[Antiquarian]

The glass armonica is a pretty unusual instrument, and has been used infrequently by composers:

Mozart: Adagio and Rondo for Glass Harmonica, Flute, Oboe, Viola & Cello - K.617
Hasse, Johan Adolf: Cantate "L'armonica"
and more recently,
Eister, Garry: Quintet for Glass and Strings

Many of these works can be found on the album

Cristal : Glass Music Through the Ages - Dennis James (produced by John Boylan and Linda Ronstadt) Sony SK 89407

 

[Whistler Fred]

David Jaffe wrote a large scale concerto for something called a Radio-Drum-Performed Disklavier Grand Piano (basically a drum-activated piano) and an ensemble of guitar, bass, mandolin, harp, harmonium, harpsichord and percussion called "The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." Odd, but fun!

 

[KenOC]

Beethoven wrote the incidental music to Leonore Prohaska, WoO 96, in 1815. "It includes a short little 'Melodrama' for [glass] armonica and narrator -- at the point in the play when the heroine Leonore is speaking to her true love from beyond the grave."

 

[spradlig]

Sorry for posting yet again, but I can't believe I forgot this one. Messaien's Turangalila-Symphonie uses the ondes Martenot.

 

[SONNET CLV]

Walter Piston's Incredible Flautist features a dog barking. And I thought only John Cage did such things.

Of course birds are popular in music. The Respighi bird has been pointed out already. And Rautavaara has a concerto for birds. Apparently they are taped. Birds are tougher to get coordinated in a concert hall setting than are union musicians.

One of my favorite OLYMPIA albums presents Mikhail Nosyrev's Symphonies 3 and 4. Number 4 remains unique, as far as I know, in opening with a solo of four triangles.

I once heard of a Concerto (I believe it was for piano) that featured the smashing of a pane of glass during the music. I understand the pane of glass was to be of a certain dimension. (I don't have any more info on that. Maybe another poster will be able to bust in with an answer to what piece this is.) A lot of contemporary music features unique sounds.

Of course, there's always PDQ Bach's "Concerto for Horn and Hardart".

 

[jtbell]

Aho - Symphony No. 12 (standard instrumentation, but supposedly intended to be played outdoors with noticeable wind and such)

A recording of his theremin concerto has just appeared on BIS:

 

[dgee]

There's the Andre Jolivet Ondes Martenot Concerto - neat piece, I listened to it only out of curiosity and now it resides on my ipod -)

 

[dgee]

Mahler's 4th has a nice part for a posthorn.

Mahler 3 - usually played on Flugelhorn

 

[brianvds]

Hovhaness used recordings of whale song in one of his symphonies - can't remember now which one, and I'm too lazy to go look it up.

 

[Guest]

A recording of his theremin concerto has just appeared on BIS:

View attachment 46656

That disc looks delicious. The works aren't even on allmusic yet, so I would've never known!

Cheers

 

[KenOC]

Hovhaness used recordings of whale song in one of his symphonies - can't remember now which one, and I'm too lazy to go look it up.

"And God Created Great Whales" I believe. Not a symphony.

 

[Antiquarian]

Leopold Mozart's Toy Symphony is interesting as it uses actual toy instruments in addition to strings and piano.

 

[KenOC]

Leopold Mozart's Toy Symphony is interesting as it uses actual toy instruments in addition to strings and piano.

Shostakovich used a toy piano in his Prelude to "Orango," at least as it has reached us. It is on the conductor's podium and is played from there. Not too complicated, I think, since the black keys are merely painted on.

 

[brianvds]

"And God Created Great Whales" I believe. Not a symphony.

Ah, yes, that's the one. But if I declare it's a symphony, then it's a symphony. Hovhaness wrote so many, one more or less wouldn't make a difference.

 

[SONNET CLV]

Paul Chihara utilizes an "amplified Hichi-Riki" in his Ceremony III. The Hichi-Riki or Hichiriki is a traditional Japanese double-reed flute-like instrument used in Gagaku (Court Music).

 

[senza sordino]

And then there is Concerto for three vacuum cleaners and floor polisher

 

[KenOC]

Let us not forget Concerto for Two Rifles and a Bird by Julien Pacaud, 2011.

 

[musicrom]

Don't forget Leroy Anderson's Typewriter Concerto (starts at 1:30):

 

[ArtMusic]

Tan Dun. Concerto for bowls of water.

 

[schigolch]

The piano is not a very exotic instrument... Really?. Well, it depends on how you play the piano: