Harmoniemusik
Encyclopedia
Harmoniemusik is a musical term denoting a form of 18th century chamber music similar to Tafelmusik
, but almost exclusively for wind instruments. From 1780 until 1840 harmoniemusik flourished in the courts of Europe. Harmoniemusik is not a single form of wind ensemble and would later evolve into the military band
and our modern concert band
or symphonic wind band.
, founded his Imperial Wind Ensemble in Vienna, composed of pairs of oboe
s, clarinet
s, horns
and bassoon
s. This make up would prove to become very popular until at least 1825.
Just to illustrate the popularity of the Harmoniemusik at this time: At the banquet in the finale of "Don Giovanni", Mozart
has a "Harmonie" perform parts from Una cosa Rara
by Vicente Martín y Soler
, I due litiganti
by Giuseppe Sarti
and the aria Non piu andrai from his own The Marriage of Figaro
.
There is no strict separation between the harmoniemusik and the very similar wind sextet for pairs of clarinets, horns and bassoons. Oboes or english horns could be substituted for the clarinets (see Josef Haydn). On some occasion basset horns would be used. The wind sextet existed long before 1782. Josef Haydn wrote a substantial number of works for wind sextet.
František Vincenc Kramář
adds a contrabassoon (some editions of these works also mention string bass, serpent
or trombone
) to the usual form of 4 pairs of "winds" in his famous "harmonies á neuf parties". Josef Triebensee
and Antonio Rössler-Rosetti
(in his Parthia in F) would even add flutes.
The ensembles with flutes appear at the start of the 19th century to accommodate transcriptions of romantic compositions.
The "Harmoniemusik" has had an important influence on the development of the symphonic orchestra, of which it becomes an integral part. Think about the symphony no. 40 of Mozart, the London symphonies of Haydn, the opera The Magic Flute
. It is clear that wind instruments are becoming more important for a number of composers (Mozart, Beethoven) wishing
to use their color palette in their orchestrations.
, Elgar's
Harmony Music for wind quintet, Haydn's Harmoniemesse (1802), and Mendelssohn’s
Harmoniemusik op.24 (1824).
Harmoniemusik often took the form of transcriptions
of other works, most notably operas, symphonies and ballets. Wenzel Sedlak, Jan Nepomuk Vent and Josef Triebensee
were some of the most successful transcribers, leaving a substantial body of works. Many of their transcriptions have been recorded and are available on CD.
Tafelmusik (musical term)
Tafelmusik is a term used since the mid-16th century for music played at feasts and banquets. Often the term was also used as a title for collections of music, some of which was intended to be so used...
, but almost exclusively for wind instruments. From 1780 until 1840 harmoniemusik flourished in the courts of Europe. Harmoniemusik is not a single form of wind ensemble and would later evolve into the military band
Military band
A military band originally was a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the title of Bandmaster or Director of Music...
and our modern concert band
Concert band
A concert band, also called wind band, symphonic band, symphonic winds, wind orchestra, wind symphony, wind ensemble, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of several members of the woodwind instrument family, brass instrument family, and percussion instrument family.A...
or symphonic wind band.
History
In 1782 Joseph II, Holy Roman EmperorJoseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790 and ruler of the Habsburg lands from 1780 to 1790. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Francis I...
, founded his Imperial Wind Ensemble in Vienna, composed of pairs of oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s, horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
and bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s. This make up would prove to become very popular until at least 1825.
Just to illustrate the popularity of the Harmoniemusik at this time: At the banquet in the finale of "Don Giovanni", Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
has a "Harmonie" perform parts from Una cosa Rara
Una cosa rara
Una cosa rara, ossia Bellezza ed onestà is an opera by the composer Vicente Martín y Soler. It takes the form of a dramma giocoso in two acts. The libretto, by Lorenzo da Ponte, is based on the play La luna de la sierra by Luis Vélez de Guevara. The opera was first performed at the Burgtheater,...
by Vicente Martín y Soler
Vicente Martín y Soler
Vicente Martín y Soler was a Spanish composer of opera and ballet. Although relatively obscure today, in his own day he was compared favorably with his contemporary, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as a composer of opera buffa. He has been called the Valencian Mozart.He was born in Valencia and studied...
, I due litiganti
Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode
Fra i due litiganti il terzo gode is a dramma giocoso in two acts by Giuseppe Sarti. The libretto was after Carlo Goldoni's Le nozze ....
by Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti
Giuseppe Sarti was an Italian opera composer.-Biography:He was born at Faenza. His date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 1 December 1729. Some earlier sources say he was born on 28 December, but his baptism certificate proves the later date impossible...
and the aria Non piu andrai from his own The Marriage of Figaro
The Marriage of Figaro
Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by...
.
There is no strict separation between the harmoniemusik and the very similar wind sextet for pairs of clarinets, horns and bassoons. Oboes or english horns could be substituted for the clarinets (see Josef Haydn). On some occasion basset horns would be used. The wind sextet existed long before 1782. Josef Haydn wrote a substantial number of works for wind sextet.
