Orchestration

“ Recent development of differentiated types of orchestration discloses the unique fact that almost every country of musical prominence is represented by a single orchestral writer of unusual ability whose success was dependent upon the initiatory work of one single predecessor. Italy is represented by Spontini and Verdi, France by Berlioz and Saint-Saëns, Bohemia by Smetana and Dvořák, Scandinavia by Gade and Grieg, Russia by Glinka and Tschaikowsky, Germany by Wagner and Richard Strauss. ”

“ The explanation of this fact is that while the art of music is always spoken of as young in the handbooks, that of orchestration is much younger. The student of orchestration, say the teachers, can derive little benefit from a study of scores older than those of Haydn and Mozart because some of the instruments of their predecessors are obsolete and so is their manner of writing for the instruments still in use. ”

“ The above epitome presents the historical aspect of orchestral development. Due credit has been given to those men who particularly helped to forge the connecting links in the evolutionary chain, irrespective of the intrinsic value of their own instrumentation. In antithesis to the above historical aspect, the following synopsis presents the purely practical aspect of orchestration proper as developed by thirteen men whose contributions thereto would appear to be of chief importance. ”

“ He possesses an hitherto unheard of orchestral technique, and taxes both the executive ability and the artistic attributes of the instrumentalists to the utmost. He makes use of elaborately conceived programs necessitating vast orchestral resources, is an extremist in the realm of realism, and secures powerful dramatic effects by means of vivid orchestration.
Orchestration in its present development would seem to have reached its highest possible attainment of effectiveness and virtuosity. ”

“ It is Richard Strauss’s opinion that the next advancement in orchestration will be brought about by adding largely to certain groups of instruments which now have only comparatively few representatives in the orchestra. ”

“ The principal requirements of good orchestration are solidity, balance of tone, contrast, and variety. Solidity is obtained by a proper dispersal of the harmony, so that certain notes in the chords do not stand out too prominently at the expense of others. The composer must not only be a master of harmony, but he must have the true harmonic feeling. He must have that almost instinctive grasp of the proportions of chords which can come only from real musical gifts cultivated by long familiarity with modern music. ”

“ The pleasure to be derived from the performance of an orchestral composition must naturally be largely increased when the listener is alert to catch all the varieties of excellence which may be combined in it. Orchestration, as I have already said, does not mean the playing of an orchestra, though the word is frequently misused in that sense. It means writing for an orchestra, and it has certain requirements not always to be found even in the works of the great masters. ”

“ We have now traced the wonderful growth of orchestration through the entire eighteenth century and well into the nineteenth. And the contributions thereto by the great Italian and French masters are by no means to be underestimated even though the German classicists tower above them. A final summing up of their general methods of instrumentation will properly conclude this chapter.
The classic symphony realizes its principal effects from the dialogue of instruments rather than from their collective forces. ”

“ For, just as a handbook of harmony, counterpoint, or form presents the student with harmonic or polyphonic matter, principles of construction, formal arrangement, and sound technical methods, but will never endow him with the talent for composition, so a treatise on orchestration can demonstrate how to produce a well-sounding chord-2- of certain tone-quality, uniformly distributed, how to detach a melody from its harmonic setting, correct progression of parts, and solve all such problems, but will never be able to teach the art of poetic orchestration. ”

“ His synthesis of thematic counterpoint in all the voices of the different choirs is at times so reckless that the euphony of its harmonic corollary is endangered and the resultant effect presents a chaos of cacophony unless the auditor accustom himself to follow the Melos not vertically but horizontally. The orchestration is the most vivid in existence. Realism is accentuated. The tonal tints are scintillating and glowing. Every single instrument in the orchestra has an indispensable rôle assigned to it. ”

“ A second difficulty, this time a musical one, lies in the disproportion between the small orchestra of less than twenty five players for which Grétry wrote and the dimensions of our modern theatres. You may say it is very easy to double the number of musicians. It is not easy, for that cannot be done without reshaping the orchestration, a delicate task which requires the hand of a very clever master. ”

“ The question of orchestration has a technical side, and it may be laid down generally that it is a very delicate matter exactly to appreciate novelties brought into the technique of the art by a musician, a school, or a period. ”

“ The choruses were planned with greater breadth and with an admirable regard for unity. The orchestration developed a wonderful diversity of color, and breathed fresh and genuine life through the entire score. The overture, not a dramatic preface, but a pastoral symphony in abridged form, with the obligatory three movements—allegro, andante, presto; the huntsman’s chorus; the duet between Tell and Arnold; the finale of the first act ”

“ The manner of instrumentation, the musical declamation are his father's, but the orchestration is much simpler, and, unlike his father, he produces his greatest and best effects by means of simple melodies, but he fails when he seeks to become pathetic or dramatic. ”

“ True, the orchestration will always have to be done by the master's own hands, but in other respects musicians of the future will be as greatly benefited as men of letters by the new phonograph which, it is predicted, will create as great a revolution in social affairs as the telegraph and railroad did when first introduced. ”

“ The instruments of the orchestra of even Mozart's day afford such a variety of colors that may be exploited separately or in infinite combination, that, under the hands of a master of orchestration, the wealth is so great as to leave practically nothing to be desired. ”

“ Tschaikowsky in Greater Russia, Grieg in Scandinavia, Dvořák in Bohemia, Saint-Saëns in France, Wagner and Richard Strauss in Germany,—these are the men of the nineteenth century who have caused the art of orchestration to-157- acquire distinctively national characteristics suited to the needs of differentiated national music. In return, composers of all countries are seizing upon every possible device introduced by these innovators, and the twentieth century gives promise of results cosmopolitan in nature and superb beyond description. ”

