Vienna Philharmonic - Sound and Instruments

Sound and Instruments

The characteristic sound of the Vienna Philharmonic can be attributed in part to the use of instruments and playing styles that are fundamentally different from those used by other major orchestras:

• The orchestra's standard tuning pitch is A443, where the pitch A is generally considered at a frequency of 440 Hz.
• The VPO uses the German-system clarinet. By comparison, the Boehm-system clarinet is favored in non-German speaking countries.
• Likewise, while the Heckel (German) bassoon is now the norm for most orchestras around the world, in the VPO the Heckel bassoon is played almost completely without vibrato.
• The rotary-valve trumpet is used, but this is also popular in other German and Austrian orchestras.
• Like its counterparts elsewhere in Austria, Germany and Russia, the VPO favors the F bass and B-flat contrabass rotary-valve tuba, whereas the CC piston-valve tuba is preferred in most American and some British orchestras.
• The trombone has a somewhat smaller bore, but this is also true of the trombone used in many German orchestras.
• The timpani have the Schnellar System in which the kettle pushed up as opposed to the head being pulled down. Hans Schnellar was the timpanist in the early 20th century, and personally made these drums. They also use goat skin heads as opposed to calf skin or plastic heads.
• The double bass retains the traditional theater-placement in a row behind the brass. The VPO uses 4- as well as 5-string double basses, with the bow always being held underhand (German bow).
• The Wiener oboe is, along with the Vienna horn (see below), perhaps the most distinctive member of the VPO instrumentarium. It has a special bore, reed and fingering-system and is very different from the otherwise internationally used Conservatoire (French) oboe.
• The Vienna horn in F uses a Pumpenventil, roughly similar to a piston valve. Unlike the rotary valves used on most other orchestral horns, the Pumpenventil contributes to the liquid legato that is one of the trademarks of the Viennese school. The bore of the Vienna horn is also smaller than more modern horns—actually very close to that of the valveless natural horn. The Vienna horn has remained virtually unchanged since the mid-nineteenth century—as a result it is arguably well-suited to the Classical and Romantic repertoire at the core of the VPO's programming.
• The string section is unique in that the instruments belong to the orchestra, unlike other orchestras in which each string player uses his or her own instrument. Although not of a particular pedigree, the Vienna strings have been carefully chosen over the centuries and they are largely responsible for the orchestra's well-loved string sound. They are meticulously cared for and, in case one is worn beyond repair, the process of finding a replacement instrument is equally painstaking. The National Bank of Austria currently loans four violins made by Antonio Stradivari to the VPO.

These instruments and their characteristic tone-colors have been the subject of extensive scientific studies by Gregor Widholm of the Institute for Viennese Tone-Culture at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna.