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41-461: Piccolos are often orchestrated to double the violins or the flutes, adding sparkle and brilliance to the overall sound because of the aforementioned one-octave transposition upwards. The piccolo is a standard member in orchestras , marching bands , and wind ensembles . Since the Middle Ages, evidence indicates the use of octave transverse flutes as military instruments, as their penetrating sound

82-459: A rhythmically similar or exact melodic line or lines at a fixed interval above or below the melody to create parallel movement. Octave doubling of a voice or pitch is a number of other voices duplicating the same part at the same pitch or at different octaves. The doubling number of an octave is the number of individual voices assigned to each pitch within the chord. For instance, in the opening of John Philip Sousa 's " Washington Post March ",

123-413: A mood of almost mystical intensity. In this exquisite harmonization the notes do not make their own track – the way we play them depends upon the way we catch the inner vibration of the thought between the notes, and this will condition every nuance of shading." William Kinderman finds it "extraordinary that this sensitive control of sonority is most evident in the works of Beethoven's last decade, when he

164-419: A nervous shimmer of semiquavers in the strings". The opening theme of the last movement of Mozart 's Piano Concerto No. 24 is played throughout by the violins, but selected phrases are doubled, firstly by the flute playing an octave above; followed by the bassoon an octave below. Finally the violin is joined by both oboe and bassoon together, creating a doubling spanning three octaves: The opening bars of

205-405: A note that is duplicated in different octaves is said to be doubled . (The term magadization is also used for vocal doubling at the octave, especially in reference to early music .) Doubling may also refer to a note or a melodic phrase that is duplicated at the same pitch, but played by different instruments. Melodic doubling in parallel (also called parallel harmony ) is the addition of

246-988: A number of pieces for piccolo alone by such composers as Samuel Adler , Miguel del Aguila , Robert Dick , Michael Isaacson , David Loeb , Stephen Hough , Polly Moller , Vincent Persichetti , Karlheinz Stockhausen , and Brian Ferneyhough . Repertoire for piccolo and piano, many of which are sonatas , has been composed by Miguel del Águila , Robert Baksa , Robert Beaser , Rob du Bois , Howard J. Buss , Eugène Damaré  [ fr ] , Pierre Max Dubois , Raymond Guiot , Lowell Liebermann , Peter Schickele , Michael Daugherty , and Gary Schocker . Concertos have been composed for piccolo, including those by Lowell Liebermann , Sir Peter Maxwell Davies , Todd Goodman, Martin Amlin, Will Gay Bottje , Bruce Broughton , Valentino Bucchi , Avner Dorman , Jean Doué, Michael Easton, Egil Hovland , Guus Janssen , Daniel Pinkham , Jeff Manookian and Levente Gyöngyösi . Additionally, there

287-707: A partnership between the New Mexico Symphony and the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Joanne Sheehy Hoover of the Albuquerque Journal wrote that the opera displayed "command of an arresting musical vocabulary, marked by a complex yet infectious rhythmic vitality.” In 2008, del Águila received a "Magnum Opus" commission, administered by 'Meet the Composer', for performances by

328-499: A variety of hardwoods, most commonly grenadilla . Finely made piccolos are often available with a variety of options similar to the flute , such as the split-E mechanism. Most piccolos have a conical body with a cylindrical head, like the Baroque flute and later flutes before the popularization of the Boehm bore used in modern flutes. Unlike other woodwind instruments, in most wooden piccolos,

369-556: Is a layout common in the works of his last years.” During the Romantic Era , composers continued further in their exploration of sonorities that can be obtained through imaginative chord voicing. Alan Walker draws attention to the quiet middle section of Chopin 's Scherzo No. 1 . In this passage, Chopin weaves a "magical" pianistic texture around a traditional Polish Christmas carol : Maurice Ravel 's Pavane de la Belle au Bois Dormant from his 1908 suite Ma Mère l'Oye exploits

410-442: Is now a selection of chamber music that uses the piccolo. One example is Stockhausen's Zungenspitzentanz , for piccolo and two euphoniums (or one synthesizer), with an optional percussionist and dancer. Another is George Crumb 's Madrigals, Book II for soprano, flute (doubling piccolo/alto flute), and percussion. Other examples include a trio for piccolo, contrabassoon, and piano, 'Was mit den Tränen geschieht' by Stephen Hough ,

