10 fun facts about music world #2
Monaco’s army is smaller than its military orchestra
The army itself counts 82 soldiers, while the orchestra has 85 persons. The army although being that small, was in fact never needed in a military action.
Elvis Presley remains the best-selling solo artist in the world
Known as the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis’s sales reached over 1 billion worldwide, making him still the best-selling solo artist.
The musical notes are read differently around the globe
The 7 notes composing the “musical alphabet” are read in most of the countries as Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-La-Si, while a very small amount of countries use the alphabet letters for naming them A-B-C-D-E-F-G (mainly used for string instruments), while the last note in both cases is called as an octave.
There are only 5 types of musical instruments
Percussion – striking them
String – strumming the string
Woodwind – blowing them
Brass – blowing them
Keyboard – pressing the keys
An orchestra does not have a fixed number of players or any specific composition
The type of the orchestra gives in fact the number of performers. Chamber orchestras are the smallest ones with a maximum of 50 persons, while symphonies and philharmonic ones have between 80-100 performers.
The conductor of an orchestra chooses in fact the instruments within
Generally speaking, the orchestras have players of all types of instruments, yet it is not necessary a rule. The conductors can select the types of instruments they want to include and usually it depends on the musical program they want to conduct.
And yet… orchestras don’t always need a conductor
There are orchestras, mainly dating from the 17th-early 18th Century, that don’t require conductors. Even so, a concertmaster or a leader figure is needed and generally it is of a violinist.
Renaissance supported the music spread outside the religion purposes
When the printing press came to life, so did the spreading of music. The musical compositions were now easier to share and distribute, as well as it influenced the experimentation with new instruments and styles.
A violin is made of 70 different pieces
A violin is consisted of 9 basic parts of the violin, formed of 70 pieces.
Mozartkuggeln are the most representative sweets of Austria
In 1890 Paul Fürst was the one that came up with the idea of having chocolate balls showing Mozart’s face on its wrapper. It is still one of the most popular brand representing Austria worldwide.