Monday, August 22, 2005

Overtures involving Jacob's Ladder?

The 1812 Overture is memorable in part because the score calls for real cannon fire.

There are other compositions that call for unusual instruments, but are there other compositions that call for slightly dangerous implements, like Jacob's ladders (high voltage electricity) or thundering herds of water buffalo?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The most likely place to turn for any kind of "alternative instrument" in a classical piece is Peter Schickele's research into the life and music of P.D.Q. Bach. As he remarked after the "Grand Serenade for an Awful Lot of Winds and Percussion", "You don't hear siren playing like that every day."