In the Magic Fire Scene in the finale of "Die Walkuere," Wagner wrote
violin passages which not even the greatest soloist can play cleanly,
yet which, when played by all the violins, simulate in _sound_ the
_aspect_ of licking, circling flames. Indeed, the effects that Wagner
understood how to draw from the orchestral instruments are little
short of marvellous. In the "Lohengrin" prelude the tone quality of
the violins is absolutely angelic in purity; while in the third act of
"Siegfried," the upswinging violin passages as the young hero reaches
the height where _Bruennhilde_ slumbers, depict the action with a
thrilling realism.
Besides the regular string band, Wagner made frequent use of the harp.
It is related that at the Munich performance of "Rheingold," when the
harpist Trombo protested to him that some of the passages were
unplayable, the composer replied: "You don't expect me to play the
harp, too, do you? You perceive the general effect I am aiming at;
produce that and I shall be satisfied." Liszt, in his "Dante
Symphony," uses the _glissando_ of the harp as a symbol for the rising
shades of _Francesco da Rimini_ and her lover, and a very beautiful
use of harmonics on the harp with their faint tinkle is to be found in
the Waltz of the Sylphs in Berlioz's "Damnation de Faust."
The Woodwind.
Flutes, oboes and clarinets form the woodwind. One of the best known
passages for flute is in the third "Leonora Overture" of Beethoven,
where it is employed with conspicuous grace. Probably, however, more
fun has been made of the flute than of any other orchestral
instrument, and a standard musical joke runs as follows:
"Are you musical?"
"No, but I have a brother who plays the flute."
It has also been insinuated that in Donizetti's "Lucia" the heroine
goes mad, not because she has been separated from _Edgardo_, but
because a flute obbligato accompanies her principal aria. The piccolo
is a high flute used for shrill effects.
The instruments of both the oboe and clarinet families are reed
instruments, with this difference, however: the instruments of the
oboe family have two vibrating reeds in the mouthpieces; those of the
clarinet family, only one. The oboe family consists of the oboe
proper, the English horn which is an alt oboe, and the bassoon which
is the bass of this group of instruments. In Italian the bassoon is
called a _fagotto_, a name derived from its supposed resemblance to a
bundle of fagots. "Candor, artless grace, tender joy, or the grief of
a fragile soul, are found in the oboe's accents," says Berlioz of this
instrument, and those who remember the exquisite oboe melody, with
which the slow movement of Schubert's C major symphony opens, will
agree with the French composer. Richard Strauss, in his "Sinfonia
Domestica," employs the almost obsolete oboes d'amore to represent an
"innocent, dreamy, playful child."