfect in this respect. Those at Exeter Hall, S. James's Hall, the Albert Hall, and the Crystal Palace, are too well known to need description. In almost every newly-built concert-room, some new experiment is tried: but, as no theory, at once certain and practicable, has as yet been advanced on the subject, the attempts to introduce improvements are almost always empirical. It seems strange, that in these days of scientific progress no infallible model can be proposed; but we must hope that reiterated attempts will eventually lead to the desired result.

II. Both in England and on the Continent the term Orchestra is also applied, collectively, to the body of Instrumental Performers officiating at a Theatre, in a Concert-room, or on a Stage or raised Platform in the open air. It is not, however, extended to a company of Solo-players, however numerous, on the ground that, unless the stringed parts, or at least some of the parts, be doubled, the performance assimilates itself to one of Chamber-Music: nor is it applied either to the Performers attached to a Regiment, or to a company of Instrumentalists, who, playing in the open air, stand upon the ground instead of upon a raised platform. In these two last cases, the word substituted for it is. [See vol. i. p. 134.]

III. In a third sense, the term is applied, not only to the body of Performers, but to the Instruments upon which they play—and with which they are of course, in technical language, identified. Thus we constantly hear of 'an Orchestra consisting of thirty Stringed Instruments, with a full complement of Wind.'

Three hundred years ago the number of Orchestral Instruments was very small, and so undecided that it was not always possible to say whether a certain Instrument was orchestral or not. Lutes and Viols of all kinds were indeed in constant use, together with Flutes—in the form of the old Flute à bec—Cornets, Trumpets, Drums, and even Saracenic Instruments dating from the time of the Crusades; but there was no rule as to their combination, so that they could scarcely be said to constitute an Orchestra at all. For instance, in the 'Ballet comique de la Royne' performed at the Chateau de Moutiers, on the occasion of the marriage of Margaret of Lorraine with the Duc de Joyeuse in 1581, mention is made of Hautboys, Flutes, Cornets, Trombones, Viole di Gamba, Lutes, Harps, a Flageolet—played by Pan—and ten Violins, played by as many Ballet-dancers in full dress. Such an array would, at first sight, lead us to expect great things, did we not find that the Performers were separated into ten Bands (dix concerts de musique); that the Violins were reserved for one particular scene, in which they played alone, five on each side; that in another Scene Neptune and his followers were armed with 'lyres, luths, harpes, flustes, et autres instruments'; and that in another Jupiter descended from a golden dome, in which were placed forty Musicians, 'avec nouveaux instruments, et differents de precedens.' This alone will be sufficient to show the confused state of Instrumental Music in the 16th century; and when we add that the manner of writing, even for a Concert of Viols, was exactly the same as that used for unaccompanied Voices—insomuch that we constantly meet with compositions 'apt for Voyces or Viols'—it will be readily understood that, in France at least, the Orchestra was in its infancy. Nevertheless, this is really the earliest Instrumental Band used in connection with a dramatic performance of which we have any certain ; we must therefore accord to France the honour which is justly her due.

In Italy the Orchestra developed itself from small beginnings, with an uninterrupted regularity which led to very unexpected results. The earliest dramatic representation in which we hear of the employment of a regular staff of Instrumental Performers is the Oratorio called 'La Rappresentazione dell' Anima e del Corpo,' composed by Emilio del Cavaliere, and first performed at Rome, in the Oratory attached to the Church of S. Maria in Vallicella, in the month