Dictionary of Music - Birding America

476 wind quintetFrench horn, the air column is set in vibration by theplayer’s lips. In WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS, it is setin vibration either through a flue-shaped opening(flute) or by means of a reed (clarinet, oboe, bassoon).The pitch sounded by any wind instrument—brass or woodwind—depends on the length of thevibrating air column; the longer the air column, thelower the pitch. The length of the air column can bevaried by means of additional lengths of tubing(such as slides in the trombone, or valves that makeavailable extra tubing in the French horn) or by fingerholes, which cut off wind from part of the tube.The pitch produced also depends on whether the aircolumn vibrates along all of its length or part of itslength; in the latter case, harmonics (overtones ofthe fundamental pitch) are produced. The mostimportant way of producing harmonics isOVERBLOWING.The tone color of wind instruments—that is, thedifference in sound between a trumpet and a Frenchhorn producing the same note—depends on theblend of harmonics produced along with the fundamentaltone. This in turn depends on the shape of theinstrument’s mouthpiece (cup-shaped, funnelshaped,an open hole), the presence or absence ofreeds, the shape of the bore (inside) and bell, andother factors. See also TRANSPOSING INSTRUMENTS.wind quintetSee under QUINTET.wobble An extreme vocal VIBRATO (def. 6).Wolf (volf), Hugo (hoo — ′gō), 1860–1903. AnAustrian composer who is remembered principallyfor his lieder (see LIED, def. 1). In the tradition ofSchubert and Schumann, Wolf set to music poemsof considerable literary merit. He also admiredWagner, whose influence is seen in the elaboratepiano accompaniments Wolf provided for his songs.Wolf’s most important collections of lieder are theMörike-Lieder (1888), with texts by HeinrichMörike; Goethe-Lieder (1889), to poems byGoethe; Spanisches Liederbuch (“Spanish Songbook,”1890) and Italienisches Liederbuch (“ItalianSongbook,” 1891, 1896), to German translations ofSpanish and Italian poems. Of Wolf’s other works,which include choral music, an opera, and variousinstrumental pieces, the one most often performedtoday is Italienische Serenade (“Italian Serenade,”1887), a string quartet that he later transcribed fororchestra.wood block Also block, Chinese block, templeblock. An orchestral percussion instrument consistingof a rectangular piece of wood, 6 1 / 2 to 8 incheslong, with a slit cut in one side to form a resonatingcavity. Tapped with a wooden stick or mallet, it producesa high-pitched resonant “toc-toc” sound, theexact pitch varying with the size of the block.woodwind instruments A family of wind instrumentsin which sound is produced by the vibrationof an air column set in motion by the player’s breaththrough a mouth hole or reed. As in other windinstruments, the pitch of the note sounded dependson the length of the vibrating air column. This lengthdepends in part on whether the pipe is open at bothends, as in flutes, or closed at one end, as in clarinets.The length of the pipe can also be altered, butin woodwinds, unlike brass instruments, the lengthcan only be shortened, not lengthened. Shorteningthe air column, and hence raising the pitch, isaccomplished by means of holes bored in the side ofthe instrument. The holes are opened and shut eitherdirectly by the fingers (finger holes) or by means ofvalves and keys. When all the holes are closed, thepipe sounds its fundamental tone; as the holes areopened, one by one, they successively raise thepitch.The name “woodwind” comes from the fact thatmost of the instruments in the group were oncemade of wood. Today this is no longer true; flutesusually are made of metal, recorders sometimes ofplastic, and saxophones are always made of metal.The chief woodwind instruments of the symphonyorchestra are the flute, piccolo, oboe, Englishhorn, bassoon, double bassoon, clarinet, and bassclarinet. Also used occasionally are the saxophone,bass flute, heckelphone, and basset horn. (TheFrench horn is sometimes included as well.) Theflute and piccolo consist of tubes open at both ends;the air is set in vibration by the player’s breaththrough a mouth hole. The oboe, English horn, and