451-417: Is the case of the concertos that Antonio Vivaldi wrote for flautino . Until the end of the 19th century, the piccolo maintained the same construction. Historically, the piccolo had the same keys of the baroque flute (one key) and then of the classical and romantic simple system flute. At the end of the century, the piccolo began to be built with the Boehm mechanism, which would become the standard during

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492-794: The Buffalo Philharmonic with cello soloist Roman Mekinulov and conducted by JoAnn Falletta . Recordings of del Águila's over 130 works have been released on 56 CD albums to date by Naxos , Dorian , Telarc , New Albion, Albany , Centaur and Eroica, among others. Peermusic Classical , and Theodore Presser have both published his works, alongside many which he has self-published. Chamber works without piano Chamber works with piano Orchestra Solo Instrument / Voice and Orchestra Chamber arrangements Harpsichord/Organ Dance, Film, TV List of Hispanic and Latino Americans Latin Grammy Award for Best Classical Album Music of

533-536: The Kennedy Center Friedheim Award in 1995, and was music director of Ojai Camerata until 1999. He was resident composer at Chautauqua Institution Summer Festival from 2001 to 2005. Del Águila was among the first composers chosen by 'Meet the Composer' and The American Symphony Orchestra League to receive a 'Music Alive' Extended Residency grant, which resulted in the 2006 opera Time and Again Barelas ,

574-758: The Quintet for Piccolo and String Quartet by Graham Waterhouse , and Malambo for piccolo, double bass, and piano by Miguel del Aguila . Currently published trios for three piccolos include Quelque Chose canadienne (Something Canadian) by Nancy Nourse and Bird Tango by Crt Sojar Voglar for three piccolos with piano. Petrushka's Ghost for eight piccolos by Melvin Lauf, Jr. and Una piccolo sinfonia for nine piccolos by Matthew King are two more examples. [REDACTED] Media related to Piccolo at Wikimedia Commons Voicing (music)#Doubling In music theory , voicing refers to two closely related concepts: It includes

615-597: The fingerboard , allowing more freedom for the guitarist to play chords in any key and in any area of the guitar's range, without the use of a capo . This facilitates easily playing chord progressions featuring modulation or chromatic movement between keys. Sources Miguel del Aguila Miguel del Águila (born September 15, 1957) is a prolific Uruguay -born American composer of contemporary classical music . He has been nominated three times for Grammys and has received numerous other awards. American composer Miguel del Águila (also spelled Miguel del Aguila),

656-404: The instrumentation and vertical spacing and ordering of the musical notes in a chord : which notes are on the top or in the middle, which ones are doubled, which octave each is in, and which instruments or voices perform each note. The following three chords are all C-major triads in root position with different voicings. The first is in close position (the most compact voicing), while

697-448: The 1900s. However, it cannot wholly transition to the Boehm system since the bore has remained conical, as in the old system flute, and the first bottom note is D, like in the baroque flute. The piccolo should not be confused with the fife , which is traditionally one-piece, has a smaller, cylindrical bore, and produces a more strident sound. It is a myth that one of the earliest pieces to use

738-798: The Nashville Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Virginia Symphony, and Winnipeg Symphony orchestras. The resulting tone poem, "The Fall of Cuzco", was premiered by the Nashville Symphony conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero in November 2009. In 2008–09, del Águila received the Lancaster Symphony 's Composer Award. His "Choral Suite No. 2" for mixed chorus and orchestra was performed by the symphony, conducted by Stephen Gunzenhauser, in November 2008. In 2010, del Águila received two Latin Grammy nominations ,

779-411: The default state. Dropping the first voice is undefined—a drop-1 voicing would still have all voices in the same octave, simply making a new first voice. This nomenclature doesn't cover the dropping of voices by two or more octaves or having the same pitch in multiple octaves. A drop-2 voicing lowers the second voice by an octave. For example, a C-major triad has three "drop-2 voicings". Reading down from

