German vs. French style

October 30, 2025, 7:18 PM · For the majority of major orchestras I doubt it. I am slightly dubious about the premise given the way modern players are the bi-product of so many great teachers all over the world. One orchestra I think definitely conforms to a certain style is the Czech Philarmonic. They are one of the most unified sections in the world and most of the players are from the same kind of lineage. It does give them a unique sound.

Edited: October 31, 2025, 5:46 AM · When I was a kid, a conductor I played for told us that the NY Philharmonic had something of a German sound, stemming from the solidity in lower registers. By contrast, the Boston Symphony still was considered to have a French sound. And some orchestras have principals being replaced by their students, which creates some continuity.

Even so, recordings, broadcasts, and international travel have weakened much of this legacy. These days you have Juilliard students from Asia and all parts of Europe competing for the same slots all over the United States. And the conductors who shape their sound usually have little connection with or affinity for their predecessors from a century ago.

One relic of this, though, that I witnessed was a tour performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra in Boston. Symphony Hall has famous acoustics, but you have to be careful not to play too harshly or loudly. The Philadelphians, on the other hand, nurtured their lush sound in part by playing at the bone-dry Academy of Music and then regularly flexing their muscles in Carnegie Hall. Anyway, when they got to Boston, they sounded AWFUL, and Sawallisch spent most of the first half trying to get them to shut up. He must have delivered a stern lecture at intermission, because they were much more settled in the second half. But it was one case where you could say an orchestra had inherited a particular sound.

Edited: October 31, 2025, 6:45 AM · I only know of it in oboe playing. In the case of violins it sounds more like a baroque thing. Ma Vlast has probably been the biggest influence on Czech playing, Stephen (lol, but maybe seriously)

October 31, 2025, 12:45 PM · There were some pockets of Austria-Hungary that were self-sufficient and insulated from each other. Musicians could train locally in the nearest big city and then get jobs at the opera house. No need to go to Vienna or Paris to earn a living.

WWII isolated Czechoslovakia with the German occupation, and the Communist takeover continued to make travel difficult.