Chapter 1
MUSIC AS A GUIDE
Main ideas:
Orchestration is defined as "an arrangement of music for an orchestra," which requires a thorough knowledge of theoretical music subjects and the characteristics of various instruments in the contemporary symphony orchestra.
The string choir is the core of orchestral thinking and writing, which allows for a wide range of adaptation and usefulness in orchestration.
Music scored for the string choir provides an excellent foundation for orchestration in any form.
Good orchestrators do not necessarily need to be proficient in playing orchestral instruments, but they must have mastery and exploitation of all that had been done before them by composers of many styles and periods, plus a genius-size portion of musical intuition.
To think orchestrally is to conceive and hear all the instruments of the orchestra idiomatically and to understand their technical and tonal values along with their overall potentials.
The art of scoring for orchestra is not a static or rule-bound process, and there may be several possible ways to score a given piece, each quite different in specific plan and sound, yet each quite acceptable in its ultimate effect.
Changes made in technicalities such as melody placement, harmony positions, or rhythmic fidelity may occasion distortions beyond the limits intended by the composer.
Orchestration requires considerable attention to the matters of style, form, and construction, which have to be thoroughly appraised before actual scoring can be started.
Definition of Orchestration
The dictionary defines an orchestra as a band of musicians and an orchestration as "an arrangement of music for an orchestra." These definitions, although general in character, serve the purpose reasonably well, except in the case of the term "orchestra." An ambiguity of definition arises from the fact that a concert or military band may also be regarded as "a band of musicians." How, then do they differ, and why is a distinction deemed necessary? Both groups have varying numbers of wood-wind, brass, and percussion instruments. The answer lies in the fundamental difference of the orchestra having a complete string choir as its principal section, around which all other sections are semi-dependent and adjusted. The string choir is the very core of orchestral thinking and writing.
A period of approximately one hundred years was required for the instrumentation of the symphony orchestra to become more or less standardized. Yet, from its very inception, the orchestra, devoted to the performance of symphonic music and its counterparts, the oratorio and the opera, has relied on the string choir for its maximum effort and effect. To a large degree, the development and continuous progress of orchestration was made possible because of the flexibility, adaptability, and variety inherently idiomatic in the string section. It is a complete and independent section which, by its very nature, allows for a wide range of adaptation and usefulness.
Music scored for the string choir, idiomatically and with proper regard for harmonic structural considerations, will provide an excellent foundation for orchestration in any form. This point may be further emphasized in connection with the place held by the string section in the orchestral repertory of pre-Bach composers. Their scores, for the most part written primarily for string orchestra with occasional added winds, remain active on concert programs not only because of their varying qualities as music but because of their excellent, idiomatic string writing. These early composers knew and understood the capacities of the string section remarkably well, as a study of Vivaldi's The Seasons will reveal.
Orchestration, defined as "an arrangement of music for an orchestra," is actually a highly specialized component of musical composition. It calls for a thorough working knowledge of theoretical music subjects (harmony, counterpoint, form, etc.) and an equally comprehensive understanding of the characteristics and peculiarities of all the various instruments employed in the contemporary symphony orchestra. Such matters as tonal range, technical capacities, combination possibilities, as well as the various tonal limitations, strengths, and weaknesses of each instrument, form an essential part of every orchestrator's technique. This kind of technique can be acquired in exactly the same way that facility in playing an instrument or composing becomes possible and practical — through the actual doing.
Students of orchestration need not be unduly concerned about their lack of playing experience of orchestral instruments. This limitation is not in itself a serious handicap, as can be shown by the achievements of two of the greatest innovators in this field, Hector Berlioz and Richard Wagner. Neither was proficient as an instrumental performer. Yet these two giants of orchestration managed to give their works the stamp of genius and originality. No, their excellence did not come from actual playing technique; rather, it was a result of their mastery and exploitation of all that had been done before them by composers of many styles and periods, plus a genius-size portion of musical intuition. This deduction is especially true in the case of Hector Berlioz. His extraordinary, epoch-making Treatise on Instrumentation shows most conclusively how he had not only mastered the technical matters of his craft, but had assimilated the very essence and spirit of the works he chose to examine and analyze.
The case of Richard Wagner is somewhat different, for here we find a composer who had little formal music education. He relied essentially upon a fantastic sense of musical intuition, but also learned his instrumental vocabulary, as did Berlioz, to a large degree, through his work as an orchestral conductor. Both of these titans owe a special debt of gratitude to Carl Maria von Weber, since his innovations led the way toward a new kind of orchestral thinking. To stress this point of thinking orchestrally is to start on the right road to orchestration, for to think orchestrally is to think idiomatically.
Before leaving this subject of thinking orchestrally, we should take into consideration the fact that while great composers all follow a common musical instinct, their pathways in art may diverge widely. Robert Schumann's orchestral works have been assailed by some music critics and conductors as being unorchestral. This same criticism has also been directed toward the purely orchestral portions of the Chopin works for piano and orchestra. In the case of the latter, the weakness and ineffectiveness of the orchestration are more apparent and unfortunate. The orchestral writing of both composers reflects, in varying degrees, their preoccupation with music frequently conceived in terms of the piano. This musical inclination is reflected in the texture of the music — its construction, thematic ideas, figurations, and harmonic spacings.
To think orchestrally is to conceive and hear all the instruments of the orchestra idiomatically and to further understand their technical and tonal values along with their overall potentials. The acquisition of such mastery in orchestration is not incompatible with distinction in other mediums of musical expression. The orchestral works of both Debussy and Ravel are not only beautifully conceived and scored but are also epoch-making in their sonorities and textures; at the same time, their piano compositions are gems of pianistic technique and expression. This dual kind of musical personality may also be applied to both Brahms and Strauss, inasmuch as their vocal compositions constitute a significant part of the song repertory; likewise, both composers' orchestral works are firmly entrenched in the symphonic repertory and are likely to remain so for many generations to come. In the case of Brahms, we find a highly individualistic style of scoring based on well-established procedures of the more conservative type, while the works of Strauss are the exact antithesis: they are bold and sensational in their sheer instrumental virtuosity.
From these comparisons, the student will discover the wisdom of acquiring the understanding of idiomatic orchestral values along with the free play of musical intuition as the first step toward a flexible scoring technique. This knowledge, once gained and assimilated, may be enhanced by combining it with the advantages received from all the subjects studied in the related field of musical history.
The art of scoring for orchestra is by no means a static or rule-bound process. Frequently there will be several possible ways to score a given piece, each quite different in specific plan and sound, yet each quite acceptable in its ultimate effect. Such differences, occurring from the choice of timbres (tonal colors) rather than changes of structure, may conceivably be considered as matters of personal preference. However, changes made in such technicalities as melody placement, harmony positions, or rhythmic fidelity may occasion distortions beyond the limits intended by the composer. Further study will clarify the need for considerable attention to the matters of style, form, and construction, which have to be thoroughly appraised before actual scoring can be started. The following sections have been designed to coordinate the technical details of the compositional aspects of orchestration.