The Orchestral Revolution
Haydn and the Technologies of Timbre

This book explores the relationship between the history of orchestration and the development of modern musical aesthetics in the Enlightenment.

Emily I. Dolan (Author)

9781107028258, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 January 2013

306 pages, 19 b/w illus. 29 music examples
24.9 x 17.8 x 2.5 cm, 0.71 kg

'Well written throughout and richly illustrated, Dolan's volume is a pleasure to read.' Notes

The Orchestral Revolution explores the changing listening culture of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Delving into Enlightenment philosophy, the nature of instruments, compositional practices and reception history, this book describes the birth of a new form of attention to sonority and uncovers the intimate relationship between the development of modern musical aesthetics and the emergence of orchestration. By focusing upon Joseph Haydn's innovative strategies of orchestration and tracing their reception and influence, Emily Dolan shows that the consolidation of the modern orchestra radically altered how people listened to and thought about the expressive capacity of instruments. The orchestra transformed from a mere gathering of instruments into an ideal community full of diverse, nuanced and expressive characters. In addressing this key moment in the history of music, Dolan demonstrates the importance of the materiality of sound in the formation of the modern musical artwork.

Introduction
1. Lessons at the ocular harpsichord
2. The idea of timbre
3. Haydn, orchestration, and re-orchestration
4. The republic of sound
5. The real museum of musical works
6. The abuse of the orchestra
Epilogue: orchestral alchemy.

Subject Areas: Romantic music [c 1830 to c 1900 AVGC5], Classical music [c 1750 to c 1830 AVGC4], Music [AV]