# I need examples of famous pieces of music for each instrument. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 4, 2007, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213 "2007-11-04T19:38:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/21 "2007-11-05T05:47:26Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] …I was a trombonist through high school and I am having a hard time coming up with “famous” trombone parts…our best parts were pieces of marches (in concert band) or some parts of jazz songs (in jazz band)… You can check out [JJ Johnson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._J._Johnson), who is probably the most famous jazz trombonist, see if you can find anything he played that is recognizable. [/QUOTE] I’d say that Tommy Dorsey is the most famous jazz trombonist, though playing ["I’m Getting Sentimental Over You "](http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000005MVK001001/103-0516496-9815840) to a bunch of sixth graders would be a good way to make sure that none of them would pick up a trombone again. [JJ Johnson](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h8P9BZn_tE) is probably a better bet. I’d second Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf. You might also play a video of a dixieland band and point out the various instruments as each one takes a solo. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/22 "2007-11-05T10:27:06Z")
I’m really, really unsure about a French horn playing higher than a trumpet - in my experience it ain’t so, though the French horn has a large range; and Wikipedia agrees with me. I’d pick Haydn’s trumpet concerto as an excellent showcase for that instrument, but there are also splendid obbligatos for trumpet in _The Trumpet Shall Sound_ from Handel’s Messiah and _Let The Bright Seraphim_ from his _Samson_. The latter pieces, incidentally, were written for natural (valveless) trumpet and illustrate perfectly the restricted range of notes available to one. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/23 "2007-11-05T13:34:18Z")
Miss Saigon’s “The Last Night of The World” features “a song played on a solo saxophone.” ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/24 "2007-11-05T13:48:36Z")
For flute, I would strongly recommend Serenade to a Cuckoo, from Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s “I Talk With the Spirits”. Most amazing flute-oriented album _ever_. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/25 "2007-11-05T14:30:33Z")
[QUOTE=cornflakes] I’d say that Tommy Dorsey is the most famous jazz trombonist, though playing ["I’m Getting Sentimental Over You "](http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B000005MVK001001/103-0516496-9815840) to a bunch of sixth graders would be a good way to make sure that none of them would pick up a trombone again. [/QUOTE] 😕 Why? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/26 "2007-11-05T14:40:01Z")
My list… Trumpet: Voluntary by Jeremiah Clarke (often attributed to Purcell) Flute: Bourree in E Minor by J.S Bach (as performed by Ian Anderson/Jethro Tull) French Horn: Mozart Horn Concerto in E flat major (introduced by “Ill Wind” by Flanders and Swann) Strings: Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel Violin: Four Seasons by Vivaldi (performed by Nigel Kennedy) All I can think of for now Si ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/27 "2007-11-05T14:51:18Z")
For English horn (alto oboe), the classical example is Dvořák’s _Symphony No. 9: From the New World_, movement 2. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/28 "2007-11-05T15:49:42Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] A lot of times you’ll see marching bands using [mellophones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellophone) for French horns and [marching baritones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritone_horn#Marching_baritone) for baritones, which look a lot alike from far away. [/QUOTE] Thanks, **ZipperJJ**! Ignorance fought! ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/29 "2007-11-05T16:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] Thanks, **ZipperJJ**! Ignorance fought! [/QUOTE] Even more tuba-like, of course, is what we call the tenor horn (but Americans call the [alto horn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alto_horn)) - the baritone’s baby brother. It is pitched in E flat, close to the F of the French horn. The French horn has a much bigger range, though, as its design allows the use of the upper end of the harmonic series to a much greater degree than any other brass instrument. Indeed, though it’s a labiaphone and made of brass, it’s often considered in a class apart from “brass” as such. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/30 "2007-11-05T16:34:33Z")
Check out the [Canadian Brass](http://www.amazon.com/Canadian-Brass-More-Greatest-Hits/dp/B000003EO3/ref=sr_1_11/102-7584396-9918522?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194279598&sr=1-11) versions of the Overture from _Carmen_ and The Sabre Dance. Also [Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor](http://www.amazon.com/Go-Baroque-Johann-Sebastian-Bach/dp/B000003FV9/ref=pd_sim_m_shvl_img_1/102-7584396-9918522). How about [the Benny Hill Theme played on a tuba](http://www.amazon.com/Tubas-Hell-Dave-Gannett/dp/B000003YNB/ref=sr_1_12/102-7584396-9918522?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1194280015&sr=1-12)? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/31 "2007-11-05T16:37:08Z")