František Vincenc Kramář
Franz Krommer
Franz Krommer was a Czech composer of classical music, whose seventy-year life began the year of the death of George Frideric Handel and ended a few years after that of Ludwig van Beethoven.-Life:The main events of his life were somewhat as follows:* From 1773 to 1776,...
adds a contrabassoon (some editions of these works also mention string bass, serpent
Serpent (instrument)
A serpent is a bass wind instrument, descended from the cornett, and a distant ancestor of the tuba, with a mouthpiece like a brass instrument but side holes like a woodwind. It is usually a long cone bent into a snakelike shape, hence the name. The serpent is closely related to the cornett,...
or trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
) to the usual form of 4 pairs of "winds" in his famous "harmonies á neuf parties". Josef Triebensee
Josef Triebensee
Josef Triebensee was a Bohemian composer and oboist.He studied composition with Albrechtsberger and oboe with his father, Georg Triebensee . He served in the private orchestra of Prince Schwarzenberg, and from 1782-1806 as first oboist of the Austrian Emperor's Harmonie...
and Antonio Rössler-Rosetti
Antonio Rosetti
Antonio Rosetti was a classical era composer and double bass player, and was a contemporary of Haydn and Mozart....
(in his Parthia in F) would even add flutes.
The ensembles with flutes appear at the start of the 19th century to accommodate transcriptions of romantic compositions.
The "Harmoniemusik" has had an important influence on the development of the symphonic orchestra, of which it becomes an integral part. Think about the symphony no. 40 of Mozart, the London symphonies of Haydn, the opera The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
. It is clear that wind instruments are becoming more important for a number of composers (Mozart, Beethoven) wishing
to use their color palette in their orchestrations.
Names of wind ensembles
Some of the names given to a band of wind instruments:- Harmonie
- "Türkische Musik" (in 1816 foundation of the "Journal for Harmonie and Turkish music", with Turkish percussion, also named ‘Janitscharenmusik’,)
- Militärorchester
- Bläserorchester
- Tafelmusik (start 18th century)
- Blasende Instrumente
- Hautboistenbande
Musical Forms
Works for wind ensembles have been published using different names. Some of these names point to the structure of the piece, whilst other names point to the specific use and purpose of the compositions.Names
- PartitaPartitaPartita was originally the name for a single instrumental piece of music , but Johann Kuhnau and later German composers used it for collections of musical pieces, as a synonym for suite.Johann Sebastian Bach wrote two sets of Partitas for different instruments...
(Parthia, Parthie, Partia, Feldpartita): In general a composition with a cyclic suite structure (also variation structure). Starting in the middle of the 18th century this name is used (in Vienna) for a chamberwork composed of several movements. In general, it is a triadic form closely related to the concerto form. - SerenadeSerenadeIn music, a serenade is a musical composition, and/or performance, in someone's honor. Serenades are typically calm, light music.The word Serenade is derived from the Italian word sereno, which means calm....
(Nachtmusik): This points to incidental music for use in the evening or at night. - DivertimentoDivertimentoDivertimento is a musical genre, with most of its examples from the 18th century. The mood of the divertimento is most often lighthearted and it is generally composed for a small ensemble....
(Divertissement): This points to incidental music for use at dinner on festive occasions, as "entertainment" for the guests. - SuiteSuiteIn music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet , or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements .In the...
: This is a reference to the classical danssuite of the BaroqueBaroqueThe Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
. - Harmonie: A four part form resembling closely the symphonie at the end of the 18th century.
Notable works
Notable works of Harmoniemusik are exclusively for wind instruments, or wind instruments are prominently featured. Examples include Mozart's Gran Partita, the Serenade for Winds in C Minor, K. 388Serenade No. 12 (Mozart)
The Serenade No. 12 for Winds in C minor K. 388/384a, was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1782 or 1783. The work is sometimes called "Nacht Musique". In 1787, Mozart transcribed the work for viola quintet. This transcription survives as String Quintet, K...
, Elgar's
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
Harmony Music for wind quintet, Haydn's Harmoniemesse (1802), and Mendelssohn’s
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
Harmoniemusik op.24 (1824).
Harmoniemusik often took the form of transcriptions
Transcription (music)
In music, transcription can mean notating a piece or a sound which was previously unnotated, as, for example, an improvised jazz solo. Further examples include ethnomusicological notation of oral traditions of folk music, such as Béla Bartók's and Ralph Vaughan Williams' collections of the national...
of other works, most notably operas, symphonies and ballets. Wenzel Sedlak, Jan Nepomuk Vent and Josef Triebensee
Josef Triebensee
Josef Triebensee was a Bohemian composer and oboist.He studied composition with Albrechtsberger and oboe with his father, Georg Triebensee . He served in the private orchestra of Prince Schwarzenberg, and from 1782-1806 as first oboist of the Austrian Emperor's Harmonie...
were some of the most successful transcribers, leaving a substantial body of works. Many of their transcriptions have been recorded and are available on CD.