# "Minor" favorite instrument?



## johankillen (Sep 20, 2015)

Hi guys,

I did just come home from an evening walk and I ask me the question about my favorite minor instrument. I do call piano and violin for major instrument due to that they often play the solo part in many the must concertos.

One instrument that comes to mind is the horn due to that is a very majestic but at the same time it sounds very clear and clean. Even though, my girlfriend and her father do play horn so I got even one more relationship with the instrument.

One work that's come to my mind is Beethoven Symphony 8 movement III 18:00 




So guys, do you feel more for some of the minor instruments? If so, why? Share your experience! 

Edit: do to some comments I will add cello and organ as major instruments. Just to get a bigger botany of instruments ☺


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

If you consider cello a minor instrument, that would be my favorite. It's my favorite, anyway. I just love the sound in general, plus the range is awesome. Those full, resonant low notes, then to that upper range. There's a point on the way up that always gives me chills. I think the cello is the only instrument that can break my heart, and it's usually in that mid-to-upper range.


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## Captainnumber36 (Jan 19, 2017)

At first I thought you were asking what our favorite instrument was to hear in a minor key. To answer that, I'd say piano (Beethoven's Piano Sonatas), as for my favorite less popular instrument, does Oboe count?


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## johankillen (Sep 20, 2015)

Interesting, the only instruments that I will rank as major are piano and violin. So cello and oboe is really nice choices! Maybe I should have done a poll but I think the discussion is more interesting


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

I consider piano, violin, and cello to be the "major" ones in terms of solo and concertante works. But the OP said other than violin and piano. Regardless, cello is my favorite instrument; even more than percussion, which is saying a lot, since I'm a drummer.


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## bharbeke (Mar 4, 2013)

Timpani and English horn are my picks for favorite minor instruments.


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Clarinet. I love Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Brahms's chamber music with clarinet!


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## Anankasmo (Jun 23, 2017)

easy. The only instrument which has the same range as the piano and which gives every piece in which it is featured in a magical sound: the harp!! What would be Ravel or Debussy without harp?? Also there are many fine harp concertos contrary to the popular belief that it has not much repertoire. E.g. Gliere, Boieldieu, Saint-Saëns, Reinecken, Pierne, etc.

Ps: I consider the cello a major instrument so that eliminates the best instrument 

The organ can not be called minor because it has such a bulk of great repertoire and it essentially is an one-man orchestra but otherwise it would be my first choiche.....


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Good topic - but "minor" is, to me, not a good designation...no standard orchestral instruments are "minor"...all require great skill and artistry to master, and all have had great, challenging works written for them, that really stretch their capabilities. 

I'm a professional bassoonist, so that's my favorite - but I also love the horn, and the trombone...wonderful expressive possibilities on all of them, tremendous pitch range, and tone colors available.


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## Brahmsian Colors (Sep 16, 2016)

T Son of Ander said:


> If you consider cello a minor instrument, that would be my favorite. It's my favorite, anyway. I just love the sound in general, plus the range is awesome. Those full, resonant low notes, then to that upper range. There's a point on the way up that always gives me chills. I think the cello is the only instrument that can break my heart, and it's usually in that mid-to-upper range.


Cast another vote for the cello----wonderful sounding tones.


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## Poppy Popsicle (Jul 24, 2015)

My favorite "minor" musical instrument : the Jewish harp


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## silentio (Nov 10, 2014)

I have a soft spot for the recorder or voice flute (recorder in D). The instrument has adopted a bad reputation due to being played by kids, but when handled by professionals, it is amazing. Here is the transcription of the Bach's Partita for Flute (in A Minor) BWV 1013 for alto recorder (in C minor). I prefer the woody, earthy, and bit a bit glassy sound of the recorder to the airy sound of the flute.


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## Botschaft (Aug 4, 2017)

silentio said:


> I have a soft spot for the recorder or voice flute (recorder in D). The instrument has adopted a bad reputation due to being played by kids, but when handled by professionals, it is amazing. Here is the transcription of the Bach's Partita for Flute (in A Minor) BWV 1013 for alto recorder (in C minor). I prefer the woody, earthy, and bit a bit glassy sound of the recorder to the airy sound of the flute.


For me it's the opposite. I much prefer flute to recorder in Brandenburg concerto no. 4, for instance, which I terefore doubt was intended for recorder in the first place, but what do I know.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

Improbus said:


> For me it's the opposite. I much prefer flute to recorder in Brandenburg concerto no. 4, for instance, which I terefore doubt was intended for recorder in the first place, but what do I know.


I don't know what the original intent was - but for modern ensembles, flute is much preferable. The recorder has a volume/projection problem, due to the nature of the instrument - you cannot play it too loud - if you do, the lower octave overblows, and you get the upper register. slower airspeed is needed for the low register, but this means that it is quite soft, and there is a definite limit to how loud you can play.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'll have to go with horns as well. They work great in orchestral settings and even in chamber music.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

For me the piccolo, needed in the orchestra but that's it.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

Clarinet, ahead of cello and cor anglais.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Bettina said:


> Clarinet. I love Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Brahms's chamber music with clarinet!


There are also some lovely clarinet moments in Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto and at the beginning of Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, where a second clarinet joins in after a few bars for some nice harmony.

Then there's also the great clarinet obligatto (originally for basset clarinet) in the aria "Parto....parto" from La Clemenza di Tito in which the clarinet and mezzo trade virtuoso runs.

(As an aside: There are two instruments where Mozart had no peer: the female human voice and the clarinet.)

As you can probably tell, I don't consider the clarinet to be a "minor" instrument.

Perhaps it was when I was playing it.


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

I'm not sure what makes an instrument 'minor', but in the spirit of the OP, I'll reiterate my love for the soft, husky voice of the viola.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I love the piano but have to consider it to be a "minor" instrument in the music of Bach. Sounds ridiculously out of place compared to a harpsichord.

Became "major" with Beethoven, of course.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Pat Fairlea said:


> I'm not sure what makes an instrument 'minor', but in the spirit of the OP, I'll reiterate my love for the soft, husky voice of the viola.


I'll second that, and add the cor anglais and bassoon as well. There's something both chilly and warm about that range that I relish.


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## Omicron9 (Oct 13, 2016)

Double-reed instruments. All of them; I find their voices amazing.

Also: bass flute.


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

I can't believe someone is mentioning the cello as a minor instrument.


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## Heck148 (Oct 27, 2016)

norman bates said:


> I can't believe someone is mentioning the cello as a minor instrument.


Right, I said right off..no standard orchestral instruments are "minor"


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## johankillen (Sep 20, 2015)

Heck148 said:


> Right, I said right off..no standard orchestral instruments are "minor"


Yes minor is not the correct word, that's why I did put it in "quotation mark"..


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## David Phillips (Jun 26, 2017)

The mouth organ as played by Tommy Reilly.


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