THE STUDY OF ORCHESTRATION THIRD EDITION Samuel Adler Professor Emeritus, Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester Composition Faculty, Juilliard School of Music Ae DT W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. New York LondonCopyright © 2002, 1989, 1982 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America The text of this book is composed in Palatino & Sonata with the display set in Frutiger & Copperplate. Editor: Suzanne La Plante Manuscript Editor: Barbara Curialle Gerr Project Editor: Julie Schnepel Proofreaders: Lisa Robinson, Claire McCabe, music; Rosanne Fox, Julie Schnepel, text Research and Editorial Assistants: Jan Hoeper, Claire McCabe Director of Manufacturing: Roy Tedoff Book Design: Joan Greenfield Composition: UG / GGS Information Services, Inc. Music Composition: Kenneth Yarmey, with Yuzuru Sadashige Layout Artist: Roberta Flechner Manufacturing: Quebecor/World Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Adler, Samuel, 1928- The study of orchestration / Samuel Adler.—3rd ed. yadnced p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-393-97572-X 1. Instrumentation and orchestration. |. Title MT70.A3 2001 781.3'74—dc21 99-055023 W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110 www.wwnorton.com W. W. Norton & Company, Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells St., London WIT 3QT 7890Preface ix CONTENTS PART ONE. INSTRUMENTATION 1 THE ORCHESTRA— YESTERDAY AND TODAY 3 2 BOWED STRING INSTRUMENTS 7 Construction 8 Tuning 9 Fingering 10 Double, Triple, and Quadruple Stops 11 Divided Strings 12 Vibrato 14 Glissando and'Portamento 15 The Bow 16 Bowing 17 Non legato 17 Legato 18 Special On-the-String Bowings 21 Special Off-the-String Bowings 26 Trills and Other Coloristic Effects Using the Bow 28 Coloristic Effects without the Bow 33 Mutes 39 Scordatura 40 Harmonics 41 Contemporary String Techniques 49 3 INDIVIDUAL BOWED STRING INSTRUMENTS 51 Violin 51 Viola 65 Violoncello or Cello 75 Double Bass 83 4 PLUCKED STRING INSTRUMENTS 89 Harp 89 Guitar 101 Mandolin 103 Banjo 106 Zither 108 5 SCORING FOR STRINGS 111 Individuality within the Ensemble 111 Foreground—Middleground—Background 118 Contrapuntal Writing for Strings 133 Homophonic Writing for Strings 143 Using the String Choir to Accompany a Soloist 152 Transcribing from Piano to Strings 159 6 THE WOODWIND CHOIR (REED AEROPHONES) 164 Construction 164 Classifying Woodwind Instruments 165 The Principle of Transposition 167 Playing Techniques 170 The Woodwind Section of a Symphony Orchestra 177 Scoring for Woodwind Instruments 178 7 INDIVIDUAL WOODWINDS 180 Flute 180 Piccolo 189vi CONTENTS Alto Flute 191 Bass Flute 193 Oboe 193 English Horn 199 Other Members of the Oboe Family 201 Clarinet 205 “Piccolo” Clarinet: Clarinet in D or E211 Bass Clarinet 212 Other Members of the Clarinet Family 215 Saxophone 217 Bassoon 221 Contrabassoon 225 8 SCORING FOR WOODWINDS: AND WOODWIND-STRING COMBINATIONS 229 The Role of Winds in the Symphony Orchestra 229 The Variety of Orchestral Treatments 238 Homophonic Writing for Winds 252 Contrapuntal Writing for Winds 261 Using the Wind Choir to Provide a Contrasting Color 270 Using the Wind Choir to Double Other Instruments of the Orchestra 276 New Types of Articulations for Woodwinds 283 Special Effects 288 Transcribing from Piano to Winds and Strings 291 9 INTRODUCTION TO BRASS INSTRUMENTS 9 295 Composition of the Brass Section 296 Brass Instruments and the Written Orchestral Score 297 Overblowing and the Principle of the Harmonic Series 298 Crooks, Valves, and Slides 301 Range 303 Tone Production, Articulation, and Tonguing 303 Common Characteristics and Effects on Alt Brass Instruments 304 Mutes 307 Muting Devices Other Than Mutes 310 10 INDIVIDUAL BRASS INSTRUMENTS 312 Hom 312 Trumpet 325 Comet 337 Other Members of the Trumpet Family 339 Trombone 340 Other Members of the Trombone Family 349 Tuba 349 Other Members of the Tuba Family 354 11 SCORING FOR BRASS, AND BRASS COMBINED WITH STRINGS AND WINDS 357 Early Uses of the Brass Choir 357 Doubling of Brass Instruments within the Modern Orchestra 363 Homophonic Writing for the Brass Choir 364 Using the Brass Choir to Present the Melody 375 Contrapuntal Writing for the Brass Choir 392 Climactic Uses of the Brass Choir 413 Using the Brass Choir to Provide a Coloristic