Cimbasso
James Anderson, OAE musician, tells us a bit about his Cimbasso which he’ll be playing at our Glyndebourne performances of Falstaff this summer…
Read MoreCountertenor
The countertenor is the highest male adult voice. Peter Giles, a professional countertenor and noted author on the subject, defines the countertenor as a musical part, rather than a vocal style or mechanism. The countertenor range is generally equivalent to an alto range, extending from approximately G3 or A3 to E5 or G5 and they…
Read MoreSackbut
The sackbut is a trombone from the Renaissance and Baroque eras and, along with the cornetto and organ, was one of the most important instruments in Baroque polychoral (a Venetian style of music which involved spatially separate choirs singing in alternation) works. It belongs to the brass family, a lot like a trumpet, except that…
Read MoreHarpsichord
With its unique plucked sound, stately shape and often beautifully adorned exterior, the harpsichord is one of the most recognisable sounds and images of the glorious baroque.
Read MoreOboe
“Majestical and Stately, and not much Inferior to the Trumpet.” So wrote Henry Playford of the oboe in The Sprightly Companion, an oboe ‘how to’ published in 1695. Handel’s ‘favourite’ instrument, Tomaso Albinoni’s vehicle to fame (listen to his Opus. 7 oboe concertos) and the lucky recipient of some of Vivaldi’s most technical writing (he…
Read MoreHorn
Today’s horn, what is often known as the French horn, is a descendant of the natural horn, which in turn is a descendant of the hunting horn. Small and circular in shape, the hunting horn was easy to carry and convenient to play whilst sat atop a moving horse. Although the basic shape is still…
Read MorePeriod Instruments. Some frequently asked questions
1. Why is the orchestra called “The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment”? We are a period instrument orchestra named after the age in European history known as The Enlightenment, an era spanning the late seventeenth, eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This was a time of great experimentation and innovation, a period during which instruments,…
Read MoreViolin
What makes the OAE a ‘period instrument orchestra’ is that the players use either original instruments or copies of original instruments from the Age of the Enlightenment (17th/18th centuries). This means that the sound they create is closer to the sound that composers such as Mozart and Haydn would have had in mind when composing….
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