“ The search after extravagant and daring effects in orchestration is quite a different thing from mere caprice; the will to achieve is not sufficient; there are certain things which should not be achieved.
The simplest musical ideas, melodic phrases in unison and octaves, or repeated throughout several octaves, chords, of which no single part has any melodic meaning are scored in various ways according to register, dynamic effect and the quality of expression or tone colour that may be desired. In many cases, one idea will be orchestrated in a different way every time it recurs. ”

“ Similarly, in the treatment of the orchestra, such a thing as filling up is avoided to the utmost possible; and in order to escape the over-complexity of detail so unsuitable to the symphonic form of art, the forces of the orchestra are grouped in masses in the principal characteristic figures, in such a way that the whole texture is endowed with vitality. The impression so conveyed to some is that the orchestration is not at such a high level of perfection as the other elements of art ”

“ II. Orchestral writing should be easy to play; a composer's work stands the best chance when the parts are well written. [5]
III. A work should be written for the size of orchestra that is to perform it, not for some imaginary body, as many composers persist in doing, introducing brass instruments in unusual keys upon which the music is impracticable because it is not played in the key the composer intends.
It is difficult to devise any method of learning orchestration without a master. As a general rule it is best to advance by degrees from the simplest scoring to the most complicated. ”

“ Independent instrumental music found its origin in the attempts at embellished organ accompaniment; solo singing devolved from the Miracle Plays, from the lyrics of the troubadours, and from the Florentine monody as developed by Peri and Cavalieri, whose theories contained the germ of opera and oratorio, for which instrumental accompaniment is a requisite. (3) The chapter entitled "Beginnings of Orchestration" marks the actual starting point for the nuclear thought of this book. Here the central figure is Monteverde, father of modern instrumentation. ”

“ The opera became a field for instrumental experiment, and the orchestra, as employed by the operatic composers, was continually in advance of the symphonic orchestra in the variety and extent of its combinations and in the utilization of the special powers of each individual instrument. This continued to be the case up to the time of Liszt, Berlioz, and Wagner, when the technics of conventional orchestration were so thoroughly established that the demands of the new romantic school of composers affected the orchestra simultaneously in opera and symphonic composition. ”

“ And subsequently in writing for specific orchestras for which a sufficient number of strings had not yet been supplied, it may be that these masters intuitively presaged that this much needed metamorphosis of internal organization would gradually take place as the direct reflex of their own-46- exalted demands for improved instrumentation and artistic rendition. ”

“ I have given a few examples of well-sounding chords; for further information I advise the reader to study full scores with care, as this is the only method to acquire perfect knowledge of the distribution and doubling of various instruments.
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Chapter IV. COMPOSITION OF THE ORCHESTRA.
Different ways of orchestrating the same music.
There are times when the general tone, character and atmosphere of a passage, or a given moment in an orchestral work point to one, and only one particular manner of scoring. The following simple example will serve for explanation. ”

“ With the exception of Berlioz, Félicien David and Gounod, few French writers have, until recently, applied themselves to independent orchestral music as one of the primary objects of their ambition. In France, the operatic stage ever has been and still is the centre of attraction. ”

“ Once having mastered these, if the student devote a little time to the study of full scores, and listen to them on the orchestra, he will soon learn when certain methods should be used and when to adopt others. ”

“ The parliamentary concert is about to commence, and it is for the Premier as leader of the Government orchestra to keep his band together as best he may. This is no easy task. A single false note may mar the harmony of the whole performance; the failure of one solitary instrumentalist may cause the dismissal of the entire band. It is the conductor's duty to see that his orchestra plays in unison, or, if not in unison, at least in harmony. He must keep a watchful eye upon each individual, and quash the efforts of any one member to perform a solo upon his own peculiar trumpet. ”

“ I have often in my mind compared society to a vast orchestra, which, properly led, gives forth a heavenly music, and which, ill conducted, utters only harsh and discordant sounds. The true leader of the orchestra has the music in his mind. He can read the intricate scroll which is set up before him; and so the army of melody responds to his tap, and instrument after instrument wakes at his bidding and is silent at his command.
I cannot help thinking of Governor Andrew as such a leader. ”

“ The Orchestra is a corporate body that is ruled by the Conductor. His is the power that holds all these forces together; he it is who guides these ninety men through the mazes of the vast musical composition, or fabric of woven melodies and harmonies, the patterns and colors of which he will place before our auditory nerves, which will carry to and impress upon our brains the musical forms and figures that also charm our senses; and to do this the Conductor must understand the technique of his Orchestra every bit as thoroughly as each man knows the technique of his instrument. ”

“ We call the Orchestra an instrument, or even a machine; but let us think for a moment of these intelligent personalities behind their instruments, or merged into their instruments, and we shall realize what a sensitive organization a Symphony Orchestra is. ”

“ An orchestra on a platform played rag-time music, while painted women in short dresses to give them a youthful appearance, sat on benches against the wall, or danced with swaggering men to the calls of a brawny bullet-headed floor manager. ”

“ In case of direst need, should conductor and orchestra lose touch with each other in a public performance, the concert-master must divine the cause of the trouble, and, through his intimacy with the men and his knowledge of the conductor’s wishes as well as of the score, bring them together again with the sound of his instrument, at a critical moment more potent than the conductor's stick. ”