Effect 424 12 THE PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE 431 Historical Uses of Percussion Instruments within the Orchestra 431 Number and Distribution of Percussion Players 433 Notation of Percussion Instruments 433 Mallets, Beaters, and Sticks 434 Categories of Percussion Instruments 435 Instruments of Definite Pitch 437 IDIOPHONES: MALLET INSTRUMENTS Xylophone 437 Marimba 438 Vibraphone 439 Glockenspiel 440 Chimes 441 Crotales 442 Steel Drums 443 a eeIDIOPHONES: SHAKEN OR STROKED INSTRUMENTS Musical Saw 443 Flexatone 444 Crystal Glasses 444 MEMBRANOPHONES Timpani 445 RotoToms 448 CHORDOPHONES Cimbalom 449 AEROPHONES Whistles 451 Instruments of Indefinite Pitch 452 IDIOPHONES: METAL Cymbals: Crash, Suspended, Hi-Hat, Sizzle, Chinese, Finger 452 Triangle 454 Anvil 455 Cowbells 455 Tam-Tam and Other Gongs 456 Wind Chimes 456 Sleigh Bells 457 Bell Tree 457 Brake Drum 457 Thunder Sheet 457 IDIOPHONES: WOODEN Wood Blocks 457 Temple Blocks 458 Claves 458 Castanets 458 Sand Block or Sandpaper Block 459 Maracas 459 Jawbone; Vibraslap 459 Guiro 460 Ratchet 460 CONTENTS vii Slapstick or Whip 460 Log Drum and Slit Drum 460 Hammer 461 MEMBRANOPHONES Snare Drum 461 Tenor Drum 462 Field Drum 462 Bass Drum 463 Tom-Toms 463 Timbales 464 Bongos 464 Conga Drum 465 Tambourine 465 Quica; String Drum or Lion's Roar 466 AEROPHONES Sirens 466 Motor Horns 467 Wind Machine 467 13 KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS 468 Piano 468 Celesta 475 Harpsichord 478 Organ 480 Harmonium 483 14 SCORING FOR PERCUSSION WITH KEYBOARD ALONE OR IN COMBINATION 486 Percussion Layout in the Full Score 486 Percussion Section Setup 494 Uses of the Percussion Section 497 PART TWO. ORCHESTRATION 15 SCORING FOR ORCHESTRA 547 The Unison-Octave Tutti 548 The Distribution of Foreground— Middleground—Background Elements within the Orchestra 558 Orchestrating a Melody or Primary Gesture 599 Using the Orchestra to Create Special Effects 601 16 THE ORCHESTRA AS ACCOMPANIST 611 3 The Concerto 611 Accompanying the Vocal Soloist, Ensemble, or Chorus 639viii CONTENTS 17 TRANSCRIBING FOR ORCHESTRA 666 Transcribing from Keyboard or Small Chamber Combinations to Orchestra 668 Transcribing from Band or Wind Ensemble to Orchestra 715 Transcribing to Various Available Instrumental Combinations 741 18 THE PREPARATION OF SCORE AND PARTS 757 The Orchestral Score Setup 757 The Condensed Score 764 Preparing Individual Parts 766 7 19 SCORING FOR BAND OR WIND ENSEMBLE 772 Scoring for Band 772 Band Versus Wind Ensemble 773 The Percussion Section within the Band or Wind Ensemble 773 The Band and Wind Ensemble Score Setup 774 Condensed Scores 778 Transcribing from Orchestra to Band or Wind The Reduced Score 762 Ensemble 782 & APPENDICES A QUICK REFERENCE GUIDES 785 B SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 797 Ranges of the Most Frequently Used Orchestration 797 Orchestral Instruments 786 Individual Instrumental Technique 799 Names of Instruments in Four Languages The History of the Orchestra and of Orchestral and Their English Abbreviations 793 Instruments 802 Frequently Used Orchestral Terms Band and Wind Ensemble Scoring, Film in Four Languages 795 Scoring, and Commercial Arranging 803 Computer and Electronic Music 804 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 807 INDEX 815 & In this book, the octave designations of pitches are represented by superscript numbers, such that middle C equals C*. For example: C three octaves below middle C to the B above: C' — B!; middle C to the B above: C‘ — Bt, C three octaves above middle C to the B above: C”— B”. @PREFACE While I was working on the first edition of The Study of Orchestration, 1 was asked to give a lecture to a convention of composers on the subject. I titled my lecture “Where To, Now?” and brashly previewed what music of the 1980s and 1990s would be like. My prophecy, which I thought brilliant at the time, missed the mark completely; my prognostications have come back to haunt me over these past twenty-odd years. In 1979, I stated that music of the last quarter of the twentieth century would be even more complex and ever more experimental than in the decades since World War Il. New methods of notation would be devised, new instruments would be invented, and possibly even new concert spaces would be created to accommodate the