Got any xylophone players? Try “Silent Night” by The Music City Brass, available on iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/32 "2007-11-05T17:00:18Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] A lot of times you’ll see marching bands using [mellophones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mellophone) for French horns and [marching baritones](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baritone_horn#Marching_baritone) for baritones, which look a lot alike from far away. But a French horn is usually playing higher than a trumpet and a baritone is playing lower than a trombone (french horn -\> trumpet -\> trombone -\> baritone -\> tuba). Totally different instruments. [/QUOTE] Huh, in Marching Band, we French Horn players used Alto Horns, a kind of extra-shrunken Baritone (Alto register, duh), with trumpet fingerings. -Cem ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/33 "2007-11-05T17:04:30Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] Even more tuba-like, of course, is what we call the tenor horn (but Americans call the [alto horn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alto_horn)) - the baritone’s baby brother. It is pitched in E flat, close to the F of the French horn. The French horn has a much bigger range, though, as its design allows the use of the upper end of the harmonic series to a much greater degree than any other brass instrument. Indeed, though it’s a labiaphone and made of brass, it’s often considered in a class apart from “brass” as such. [/QUOTE] In most chamber groups and in most orchestras, we (French Horns) were lumped in with the woodwinds for sectional work. Unless it was for a brass grouping, of course, in which case we were brass. My single best memory of playing the Horn was playing in a brass quintet (can’t remember the piece, dammit). Brass is SO much better than woodiwnds (shameless opinion). -Cem ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/34 "2007-11-05T17:27:08Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] 😕 Why? [/QUOTE] Eh, maybe not. I think that the kids around here would want something more modern or more upbeat. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2007, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/35 "2007-11-05T17:59:51Z")
If you’re looking for uses of those instruments in **pop** music, well… There’s a trumpet in The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” There’s a French horn (I think; maybe a trombone) in The Kinks’ “Dead End Street” There are flutes in songs by Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues (e.g. “Voices in the Sky”), and Men At Work (e.g. “Down Under”) There are saxophones in lots of songs (as I once started a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=387629) full of examples). ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/36 "2007-11-05T18:15:46Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] labiaphone [/QUOTE] Sometimes having a mind that’s stuck in the gutter is a real hindrance, and sometimes, it just adds so much color to the world. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/37 "2007-11-05T18:44:18Z")
I tried googling “labiaphone” and the only entry is someone who also claims to play the jugs. Now THAT would catch the typical 6th grader’s attention, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/38 "2007-11-05T18:59:53Z")
[QUOTE=fessie] I tried googling “labiaphone” and the only entry is someone who also claims to play the jugs. Now THAT would catch the typical 6th grader’s attention, IIRC. [/QUOTE] Heh…I have to admit that my first reaction was similar to **Knead To Know** ’s, but in reality, “labiaphone” just means that the instrument’s sound is provided by someone’s lips. It’s a subset of the “aerophones” (instruments that are sounded by the vibration of a column of air). ---
**Author:** ![Cemetery\_Savior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Cemetery\_Savior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cemetery_Savior)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/39 "2007-11-05T19:14:20Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] If you’re looking for uses of those instruments in **pop** music, well… There’s a trumpet in The Beatles’ “Penny Lane” There’s a French horn (I think; maybe a trombone) in The Kinks’ “Dead End Street” There are flutes in songs by Jethro Tull, The Moody Blues (e.g. “Voices in the Sky”), and Men At Work (e.g. “Down Under”) There are saxophones in lots of songs (as I once started a [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=387629) full of examples). [/QUOTE] And the wretched bassoon in “Tears of a Clown” by Smokey Robinson. -Cem ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213/40 "2007-11-05T21:24:35Z")
> [@](#): > > But a French horn is usually playing higher than a trumpet and a baritone is playing lower than a trombone (french horn -\> trumpet -\> trombone -\> baritone -\> tuba). In the bands I’ve been in, the baritone has been the same range as a trombone (both one octave above the bass tuba). The primary difference is of course the method of play (valves vs. slide), with the trombone’s gliss ability which goes with that, but even playing a steady note, the sounds are subtly different: The trombone is a cylindrically bored instrument, meaning that for most of the length, the tubing keeps the same diameter, but the baritone is conically-bored, meaning that (except within the valve tubing) the diameter continually increases along the length of the tubing. For tuba (and to a lesser extent, baritone), there’s a whole organization to go to: Harvey Phillips’ [TubaCompany](http://www.indiana.edu/~alldrp/members/phillips.html). And others have mentioned _Peter and the Wolf_: It’s worth noting that it was actually composed for exactly this purpose, presenting the various instruments in an educational context. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-examples-of-famous-pieces-of-music-for-each-instrument/425213.md?page=3)