Symphony instruments, 19th century symphonies were gradually augmented with more string players and more wind parts, so that the orchestra grew substantially in sheer numbers, as concert halls likewise grew. At the beginning of the 20th century, Gustav Mahler wrote long, large-scale symphonies. His Eighth Symphony, for example, was composed in 1906 and is nicknamed the "Symphony of a Thousand" because of the large number of voices required to perform the work. Additionally, his Third Symphony is one of the longest regularly performed symphonies at around 100 minutes in length for most performances. The 20th century also saw further diversification in
Nagauta Symphony this work. For this work, Yamada composed music for the western orchestra which is used to counterpoint a classical "nagauta", the music which accompanies the "kabuki". The symphony is subtitled "Tsurukame" after the name of the "nagauta" which is used. Composed in 1857, the text celebrates the Emperor of Japan and the imperial court. The symphony is in one movement with a duration of approximately 17 minutes. The "Nagauta Symphony" uses a western orchestra and voices, as well as an ensemble of traditional Japanese musical instruments. The Japanese ensemble consists of several shamisen and percussion. Nagauta Symphony The Nagauta Symphony