cataclysmic changes that I predicted would occur. It is indeed an understatement to say that my soothsaying was dead wrong. In fact, the music composed during the last two decades is distinguished by a new simplicity—a new love affair with a romantic, quite user-friendly, and sometimes even popular style. I am not implying that all composers everywhere in the world now adhere to this formula; certainly many distinguished com- posers are still perpetuating the more complex traditions of our century, but generally the most-performed younger composers use a much less stringent musical vocabulary to express their ideas. A similar situation exists in the realm of orchestration. Although new nota- tion and extended instrumental techniques were all the rage from the mid— twentieth century through the middle 1970s, a more traditional approach to the orchestra seems to have regained a foothold, despite all of the previous focus on experimentation. A good case in point is the work of the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, who as one of the leaders of the postwar avant garde forged a powerfully new orchestral sound. Penderecki’s orchestral works since the early 1970s can be characterized by their Romantic, almost Sibelius-like or- chestral writing. This is not a critical statement but rather one of fact. Younger composers, especially those in America, have profited greatly from experimen- tation with unusual playing techniques and their own experience with elec- tronic music, but their love of the traditional orchestra and its early twentieth- century masters (Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Barték, and others) has perhaps influenced their orchestral expression even more. Where will these composers ultimately be heading? Where will the generation after them end up? It’s any- body's guess. Having had the opportunity to examine dozens of orchestral scores by suc- cessful young composers several times a year, | find that their use of the orches- tra is both imaginative and effective. It also demonstrates their thorough knowl- edge of the traditional orchestral literature. These composers have indirectly served as the inspiration behind The Study of Orchestration since its first edition; the book’s goal has been to help as many students as possible achieve the suc- cesses that these young composers have achieved. The third edition has severalx PREFACE new features designed to make this happen. Although most composition stu- dents may have a constantly expanding knowledge of the orchestral repertory, the average music student attending a school of higher learning may not. I have learned, in my own teaching as well as from the remarks of colleagues, that a tremendous gap exists between what the average music student should know about even the most traditional orchestral repertoire and what they actually do. As a partial remedy I have added many more works to the lists of additional pieces for study at the ends of chapters (in most cases whole movements or en- tire works). I would like to advise instructors to give listening assignments over and above the regular orchestration projects that are found in the workbook. Only by listening and getting to know the repertory will a student sharpen his or her ear for orchestral sounds, and I believe that this listening component will help students expand their entire musical horizon. This new edition retains many standard excerpts from the orchestral litera- ture, as well as copious examples from twentieth-century orchestral literature. The new edition cites many more references than the past two did to newer or- chestral works, from which the experienced orchestrator will be able to glean valuable information. As always, I have profited greatly from the suggestions and criticisms of many colleagues and other individuals. The chapters on the trombone, the harp, and the orchestral percussion section have been expanded, and the discussions of several string techniques, such as harmonics, which have presented problems for many students, have been clarified. In the workbook quite a few new ex- cerpts have been added and a great many substitutions have been made in works to be orchestrated. One of the most significant changes is the accompanying CD package, which not only contains recordings of all the music excerpts