We can probably trace the origin of the orchestra back to the origin of man, for we know that primitive people had crude instruments, and we can guess that they probably played together in groups.
However, the idea of a real orchestra had to wait for the development of wind and bowed string instruments, as well as a system of notation.
In the 1600s, a French composer, Jean Baptiste Lully, arranged the first operatic music, using stringed instruments plus flutes, oboes, trumpets, drums, and bassoons. As operatic composers like Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart became popular in the late 1600s and early 1700s, the orchestra was enlarged.
The largest orchestra ever to play together assembled in Oslo, Norway in 1964, an orchestra of 20,000 musicians!
Related Posts
-
Where Did the Santa Fe Trail Begin and End and Did the Santa Fe Trail Begin In St. Louis?
The Santa Fe Trail started in Independence, Missouri, near Kansas City. The Santa Fe Trail was the 780 mile long (1,256 km long) route that settlers, cattlemen, and traders followed southwest through Kansas…
-
Why Do So many Scottish and Irish Surnames Begin With “Mac” As In MacDonald and “O” As In O’Connor?
One of the ancient Celtic traditions of Scotland and Ireland was, in much the same manner as for American slaves, that all the serfs who worked his land used the name of the…
-
What Is the Mesopotamian Myth of Creation and How Did the Universe Begin According To Mesopotamian Mythology?
The Mesopotamians believed that the universe began as water. The water was ruled over by the god, Apsu, and the goddess, Tiamat. Apsu and Tiamat had several children and grandchildren who often quarreled…
-
When did the Harlem Renaissance begin?
No one agrees on exactly when the Harlem Renaissance began, but everyone acknowledges that it reached its peak in the 1920s. Some consider Main Locke (1886-1954), a philosophy professor at Howard University, the…
-
How did the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union begin?
The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (BSCP) was the nation's first all-black union. During the 1800s and early 1900s most people traveled long distances by train, and Pullman sleeping cars allowed them to…
-
When did Mexican immigration to the United States begin to be restricted?
Some restrictions to Mexican immigration to the United States began to appear early in the 1900s. Mexican immigrants had to register and pay a tax at border stations; illiteracy, disease, or extreme poverty…