820-568: The delicate transparency of voicing afforded through the medium of the piano duet . Four hands can cope better than two when it comes to playing widely spaced chords. This is especially apparent in bars 5–8 of the following extract: Speaking of this piece (which also exists in an orchestral version), William Weaver Austin writes about Ravel's technique of "varying the sonority from phrase to phrase by telling changes of register ." The two chords that open and close Igor Stravinsky 's Symphony of Psalms have distinctive sonorities arising out of

861-466: The entire measure, and no interval is in parallel for more than four consecutive notes. Consideration of doubling is important when following voice leading rules and guidelines, for example when resolving to an augmented sixth chord never double either notes of the augmented sixth, while in resolving an Italian sixth it is preferable to double the tonic ( third of the chord). Some pitch material may be described as autonomous doubling in which

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902-489: The first for the Bridge CD Salón Buenos Aires (for Best Classical Album), and the second for his work "Clocks" (Best Classical Contemporary Composition), performed by Camerata San Antonio. "Clocks" also received a Copland Foundation Recording Award in 2009. In 2015, he received a third nomination for his "Concierto en Tango " (Best Classical Contemporary Composition), commissioned, premiered and recorded by

943-423: The harp arpeggios are also doubled at the unison by the violas, while the first violins and ‘cellos double the main melody an octave apart. One nomenclature for describing certain classes of voicings is the "drop-n" terminology, such as drop-2 voicings , drop-4 voicings , etc. (sometimes spelled without hyphens). This system views voicings as built from the top down (probably from horn-section arranging where

984-422: The melody is "doubled" in four octaves. Consistent parallelism between melodic lines can impede the independence of the lines. For example, in m. 38 of the gigue from his English Suite No. 1 in A major, BWV 806 , J.S. Bach avoids excessive parallel harmony in order to maintain the independence of the lines: parallel thirds (at the beginning) and parallel sixths (at the end) are not maintained throughout

1025-417: The melody is a given). The implicit, non-dropped, default voicing in this system has all voices in the same octave, with individual voices numbered from the top down. The highest voice is the first voice or voice 1. The second-highest voice is voice 2, etc. This nomenclature doesn't provide a term for more than one voice on the same pitch. A dropped voicing lowers one or more voices by an octave relative to

1066-459: The miry clay. Some chord voicings devised by composers are so striking that they are instantly recognizable when heard. For example, The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives opens with strings playing a widely spaced G-major chord very softly, at the limits of audibility. According to Ives, the string part represents "The Silence of the Druids—who Know, See and Hear Nothing". In a chord,

1107-554: The octave as early as 1735 as existing scores by Jean-Philippe Rameau show. Piccolos are now mainly manufactured in the key of C. In the early 20th century, piccolos were manufactured in D ♭ as they were an earlier model of the modern piccolo. For this D ♭ piccolo, John Philip Sousa wrote the famous solo in the final repeat of the closing section (trio) of his march " The Stars and Stripes Forever ". Although once made of wood, glass, or ivory, piccolos today are made from plastic, resin, brass, nickel silver, silver, and

1148-471: The other hand, in the theme of the Arietta movement that concludes his last piano sonata , Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111 (1822), Beethoven presents the chord voicing in a much more daring way, with wide gaps between notes, creating compelling sonorities that enhance the meditative character of the music: Philip Barford describes the Arietta of Op. 111 as "simplicity itself… its widely-spaced harmonization creates

1189-528: The part being doubled is not followed for more than a few measures often resulting in disjunct motion in the part that is doubling, for example, the trombone part in Mozart 's Don Giovanni . Instrumental doubling plays a crucial role in orchestration . Near the start of Schubert 's Symphony No. 8 (the "Unfinished" Symphony), the oboe and clarinet play a theme together in unison , an "evocative and uncommon combination," "an embodiment of melancholy... over

1230-447: The perfect fourth intervals between the guitar's strings typically make most close position chords cumbersome and impractical to play, particularly in jazz where complex extensions are commonplace. While open chords are the most commonly employed voicings on the guitar and other fretted instruments for the volume and resonance they produce, the fingerings used for drop voicings on guitar are easily moved horizontally and vertically around