found in the book but also a CD-ROM program that enables students to access professional-quality videos of each instrument and instrumental technique used in the standard orchestra. The CD-ROM also allows students to test themselves on a number of topics and helps them make more informed “orchestrational” choices by working through several different reorchestrations of well-known orchestral works by Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and Mahler. The reorchestration modules challenge stu- dents to apply their growing knowledge and individual taste to larger issues of orchestration. I hope that this kind of exercise will produce lively class discus- sions and encourage instructors and students to develop similar types of exer- cises. The CD-ROM also contains composer biographies that focus on their par- ticular methods of orchestration and that draw examples from their important orchestral works. Since music is the art of sound, every topic connected with its study has to do with training the ear. To me, the technique of orchestration entails the abili- ties to hear instrumental sounds individually and collectively and to transfer these sounds into written notation as accurately and clearly as possible. The two distinct parts of this book go a long way toward accomplishing this goal. Part One, Instrumentation, may be thought of as the rudiments of orchestra- tion. The purpose of each chapter in Part One is to enable the student to hear the sound quality of each instrument and the changes in that quality throughout its range; to learn the practical ranges of each instrument; and to get to know the most effective uses of each instrument within orchestral settings of each musical era. To that end I have included many solo instrumental excerpts to expose stu-a — dents to the sound of each individual instrument. Some of these solo passages are later shown in their orchestral context (I have provided cross-references within the text to these orchestral passages); others are simply used to demon- strate the range or timbres of the individual instrument. I would like to suggest, however, that whenever possible the instructor play a recording of the solo pas- sage in its orchestral context. Part One is organized around the four sections of the orchestra, with chap- ters that focus on the individual instruments within a particular section preced- ing discussions of orchestrating for the entire section. I would like to encourage instructors to use the chapters on scoring for woodwinds, brass, and percussion to introduce students to writing for wind ensemble, which in essence is simply writing for winds, brass, and percussion without strings, since the basic tech- niques of the instruments used by both orchestra and band are essentially the same. As in the previous two editions, Part Two deals with the orchestra as a whole. Individual chapters, or sections within chapters, focus on the techniques of transcribing piano, chamber, band, and other music for orchestra; the orches- tra as accompanist; and the preparation of score and parts. Since many com- posers today prepare their scores on the computer, I have added a short discus- sion about using computer programs such as Finale, Score, and Sibelius and some of the hazards they present. In recognition of the likelihood that many musicians using this book will be teaching in public schools, I have given special emphasis to transcribing orches- tral works for the odd combinations that may be found in school or classroom situations. In addition, quite a few instructors will be happy to find a new Chapter 19, which offers some basics on scoring for band. However, I have re- sisted the impulse to address the many different problems faced by the “band- strator.”