WLIW Arts Beat

American Classical Orchestra
While classical music compositions have been preserved for our listening pleasure, it’s rare to hear pieces played as they would have been a century or two ago. That’s because instruments have evolved quite a bit in that time. But New York’s American Classical Orchestra is putting a bit of the past in its performances with antique instruments and techniques.
TRANSCRIPT
>> Breathe. Four.
>> ♪ This soul, silent soul
>> When Brahms wrote this
rhapsody, in 1839, he wrote it
for the instruments of the
time -- wooden flutes,
gut-string violins,
and valveless French horns.
And at a concert by the
American Classical Orchestra,
based out of New York City,
those are the instruments
on which the audiences of today
will hear the piece performed.
Musical director Tom Crawford
founded the organization
over 30 years ago.
The group focuses on music
from around the 1770s
to the 1830s,
the post-Baroque
Classical period.
Think Beethoven and Mozart.
The American Classical Orchestra
is one of several music groups
like it that fall
into the historically informed
performance movement,
dedicated to presenting
period music
as it was originally intended
to be played centuries ago.
>> A while back -- I mean,
a good 50 years ago or more --
especially in Europe,
people realized that,
"Well, wait a minute,
if the flute was made
of wood, you know,
if the oboe had fewer keys,
if it was a different instrument
with the same name, you know,
back when Mozart was writing,
what are those differences,
and how would they work
if we put them together?"
>> Crawford says when
the movement first took off,
curious musicians
who couldn't get their hands
on original instruments
turned to instrument makers
who created exact copies
of classical instruments
being housed in museums.
That meant musical groups
like Crawford's were able
to get their first taste
of authentic classical music.
>> At least speaking for myself,
and I know many other musicians,
we were just astonished
at the texture.
The texture changed profoundly.
>> [ Singing indistinctly ]
>> [ Singing indistinctly ]
>> This is a huge thing
for a musician,
because the natural blend
of period instruments
is, for me and many others,
the greatest asset of all.
>> That blend on classical
instruments
to which Crawford refers
can be challenging
to get on modern instruments,
which are created to be louder
and brighter-sounding.
As they evolved over the last
few centuries,
string instruments
were reinforced inside
to allow musicians to play
louder in large concert halls.
Wooden flutes gave way
to metal ones
partially for the same purpose.
When Crawford
started his orchestra,
musicians were increasingly
interested in the precursors
to their instruments,
but many did not know
how to play them.
[ Soft classical music plays ]
Principal oboist Marc Schachman
picked up the baroque oboe
for another ensemble
in the early 1970s,
after graduating from Juilliard.
>> It felt, like, absolutely
impossible.
We all thought,
"How the hell are we going to
ever be able to do this?"
>> It was a challenge.
The modern oboe
has about 20 keys.
The baroque oboe has three.
At this rehearsal, Schachman
is playing on his classical one.
It's more evolved than his
baroque oboe
but still quite different
than a modern version
of the instrument.
>> In Mozart's time, you can see
that a few keys were added --
not a lot but a few.
The biggest changes
were actually internal
in the question of the bore,
and so this became
a narrower bore.
Some keys were added, and so it
becomes more appropriate
for Mozart or Beethoven,
where he likes
the higher register of the oboe,
as opposed to the lower register
of the oboe.
>> Schachman says
it took years for him
to master his period oboes,
but now he plays them better
than a modern one.
In fact, he decided to sell
his modern oboe altogether.
[ Soft classical music plays ]
R.J. Kelley is similarly
enchanted with his 19th-century
corps d'orchestre,
a precursor to the French horn,
made in Paris
and bought on eBay.
He prefers to play pieces of the
period on this instrument
because he feels
there's nuance in the music
that's lost on a modern one.
>> When you see
a modern French horn,
you'll see their hand
in the bell.
It doesn't really do much now,
but it's a legacy of the
technique for this instrument,
because for every one of those
open notes, if I close my hand
a bit, I get a second note
with a slightly different sound.
[ Horn plays ]
When you know
what the composer's intent is,
when you look at a note,
and you know if it's open
or closed, it changes the color,
changes the dynamic content,
may alter the articulation.
And so all of these things
inform your interpretation.
And I like to think
that it gives us a better idea
of what the composer
had in mind.
Whether that's the direction
you want to go in or not
is a separate issue altogether.
>> According to founder
Crawford, an increasing number
of musicians and music lovers
do want to go in that direction.
He thinks the interest
in period music
played on period instruments
comes from a belief in the
literature, the music as
written, and a realization
that the experience is engaging
for audiences and musicians
alike.
>> The depth of the players
and the period-instrument
movement is now permanent,
and it's wonderful.
>> To learn more about
American Classical Orchestra,
visit the link on our website.
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