 Lira Organizzata |
Jean Emile Auguste Bernard was born on the 28th November, 1843 in Marseilles. He
studied organ at the Paris Conservatoire with Benoist and piano with Marmontel. He
later became organist at Notre Dame des Champs church until his retirement in 1895.
His works include a Suite for Violin and Piano, Concertstück for Piano and Orchestra,
Andante and Rondo for Cello and Orchestra, Organ Fantasy and Fugue, which won
the 1877 prize of the Société de Compositeurs de Paris, and a Concerto for Violin
and Orchestra which was dedicated to and played by Sarasate at the Conservatoire
in 1895. His Divertissement, Op.36 was first performed at the Parisian Société des
Instruments à Vent. Emile Bernard died on the 11th September, 1902 in Paris.
Arthur H. Bird was born on July 23rd, 1856 in Belmont, Massachusetts. After receiving his early musical training from his father, Horace and uncle, Joseph Bird, he was sent to study organ in Germany at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik in 1875. Returning to North America two years later, he took a church music position at St. Matthews Church, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada where he began to compose. He also taught piano at the Young Ladies Academy and at the Mount St. Vincent Academy. He returned to Berlin in 1881 to study composition and orchestration under Heinrich Urban. Except for brief visits to his homeland, Bird spent the rest of his life abroad. Bird became a close friend and disciple of Franz Liszt; they often played chess together. The master supported him by conducting his Carneval Szene, Op. 5 and giving him encouragement when the critics attacked the work’s unusual aspects. By 1886, Bird was well established as a pianist and a composer; his melodious, well-crafted compositions were being published and performed widely. He returned to the U.S. that year, for the last time, to conduct the Milwaukee Musical Festival. After his marriage in 1888 to a wealthy widow, Wilhelmine Waldman, his compositional output slowed dramatically. The couple spent most of their time entertaining the musical circles of Berlin in their lavish homes (an opulent mansion and an apartment). Taxes and inflation of post World War I Germany caused the Birds to have to take income producing positions. Mrs. Bird presided over the women’s page of a leading newspaper and, as a foreign correspondent, the composer contributed articles to various American musical publications, including: the Musical Leader (Chicago), The Etude, and The Musician. The Boston Herald critic wrote in 1907: “It is a pity that Mr. Bird has taken life so easily of late years. He was a composer of true promise and his critical articles published in sundry musical periodicals show him to be a man of much acumen and fastidious taste.” He died in Berlin on December 22nd, 1923. Bird composed approximately 110 works; most of them between 1882 and 1900. Characteristically, they are rich in harmony, melodic writing and counterpoint skill. He wrote three works for wind ensemble: Marche Miniature (Nonet), the Serenade Op.40 and the Suite in D, Op. 29 (1889) which was commissioned by the French flautist Claude Paul Taffanel and his Paris woodwind ensemble ”La Société de Musique de Chambre pour Instruments a vent.” |
Privately tutored
by Leon Goossens (oboe), Harold Craxton (piano) and others, she
then read English at Oxford and
taught in London schools before joining the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra as principal oboist; she also appeared with it as oboe and piano soloist. Later, as a freelance player, she formed the Mercian Trio (flute, oboe and piano). From 1960-71, she was Director of the Kent Music School. There she taught, conducted, arranged and composed until her retirement. Her numerous compositions include many for wind ensembles. Born on August 22nd, 1862 in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, though he had little formal education as a child, Debussy showed promise as a pianist by the age of 9 and entered the Paris Conservatoire soon after to study composition and piano, gaining a reputation there as an erratic pianist and a rebel in following rules of harmony and theory. However, he won the Prix de Rome in 1884 and spent 2 years in Rome where he met Liszt and Verdi. Other musical influences included Wagner, Borodin, Mussorgsky and Satie as well as friendships with and inspiration from 'Impressionist' painters, writers and poets. Debussy was among the most important of 20th century composers, developing an original system of compositional techniques expressed through the use of block chords, modal harmonies, orchestral colours, layered