# Composers and their "spirit instruments"



## pluhagr (Jan 2, 2012)

I was recently thinking of composers in terms of a single instrument. The composer, whether they played that instrument or just wrote well for it, should seem to be associated to that instrument. I was wondering what composer and instrument pairs you had in mind.

Some examples that I though of were:
Stravinsky- Piano
Messiaen- Organ
Shostakovich- Cello


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

JS Bach - Harpsichord (sharp and capable of polyphony)
Haydn - Bassoon (jocular and good-willed)
Mozart - Violin (light and graceful)
Beethoven - Piano (slightly grey in terms of tone color, but sure packs a punch)
Bruckner - Horn (powerful and rounded)
Wagner - Trombone (rich and sonorous)
Debussy - Harp (capable of far more than its reputation for pretty sounds would suggest)
R. Strauss - Soprano voice (his Pauline wouldn't allow him anything else)
Mahler - Clarinet (varies from the very human B-flat to the winkingly ironic E-flat)
Schoenberg - Viola (whether you listen or not, he asserts his presence)
Webern - Celesta (fades as soon as it begins to sound)
Varese - Drums/percussion (fierce and violent)
Messiaen - Vibraphone (resonant and sensuous)


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Mozart: Opera
Beethoven: Symphony orchestra
Chopin: Piano (obviously)
Bach: Organ


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

John Cage, all conventional instruments + toy instruments + everything but the kitchen sink.

... wait a minute....


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

Hindemith and the viola (too obvious?)


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## Karabiner (Apr 1, 2013)

Marais - Viol
Boccherini - Cello
CPE Bach - Clavichord


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Erik Satie - Piano. Kind of obvious. 
Milton Babbitt - synthesizer.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Dowland - lute

I would have thought organ for Messiaen, or maybe the Ondes thingawhich.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

PetrB said:


> John Cage, all conventional instruments + toy instruments + everything but the kitchen sink.
> 
> ... wait a minute....


Yeah, literally. :lol: And also that thing with the duck whistle.

Of course, being a little more serious, when I think of Cage, I mostly associate him with the prepared piano.


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## apricissimus (May 15, 2013)

I associate tubas and piccolos with Shostakovich.


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

*Shostakovich*; snare drum (the propellant of almost all his symphonies)
*Messiaen*; Ondes Martinont (electrifying ethereal rainbow)
*Ligeti*: Vibraphone (signaly precise)

/ptr


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## Andreas (Apr 27, 2012)

Mahler - muted trumpet
Shostakovich - cor anglais
Tchaikovsky - triangle


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Mahlerian said:


> Varese - Drums/percussion (fierce and violent)
> Messiaen - Vibraphone (resonant and sensuous)


Impressive list - but for Varèse drums / percussion fits for Ionisation but I would match Varèse more up with electronic music, as Ionisation was written out of frustration at the lack of new "electronic" instruments. I would match Varèse to - proto-electronics/ Sirens/ Theremins or early Ampex tape recorder.

Have seen an interesting story that Charlie Parker used to follow Varèse round the streets of Greenwich Village, trying to pluck up courage to ask him for composition lessons.


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

Richard Struss will always be associated with the horn. His father, Farnz Strauss , long time prinicpal horn of Royal Bavarian opera in Munich ,now the Bavarian State opera , was considered the gretest horn player of his day . There are the two Strauss horn concertos, the famous horn solo in Till Eulenspiegel , the moonlit interlude in his final opera Capriccio , and so many other great passages for horn or horn section in his music .
Bruckner and Mahler also wrote wonderful parts for horn, such as Bruckner's 4th , the scherzo of Mahler's 5th, etc.


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## aleazk (Sep 30, 2011)

Bach - organ.
Ravel - piano, oboe.
Ligeti - piano, horn.
Takemitsu - guitar.


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## Jobis (Jun 13, 2013)

Stravinsky - Bassoon
Xenakis - Percussion
Penderecki - Violin


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## Op.123 (Mar 25, 2013)

Schumann - piano
Chopin - piano
Mendelssohn - piano
Schubert - voice


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## starry (Jun 2, 2009)

Vivaldi - violin
Schubert - baritone voice


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