The OSM Winds

The OSM Winds

Discover the OSM differently

Programme notes

Spotlight on the Winds

Igor Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments

The two men are wildly different in character and personality. Despite the respect they feel for each other's artistic process, they don't always appreciate the musical result. Debussy in particular, the eldest of the two, is more and more puzzled by Stravinsky's musical explorations.

One evening in 1910, after hearing the succesful premiere of the ballet The Firebird, Claude Debussy, himself an innovative composer who had sparked the musical movement called impressionnism, reached out to congratulate Igor Stravinsky, the young composer of the evening's hit. Thus was born their friendship based on mutual respect for each other's musical talent and abilities.

At the beginning of the last century, Paris is the most important cultural hub of Europe, a modern, lively, inspiring city. Artists of all types make their way to the Ville Lumière to further their education and launch their career.

In memory of Claude Achille Debussy

What influence do the different instruments have on the listener? Which version do you prefer? Can you imagine the same choral played by other instruments altogether - strings, woodwinds or keyboards?

Debussy passed away from cancer in 1918. Stravinsky, like the whole of Paris's musical circle, deeply felt the loss of his friend. He composed an austere choral, published in 1920 in an issue of the magazine "La Revue musicale" along with other musical compositions dedicated to the memory of Debussy. Later, Stravinsky inserted this same choral at the end of this piece Symphonies of Wind Instruments, also dedicated to Debussy.

A musical mosaic

Occasionally, certain tiles are split into even smaller motives - including excerpts from the choral, which is yet to be heard in its full form - and these motives are inserted within a larger, different motive.

The first part of the piece is built like a mosaic, with tiles of different colours and motives placed alongside each other in an apparently random order.

Richard Strauss (1864-1949) Known for

• Don Juan
• Don Quichotte
• Till Eulenspiegel
• Thus spoke Zarathustra
• Der Rosenkavalier
• Four Last Lieder

Richard Strauss's Suite for Wind Instruments, op. 4

Romantic and modern, cultured and frivolous, lavish and nimble: these pairs of opposing adjectives describe both the essence of the Viennese spirit at the turn of the 20th century and the music of Richard Strauss.

II Romanze

I Prelude

The son of a horn player at the court of Munich, the young Richard started composing at an early age. By the age of 18, he had already published a string quartet, a sonata and several short pieces for piano. He had also composed an entire symphony and acquired a certain notoriety through the success of his Serenade for wind instruments. Encouraged by this success and by the support of the established conductor Hans von Bülow, Strauss took on the composition of a second work for the same combination of instruments, which became the Suite for wind instruments . The suite is made up of four movements of different tempos and character.

IV Introduction and Fugue

III Gavotte

The orchestra conductor

Alain Trudel started his musical studies in the specialized programme at École secondaire Joseph-François-Perrault in Montreal. His evident talent on the trombone led to an impressive start as a performer, as he was only 18 when he made his debut as a soloist with the OSM. He is Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Laval and of the Toledo Symphony, Principal Youth and Family Conductor of the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Principal Guest conductor of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. He is invited to conduct concerts and operas throughout the world.

Alain Trudel, conductor

The conductor communicates with the musicians of the orchestra in concert and in repetition through a set of precisely established gestures. As for any instrument, the acquisition of this set of gestures requires hours of practicing. The gestures used by a conductor to communicate with the members of the orchestra include beating time, which means drawing a regular pattern with your right hand according to how many beats there are in a bar, as well as giving indications for cues (when specific instruments come in), dynamics (whether to play loud or soft, or something in between), articulations (detached or slurred notes, for example) and phrasing (how to shape a musical line). On top of all that, the conductor acts as something akin to the director of a drama play, in that he or she must develop a personal interpretation of the work around which the whole orchestra will rally.

Master composers of the past often conducted their own works: obviously, they knew better than anyone how it should sound! But with time, the composers weren't there anymore to conduct, and the orchestra conductor took over.

Who needs a conductor?

The conductor is not necessarily a specialist of any one given instrument. He or she needs good fundamental knowledge of every section of the orchestra - one could say that the orchestra is their actual instrument.

When the first orchestras were created, they were made up of about 10 musicians, much fewer than nowadays. It was easier for a small number of musicians to play together and most often, it was the first violin player who indicated when to play and when to stop. With time, orchestras became larger and larger, and the music they played became more and more complex. The need became felt to assign the task of conducting the orchestra to a non-playing person.

In this excerpt from the first movement of the Suite by Strauss, you can see the conductor first indicating a strong accent, then letting go of the tension in his arms to invite the flutes to play softly.