* At the end of Chapter 19 I have supplied a suggested listening list of twenty-five works for wind ensemble, which may help the student learn how to score for that ensemble. The appendices offer a quick reference chart of the ranges and transposi- tions of each instrument discussed in the book, as well as an up-to-date anno- tated bibliography of books on orchestration, notation, individual instruments, and electronic music. Concerning ranges, I have differentiated between the full (professional) ranges and those most often used by nonprofessionals, students, or amateurs. Appendix A also includes the names of orchestral instruments in four languages, their English abbreviations, and some frequently used orches- tral terms in tabular format. Even though I have omitted an extended discussion of electronic instru- ments in the body of the book rather than give superficial generalizations, I be- lieve these instruments are of tremendous importance in today’s sonic land- scape. Therefore, in Appendix B I have provided a list of important books and periodicals in which these instruments are discussed. I recommend these books especially to the reader interested in popular and rock music. The revised workbook, the set of six enhanced CDs, and a teacher’s manual, with answers to the workbook questions, complete the “orchestration package.” “There are several books specifically geared toward “bandstration”; the best among them, in my opinion, is that by Joseph Wagner, entitled Band Scoring: A Comprehensive Manual (McGraw-Hill, 1960). PREFACE xixii PREFACE The workbook provides a range of exercises that test students’ newly ac- quired skills. To the many Listen and Score exercises that were a part of the sec- ond edition, six new ones have been added that reflect more basic orchestra- tional techniques. These Listen and Score excerpts should expand students’ grasp of the orchestral medium in very specific ways. In addition, there are now exercises where a given full score is to be reduced. Bue “It takes a village” to correct and update books like The Study of Orchestration. I am grateful to many people. First of all, let me thank my former colleagues at the Eastman School of Music for their valuable input: John Marcellus, for his ad- vice on “all things trombone”; Christopher Rouse, for his many suggestions concerning the percussion section; Augusta Read Thomas, for her corrections throughout the book; Allan Schindler, for his input about electronic and com- puter music; and Donald Hunsberger, for his efforts concerning the recording of the new excerpts for the enhanced CDs that accompany this volume. Kathleen Bride, besides playing the new examples for the CD so beautifully, also con- tributed several corrections and additions that have been incorporated into the harp chapter. I am also indebted to Jane Gottlieb, the librarian of the Juilliard School of Music, for her assistance in tracking down rather obscure publication information. Further, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the faculty, students, and administration of the Eastman School of Music for their cooperation and encouragement to me at every step in the creation of the new enhanced CD set. Also, the readers assembled by W. W. Norton—David Sills (Ball State University), Robert Gibson (University of Maryland, College Park), Mark DeVoto (Tufts University), Michael Matthews (University of Manitoba), and Randall Shinn (Arizona State University}—were very insightful, and [ thank each. of them for their many suggestions, all of which I considered very seri- ously and to a large extent incorporated into the new edition. Finally, some very special kudos. First, I would like to express my apprecia- tion to the Ann and Gordon Getty Foundation for their generous support, which enabled us to produce the enhanced CD set that accompanies this edition. Thanks also to Thomas Frost and the recording staff of the Eastman School of Music, headed by David Dusman, and to James Van Demark and the mem- bers of his company, Square Peg Entertainment, who together produced an ex- traordinary set of videos-and audio recordings. Being rather ignorant of the ways of computers, I owe a great dea) of grati- tude to one of my former students, Dr. Peter Hesterman, for his expertise and imagination in creating the CD-ROM. His vision has made this new component a most effective teaching tool. This entire project could not have been accomplished without the tremen- dous editorial skills and long-suffering patience of my editor at W. W. Norton, Suzanne La Plante. Her efforts on behalf of this volume, as well as of the elec- tronic supplements, have been superb. She has guided the project from its in- ception and has been of constant support and assistance to me in every step of this endeavor. ] cannot thank Suzanne enough for her commitment and her con- tinuous desire to fashion a product of excellence.