sounds and a lyrical style. His works include ballets, opera, orchestral, choral, piano and chamber music. He died on March 25th, 1918 in Paris. For more information about Claude Debussy, click here Composer, broadcaster and Chairman of the National Youth Wind Orchestra of Great Britain until 2002, his works range from symphony and opera to miniatures for lute and clavichord. A former student of the Royal College of Music, he taught theory and composition there for many years and enjoyed a close association with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, providing them with original works and arrangements. During the period 1966/75, he wrote music for many major BBC radio drama productions. With his Wind Symphony, he extended his activity into the wind band repertory and completed eight further works, including Arlington Concertante, commissioned by the University of Texas, which, through performances in the U.S.A., led to the invitation to compose Flowers of London Town. His prolific output includes much chamber music for strings, wind and brass. He has a worldwide reputation as a composer for the guitar; John Williams has premiered many of his works. For more information about Stephen Dodgson, click here Born in Le Mans, France, he studied
composition (with Nadia Boulanger) and piano at the Paris Conservatoire. As a
pianist, he was a frequent soloist in his own works. His often witty, yet elegant and sophisticated
style of writing became his trademark throughout his life. His works include
operas, ballets, symphonies, concerti and chamber music, much of it for
wind ensemble. For more information about Jean Françaix, click here Self-declared rebel and campaigner for
women's rights and British music, she was born in Bexhill-on-Sea
and studied at the Royal College of Music with
Vaughan Williams (composition) and Leon Goossens (oboe). Her
professional career began as oboist and pianist, later becoming founding conductor
of the London Repertoire and Chanticleer Orchestras. In
1957, she was the first woman to conduct at the Royal Festival Hall and in 1967
became Chair of the Composers' Guild
of Great Britain. She taught at the Royal College of
Music ( her students included Julian Lloyd Webber and Alexander
Baillie) and was made an MBE in
1981. Her numerous works include five symphonies,
various concerti and chamber works. For
more information about Ruth Gipps, click here Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) For Haydn's biography, click here Serenade No.3 in C from Hob. II: 32 arranged for wind dectet by Derek Smith Haydn wrote five concertos during 1786-1787 for two lira organizzata with accompanying instruments (2 horns and strings) and eight notturni, around 1788 to 1790, for two lira organizzata also with accompanying instruments (2 horns, 2 clarinets, 2 violas and cello or bass). They were written for the King of Naples (Ferdinand IV) who deemed himself to be a virtuoso on his favourite instrument the Lira Organizzata, which was a popular instrument at that time and had the shape of an 18th century string instrument but with a rotating wheel playing the strings. It was similar to a hurdy-gurdy but incorporated small organ pipes activated by a keyboard. There were at least two different types with one having the pipes vertically arranged and the other with transverse ones. The handle worked the bellows as well as the wheel for the strings and pipes. A good example can be found in the old instruments collection of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as well as in museums in Amsterdam and London. 'Notturno' was a musical term mainly used in the 18th century for two to three movement compositions similar in style to a serenade or divertimento. They were not played until eleven o'clock at night and very often they were performed in the open air. Haydn later rescored most of his lira pieces, for oboes, clarinets, violins and flutes in various combinations, several of which were performed in London. His rescored notturni, performed at the Salomon concerts in London in 1791-92, used flute and oboe to replace the lira parts. Derek Smith has inventively reworked this material for modern wind instruments in the form of a double wind quintet.
Lira Organizzata / Lire Organizzate / Vielle Organisee
(copy of one made in 1771, from drawings by Dom Bedos [1709 -1779])
Click on photos to enlarge
Photos reproduced by kind permission of Robert Moore.
For information on these and other interesting items made by Rob Moore, click here
Lira Organizzata (copy of one in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London)
Click photo to enlarge and for sound clips at Matthias Loibner's web site