History: The Orchestra Pit

Wagner's Orchestra pit. Based on the illustration in OxfordMusicOnline

The orchestra ‘pit’ is clearly the major feature of the theatre musician’s career: the musician will spend the entire show in this place, usually in the dark. De rigueur in early theatre, and still found in many opera houses, the orchestra ‘pit’ was simply an area at the front of the stalls at floor level… Continue reading History: The Orchestra Pit

Korean Musical Theatre

This blog is mostly about western music and western theatre, but I think it provides an interesting viewpoint to look at the theatrical and musical traditions of another culture. This weeks history focus revolves around an article by ethnomusicologist Andrew Killick. He examines the various genres of traditional Korean Theatre with music, and provides an… Continue reading Korean Musical Theatre

Norman O’Neill – Music to Stage Plays

This is a wonderful old article (it was published in the proceedings of the Royal Musical Association in 1910) which lays out the land for the traditional method of presenting music to a stage play. Norman O’Neill was a composer who wrote prolifically for the theatre, and these musings are the product of an expert… Continue reading Norman O’Neill – Music to Stage Plays