Turn off the volume to watch both excerpts again: you'll see you'll still be able to recognize which gestures go with which excerpt!

The following excerpt is from the Romanze of the same piece. The music is slow and legato (connected): the conductor shows this well through a weighted and smooth movement. Note also how he gestures to the brass to bring out a note.

Gestures used by conductors

Gestures used by conductors

Stravinsky's music brings an additional dimension to the conductor's task since the metric (the number of beats to a bar) changes often in his music. The conductor must change the beating pattern accordingly in order to be a reliable guide for the instrumentalists. In the excerpts from the Suite by Strauss, the conductor's gestures followed the same pattern throughout, even as he gave additional indications. In the following excerpts from the piece by Stravinsky, you'll notice how he "draws" changing patterns with his hands according the changes of metric indicated in the score*. This requires a lot of concentration! *The sheet music used by a conductor is called a score. It shows all the different parts played by all the different instruments on separate lines one above each other.

Did you know? Saxophone

In this video, Mathieu Harel, bassoonist for the OSM, introduces the woodwind section

The openings on the oboe, the bassoon and the clarinet are fitted with small pieces of wood called “reeds” that the players vibrate with their lips. There are single reeds and double reeds, depending on the instrument. As for the flute, it does not have a reed, but a little hole (embouchure) over which the flutist blows air to produce a sound.

Traditionally made out of wood, these instruments are easy to recognize by their elongated shape. To produce a sound, you blow into a small opening on one end.

Here they are playing all together in this movement from Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky!

The Woodwinds

Discover the brass instruments of the OSM in quintet formation!

Did you know? Harmonics

In this video, OSM trombonist, Pierre Beaudry, introduces us to the brass section.

We can see them from far off because they are shiny, we can hear them clearly because their sound is powerful: these are the instruments of the brass family!

To produce a sound, we blow into the mouthpiece while vibrating the lips.

The Brass Instruments

Did you notice this flute with an unusual form? Its body is longer than that of the regular flute, therefore it sounds lower. The curved embouchure piece helps the player reach the lower notes, with the added body length. This extra length also gives the instrument a smoother sound.

Unusual instruments

1. Alto flute or Flute in G

Despite its name, the basset horn is not a horn, but a type of clarinet. The modern basset horn, as shown on the picture, has a similar form to the bass clarinet, the top piece being curved towards the player and the bell pointing upwards, which helps to project the sound. Mozart was very fond of the basset horn and gave it a prominent role in many compositions, the most famous of which is certainly the opening of his Requiem.

Unusual instruments

2. Basset horn

Timbre is the word musicians use to talk about the specific recognizable sound each instrument makes. In instruments from the wind family, the timbre is the result of the material used, the way the sound is produced (embouchure, single or double reed) and the type of bore (conical or cylindrical).

Recognizing the timbre

On screen, you can clearly see the French horn starting off the fugue with its brassy, full, round sound. Next to come in is the clarinet. How would you describe its timbre? The instruments playing the next three entries of the subject are not shown on camera: are you capable of identifying them by their timbre? Click here to check your answer.

The fugue from the fourth movement of the Suite by Strauss makes for a useful exercise in identifying and comparing timbres, since the instruments take turns playing an easily recognizable melody.

The members of the OSM are all absolute pros on their instrument. Here, they share their best pro tips to help you progress towards mastery of your instrument! Click on the instrument of your choice to hear their advice.

Pro Tips

To be a remarkable musician, the first thing is obviously to master your instrument at the highest level, but it is important to complete this technical proficiency with a well-rounded character, to learn through life lessons and to touch the public through the expression of refined musicianship. Click on the picture to hear some members of the OSM talk about their relationship with their instrument and with music, how they maintain their passion for their profession and how they overcame obstacles to get to where they are today.

Discovering the OSM and the musicians differently

The new Musical Director of the OSM, Rafael Payare, is well aquainted with the power of music to inspire people and to give them the strength to overcome obstables, since he is a graduate of the El Sistema programme. This programme established in Venezuela offers a way out to thousands of young people growing up in poverty and harsh circumstances. While a student in this programme, Rafael Payare learned to play the French horn, then switched to conducting. Click on the picture to find out more.

A new conductor!

Still curious? There's an app for that!

You now know a bit more about the inner workings of the OSM, but the orchestra still has a lot to reveal! To deepen your exploration, you can download the app OSM Polyphonique for iPhone or iPad, or come try it out in person for free at the Espace OSM.