# Classical Music Utilizing Unusual Instruments **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 6, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383 "2011-04-06T12:17:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/1 "2011-04-06T12:17:02Z")
[Verdi’s Anvil Chorus](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3x-pwJGsgU) utilizes hammers being struck on anvils. [Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNatwyAJ6dI) (when done properly) utilizes actual cannons. What are some other classical works that utilize unusual instruments? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/2 "2011-04-06T12:30:38Z")
Leolpold Mozart’s **Toy Symphony** > **[Toy Symphony](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_Symphony)** > > The Toy Symphony (full title: Cassation in G major for toys, 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings and continuo) is a musical work dating from the 1760s with parts for toy instruments, including toy trumpet, ratchet, bird calls (cuckoo, nightingale and quail), Mark tree, triangle, drum and glockenspiel. It has three movements and typically takes around seven minutes to perform. > It was long reputed to be the work of Joseph Haydn, but later scholarship suggested that it was actually written by Leopold Mozart.... ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/3 "2011-04-06T12:36:03Z")
The celesta is somewhat unusual; Tchaikovsky used it in [The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0iP6j6nhjY). ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/4 "2011-04-06T12:57:08Z")
Mozart wrote for the [glass harmonica](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XPfoFZYso8). Respighi’s 1924 orchestral piece _The Pines of Rome_ calls for a phonograph record of birdsong to be played in the third movement. Messiaen wrote for the early electronic instrument the [ondes martenot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpdK-kSW4KA). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/5 "2011-04-06T12:59:49Z")
Respighi’s [Pines of Rome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pini_di_Roma) and Rautavaara’s [Cantus Arcticus](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantus_Arcticus) both use recorded bird song. [Prepared piano](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prepared_piano) might be considered an “unusual instrument” which several composers have written music for, most notably John Cage, who also wrote [Imaginary Landscape No. 4 for 12 radios](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A4kcW1QnIk&feature=related). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/6 "2011-04-06T13:06:09Z")
Cage wrote a lot of weird shit. I saw one piece performed that included chattering teeth on piano strings, watering a vase of roses in a bathtub, and smashing 5 radios that are tuned to different stations. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/le_ministre_de_l_au-dela/32/12181_2.png) [@Le\_Ministre\_de\_l\_au-dela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/7 "2011-04-06T13:48:12Z")
[Harry Partch’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOHBqFevy0k) music uses an entire orchestra of homemade instruments. There’s a [great site](http://musicmavericks.publicradio.org/features/feature_partch.html) from the American Mavericks series where you get to play virtual copies of his instruments. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/8 "2011-04-06T14:06:57Z")
[Concerto for the Horn and Hardart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardart) ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/9 "2011-04-06T14:35:28Z")
Donizetti scored the [mad scene](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Il_dolce_suono) in _Lucia di Lammermoor_ for glass harmonica as accompaniment to the soprano, although these days it’s often replaced by the flute. ---
**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/10 "2011-04-06T16:43:16Z")
Beethoven’s [Battle Symphony](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wellington%27s_Victory) a.k.a Wellington’s Victory calls for “muskets and other artillery sound effects”. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/11 "2011-04-06T16:47:58Z")
Classical music using the [saxophone](http://www.talkclassical.com/9689-saxophone-classical-music.html) is unusual, and has been ever since the saxophone was invented in the 1840s. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![vdgg81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/12 "2011-04-06T16:50:27Z")
The winner here is obviously Karlheinz Stockhausen’s [Helicopter Quartet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helikopter-Streichquartett): > [@](#): > > The Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet) is one of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s best-known pieces, and one of the most complex to perform. It involves a string quartet, four helicopters with pilots, as well as audio and video equipment and technicians. It was first performed and recorded in 1995. Although performable as a self-sufficient piece, it also forms the third scene of the opera Mittwoch aus Licht (“Wednesday from Light”) I actually own a recording of this I picked up for less than a dollar. I won’t say the money was wasted because at that price it was worth it for novelty value alone. ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/13 "2011-04-06T17:15:20Z")
Bagpipes: Peter Maxwell Davies in An Orkney wedding with sunrise Didgeridoo: Peter Sculthorpe in Earth cry Various Japanese instruments in the works of Toru Takemtisu Jamaican steel band in Malcolm Arnold’s Commonwealth overture And then of course there is Malcolm Arnold’s A grand grand overture for 3 Vacuum Cleaners, 1 Floor Polisher, 4 Rifles and Orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/14 "2011-04-06T17:41:13Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > [Concerto for the Horn and Hardart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardart) And Hoffnung composed for things like hose pipes and vacuum cleaners. And Cage’s \*4’33" \*does not use even one conventional instrument (you might hear a little breathing or a ticking clock). ---
**Author:** ![Art\_Rock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/art_rock/32/525_2.png) [@Art\_Rock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Art_Rock)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/15 "2011-04-06T17:42:40Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And Cage’s \*4’33" \*does not use even one conventional instrument (you might hear a little breathing or a ticking clock). Clearly you never heard it in the version for string quartet. ---
**Author:** ![vdgg81](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/3d9bf3/32.png) [@vdgg81](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vdgg81)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/16 "2011-04-06T18:06:12Z")
> [@Art\_Rock](#): > > … > Didgeridoo: Peter Sculthorpe in Earth cry > … Ooh, I forgot all about this. I know this isn’t strictly speaking a recommendation thread, but everybody should listen to this. It’s a very nice piece and you can buy a recording cheap from Naxos. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/17 "2011-04-06T18:43:50Z")
I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to disagree on the Celesta and the Saxophone. While neither belong to a standard 19th century symphony, they are both far from oddities - Ravel frequently used Saxophones, and the Celesta is often used in more modern orchestra music. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/18 "2011-04-06T20:37:58Z")
Ralph Vaughn Williams’ _Sinfonia Antarctica_ calls for a wind machine. . ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/19 "2011-04-06T21:06:52Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Ralph Vaughn Williams’ _Sinfonia Antarctica_ calls for a wind machine. > > . So does Richard Strauss’s _Don Quixote_—and, I see from checking Wikipedia, [so do a few other compositions as well](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_machine). ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383/20 "2011-04-06T21:13:55Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So does Richard Strauss’s _Don Quixote_—and, I see from checking Wikipedia, [so do a few other compositions as well](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_machine). That list does not include John Zorn’s **Cycles Du Nord** , from his _Music for Children_ album, which is NOTHING BUT wind and feedback machines. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/classical-music-utilizing-unusual-instruments/577383.md?page=2)