# Works with unusual combination of instruments?



## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

If I've posted this before please delete but I don't think I have, I am always looking for unusual combinations of instruments, like Ralph Vaughan-Williams Romance for Harmonica and Orchestra, what are the oddest things you've come across? This doesn't have to be concertos, it can be chamber works, orchestral works anything at all that has an odd score. There is also Beethoven's 3 Eqauales for I think tubas.


----------



## Moira (Apr 1, 2012)

Benjamin Britten Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, Op.31 (song cycle) 

I used to play the tenor horn in a brass band and I remember being so excited about this one. Then I noticed the comma.


----------



## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

ComposerOfAvanteGarde's yet to exist opus for 500 clavichords.


----------



## reffohelgnid (Mar 12, 2012)

Albrechtsberger composed a concerto for Jew's Harp and Mandora (which is a type of lute). Here are the first two movements:






By the way, Beethoven's 3 Equali was written for 4 trombones. Possibly the least Beethovenesque (that is, Beethoven-sounding) thing he ever composed.


----------



## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

This person plays a wide range of vegetables.






These people play tablets.


----------



## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Andre Previn recently conducted the world premiere of his concerto for trumpet, horn and tuba
with his former orchestra the Pittsburgh symphony . I'd be really curious to hear this, and don't know of
any other concerto for this combination .


----------



## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Messiaen's_ Quartet for the end of time _is scored for for B-flat clarinet, violin, cello, and piano - an instrumentation determined by who was available in the prisoner of war camp in which he was interned. The quartet was premiered in Stalag VIII-A in Görlitz, Germany in 1941.


----------



## chee_zee (Aug 16, 2010)

orchestra asia has a 62 piecer of japanese, chinese, and korean traditional instruments:
http://www.orchestraasia.net/world/instruments_00.html

aura-j is when that group does japanese only, there is also the pro musica nipponia for that:
http://www.promusica.or.jp/

24 piece is their largest group. minoru miki is your man, he has three recorded works for orchestra asia using the same 62 piece ensemble, you can get each cd from the orchestra asia site. one of them is a pipa concerto, so 63 piece. he wrote a piece for pro musica nipponia that uses 20-23 instruments, depending on the number of shakuhachi used:





I've also seen a kora concerto. other than that check out yasunori mitsuda's stuff, specifically radical dreamers and chrono cross.


----------



## Jeremy Marchant (Mar 11, 2010)

Carl Orff's _Antigonae _has an orchestra made up of 6 flutes, 6 oboes, 6 trumpets, 6 pianos, 4 harps, 8 timpani and 15 percussionists playing a massive battery of instruments. Surprising for 1949.

Toru Takemitsu used traditional Japanese instruments in a western orchestral context - eg, _November steps _includes parts for shakuhachi and biwa.


----------



## mleghorn (May 18, 2011)

George Antheil's Ballet Mecanique uses 16 player pianos (or pianolas) in four parts, 2 regular pianos, 3 xylophones, at least 7 electric bells, 3 propellers, siren, 4 bass drums, and 1 tam-tam.


----------



## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

Schnittke wrote a series of four pieces called Hymns that all include strange combinations of instruments. The cello is featured in all four, but is accompanied by various combinations of other instruments. Some of the other instruments included are bassoon, timpani, tubular bells, harpsicord, harp, string bass. Each Hymn has a different group.


----------



## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

Manok said:


> If I've posted this before please delete but I don't think I have, I am always looking for unusual combinations of instruments, like Ralph Vaughan-Williams Romance for Harmonica and Orchestra, what are the oddest things you've come across? This doesn't have to be concertos, it can be chamber works, orchestral works anything at all that has an odd score. There is also Beethoven's 3 Eqauales for I think tubas.


Beethoven's 3 Equali ('Equali' is the plural of 'Equale') is for four TROMBONES (the tuba hadn't been invented in Beethoven's time). This was a fairly standard combination for quite a time.

There are concertos for instruments like the marimba (several composers), balalaika (Eduard Tubin), tuba (several composers) and contrabassoon (Kalevi Aho). Other pieces than spring to mind include:

Dvořák - Serenade in D minor, Op 44 (2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 3 horns, cello, bass)
Janáček - Mládi (flute, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon, horn)
Mozart - Divertimento in C, K 188 (2 flutes, 5 trumpets, 4 timpani)
Prokofiev - Quintet, Op 39 (oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, bass)
Saint-Saëns - Septet in E flat, Op 65 (trumpet, piano, string quartet, double bass)


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Pieces that immediately come to mind:

Schoenberg: Pierrot Lunaire
*Ligeti:* Kammerkonzert
ComposerOfAvantGarde: 7 (for seven trombones)
Stravinsky: L'Histoire du Soldat
Antheil: Ballet Mecanique
Webern: Concerto for 9 instruments
ComposerOfAvantGarde: Trio Sonata no. 1 for piccolo, trumpet and xylophone
ComposerOfAvantGarde: Trio Sonata no. 2 for vibraphone, cello and harpsichord
Carter: Sonata for flute, oboe, cello and harpsichord
Cage: complete works


----------



## Prodromides (Mar 18, 2012)

There's Raphael Mostel's "NightSongs" for a Tibetan singing bowl ensemble, as one example:










There is quite a number of atypical instrumental combinations if one is inclined to hunt them down.

A few more which come to my mind are Lou Harrison's "Concerto for Pipa and String Ensemble",
and "Trois Visions de L'Apocalypse" for brass ensemble and organ by Jacques Casterede.

Marius Constant wrote a "concerto for barrel organ and orchestra".


----------



## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

This is not very serious but: Henri Kling Kitchen Symphony, Op.445. For piano, trumpet, funnel trumpet, wine glass, bottle, saucepan, fire irons, milk jug and tin covers. On the other hand ,the opus number looks very serious.


----------



## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

I knew it was either for trombones or tubas, oh well win some and lose some. I laughed at Cage - Complete works.


----------



## crmoorhead (Apr 6, 2011)

Malcolm Arnold's "A Grand, Grand Overture" for 3 Vacuum Cleaners, 1 Floor Polisher, 4 Rifles and Orchestra. You can even watch a performance on YouTube.


----------



## Klavierspieler (Jul 16, 2011)

Britten: Phantasy Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola, and Cello


----------



## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Klavierspieler said:


> Britten: Phantasy Quartet for Oboe, Violin, Viola, and Cello


Goodness gracious, what an _unusual_ instrumentation! I'm sure no one has _ever_ composed anything with _that_ combination before!


----------

