Musical instruments are born, develop and evolve, not by chance or arbitrarily, but in reason of the roles and functions that they have to perform.
They are, after all, “instruments”. The changes that affect man’s conception of sound depend on the finds of instrument-makers, of course, but those experiments and discoveries are first prompted by the needs of society.
For instance, the gradual decline of the lute, or demise of the viola da gamba in favour of the cello, reflect demands for more sonorous instruments, corresponding to new ways of performing music to ever-larger audiences.
These changes also reflect aesthetic changes – the search for more assertive tone colours, the inclusion of instruments in larger groups or orchestras, etc. – and they prompt new aesthetic changes in their turn. |
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