1271-539: The piccolo was Ludwig van Beethoven 's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor , which premiered in December 1808 . Although neither Joseph Haydn nor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart used it in their symphonies, some of their contemporaries did, including Franz Anton Hoffmeister , Franz Xaver Süssmayr , and Michael Haydn . Also, Mozart used the piccolo in his opera Idomeneo . Opera orchestras in Paris sometimes included small transverse flutes at

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1312-489: The second and third are in open position (that is, with wider spacing). Notice also that the G is doubled at the octave in the third chord; that is, it appears in two different octaves. Many composers, as they developed and gained experience, became more enterprising and imaginative in their handling of chord voicing. For example, the theme from the second movement of Ludwig van Beethoven 's early Piano Sonata No. 10 (1798), presents chords mostly in close position: On

1353-651: The tenon joint that connects the head to the body has two interference fit points surrounding the cork and metal side of the piccolo body joint. The piccolo is used alongside marching drums in traditional formations at the Carnival of Basel , Switzerland. In 2014, a festival was born entirely dedicated to the piccolo, the International Piccolo Festival , which takes place annually in July in Grado , Italy . There are

1394-508: The third movement of Janáček 's Sinfonietta combine unison and octave doublings. The passage illustrates how subtle and carefully differentiated doubling can contribute to the sound of a delicate and nuanced orchestral texture : In these three bars, the Bass Clarinet and the Tuba simultaneously sound a sustained pedal point on a low E flat, creating a distinctive blend of timbres . Similarly,

1435-399: The tonic C major finally arrives, in the last movement, its root is doubled in five octaves, its fifth is left to the natural overtones, and its decisive third appears just once, in the highest range. This spacing is as extraordinary as the spacing of the first chord, but with the opposite effect of super-clarity and consonance, thus resolving and justifying the first chord and all the horror of

1476-581: The top voice, they are C E G, E G C, and G C E, which can be heard as the voicings supporting the first three melody notes (following the introductory phrase) of the Super Mario Bros. video game theme . There are four drop-2-and-4 voicings for G . Reading down from the top voice, they are G D F B, B F G D, D G B F, and F B D G. Various drop combinations are possible, given enough voices, such as drop-3, drop-2-and-3, drop-5, drop-2-and-5, drop-3-and-5, etc. Drop voicings are often employed by guitarists , as

1517-566: The voicing of the notes. The first chord is sometimes called the Psalms chord . William W. Austin remarks: The first and last chords of the Symphony of Psalms are famous. The opening staccato blast, which recurs throughout the first movement, detached from its surroundings by silence, seems to be a perverse spacing of the E minor triad, with the minor third doubled in four octaves while the root and fifth appear only twice, at high and low extremes... When

1558-508: Was audible above battles. In cultured music, however, the first piccolos were used in some of Jean Philippe Rameau 's works in the first half of the 18th century. Still, the instrument began to spread, and therefore to have a stable place in the orchestra, only at the beginning of 1800 A.D. During the Baroque period, the indication "flautino" or also "flauto piccolo" usually denoted a recorder of small size (soprano or sopranino). In particular, this

1599-678: Was born in 1957 in Montevideo . In 1978 he moved to California, fleeing Uruguay's 1970's repressive military government . He graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and studied at the Hochschule für Musik and Konservatorium in Vienna, Early premieres of his works in Vienna's Musikverein , Konzerthaus and Bösendorfer halls introduced his music and distinctive Latin sound to European audiences. In 1989, del Águila's work

1640-499: Was completely deaf, and could hear only in his imagination." Another example of the later Beethoven's daring approach to voicing can be found in the second movement of his Hammerklavier Sonata, Op. 106 . In the trio section of this movement (bars 48ff), Martin Cooper notes that “Beethoven has enhanced the strangeness of the effect by laying out much of the music four or five octaves apart, with no comfortable ‘filling’ between. This

1681-730: Was performed in New York's Carnegie Recital Hall (now Weill Hall), and Lukas Foss conducted the US premiere of Hexen with the Brooklyn Philharmonic . CDs of his works were released on Albany Records and KKM-Austria by 1990, including his Clarinet Concerto, "Herbsttag", and "Hexen". He returned to the US in 1992 and the Los Angeles Times described him as "one of the West Coast's most promising and enterprising young composers." He received

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