In six cases, at least, the direction
has some special qualification--_e.g._, Hautboys playing _loud_ music;
_A lofty strain or two_ to the hautboys; Trumpets and hautboys
sounded, and drums beaten _all together_. In _Ant._ IV, iii, 12,
Hautboys supply the supposed ominous 'music in the air.'
The term is closely connected with 'Music,' the remarks on which apply
equally to the present case. (See above, on 'Music,' and the music of
16th century plays).
Not long after Shakespeare's time, orchestral music for the theatre
consisted of stringed instruments only (_i.e._, the violin family,
violins, violas, violoncellos, and the sole surviving 'viol,' the
double-bass) with harpsichord, for general use; while in the more
important pieces, hautboys, and sometimes flutes as well, were added,
playing, as a rule, with the 1st and 2nd violin parts. This, at any
rate, is the case in Purcell's operas. (Purcell died 1695). Thus the
word Hautboys represented very nearly the climax of power to 17th
century ears. Anything beyond this was supplied by the addition of
trumpets, though this was rare; while Drums were very occasionally
used.
The stage direction in Shakespeare may be taken to mean--'Let the
hautboys be added to the usual band of strings.' In the last of the
above examples, _Coriol._ V, iv, 50, we have the extreme limit of
power of this time provided for--viz., trumpets _and_ hautboys _and_
drums, _all together_.
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