C O N TE N T S

A po logia
Fo r e w o r d to S t u d e n ts
Lis t of Mu sic t o b e d wi t h this Book
us e

G ener al I nt ro du c tion t o th e S ubj e ct

E xp l a na t i on o f the C o mpas s C har t s

PA R T I THE S C O RE ( A gr ad e d course t d y)
of s u

The S tring O rch estr a

TheS mall O r ch estr a .

The Full O r ch es t r a
N o t es fo r A d va n c e d S tu dents

PA R T I I THE I N S T R U ME N T S
Chapter I The S tri n g G ro up
Chapter I I The S tri ng I nstru m ents
Chapter III The W i n d G r ou p
Chapte r I V : The W indI ns t rum ents
Chapt e r V : The P er c uss ion G r o u p
Chapter V I : The P e r cuss i on I ns tr um ents a n d th e
Harp

S o m e O b so lete and r arely use d I nstru m ent s

O n th e S t udy o f O l d a nd Fo reign S c o r es
Tab l e o f I ns t rum ents
Bib li o gr aphy
In d e x
 AP O LO GI A
The pa ram o unt nee d in m us ic t eaching a t t he p re sen t
tim e is the t rai ning o f s tud ents a s li sten ers In ord e r t o .

l is t en in t el li g ent l y o ne m ust und erstan d the languag e t hat

is spo k en The principal l angu age o f the music o f t o d ay
.
-

is t ha t o f the O r ch e s t r a A n i nt imate k n ow l e dg e o f t he
.

grammar o f orch es tra t ion is th en the nec essary t e ch nica l

, ,

e q u ipm ent o f t he i nt e llige n t li st en er The b est way t o

.

at t ai n this k nowledge is by writing o rch estral s cores which ,

s h o ul d in n o ca s e b e origi n a l c o mp os it i o n f o r o n e ca nno t
,

lea rn the gramm ar of a l a ngu age a nd writ e poetry in it

s im ult an eo us l y .

Twenty y ea rs exp eri enc e of teaching orch estration on

—
t h es e li n es by o rch estr a t in g pia no m us ic a l rea d y in
-

e xi s t e n c e wi t h o u t re f e r e n c e t o o t h er b r a nch e s o f m us ica l
,

—
th eory has convinc ed m e t hat goo d li steners ca n be p ro
du c ed in thi s wa y ; a nd tha t a ll stu d ents pa rt ic ul a rly ,

s i ng e rs a n d pia ni st s c a n b e ai d e d th ereby t owar d s sound

,

musicianship I ncid ent ally if a stud e nt is at the s ame

.
,

t im e w orki ng t h ro ugh the o r d i n a ry acad e mic ro ut i ne o f

m us ical th eory which res ults in composition by the tim e ,

he a rri v es at t ha t g o a l he ha s a lr e a d y a t ha nd the t e ch nical

k nowl edg e o f the O rch estr a which enab l es him t o t ransc rib e
his id e as d i re c tly t o the Full S core .

My pupils have repeatedly urged m e to p ut into b ook

form the notes that I give th em but hith erto I have ,

re frain ed fro m d o i ng s o b e ca use th ere a re a lrea d so ma n

y y
vii
v iii AP O LO GI A
goo d t ex t b ook s pub li sh ed But O r ch estra ti on is a
-
.

s ub j e c t which is a l way s cha n gi n g a n d g ro wi n g s o th e ,

b es t b ook inevi t ab ly g e ts ou t o f da t e in a sh ort t ime

- -
.

Thi s c onti nua l chang e is due t o the d evelopm ent o f Music

— —
i ts el f which lik e oth er a rt form s t en ds a ll the t im e t o
,

b e c om e m ore c omplex a n d m ore diffi cul t t o ex e cu te

, .

This gi v es ri s e t o a const an t d eman d fo r instruments

m ore capab l e o f grapplin g wi th the t ech nicali ti e s o f the
m od ern s c o re I nstrum ent mak ers ris e t o the o ccas io n
.
-
,

a n d t h o ugh th e S t ri n gs a r e in t he mai n s t a t ic t he wi n d
,

a n d p er c u ss i o n in s t r u m en t s a r e c o n s t a n t l y imp r ov e d in

m echanis m This t h en is my apol ogy fo r addi ng an o th er

.
, ,

man ual t o th os e alre ad y in e xis t enc e .

In c onclus ion I wi sh t o ack now l edge my gr ea t i nd eb t ed

n e ss t o M r .C eci l Fo rsy th wh o se e xhaus ti v e vo l um e
, ,

O rchestra tion ha s b een i nv a lu ab l e t o m e

,
I t ru s t t ha t
.

e v e ry s t u d en t who h as wo r k e d t h r o ug h t hi s li tt l e b oo k

w i th ad v an t ag e a n d p l eas u r e wi l l pa s s s t r aig h t o n t o the

gr e at wo rk in which Mr Fo rs y th ha s form ulat ed his vas t
.

k no wl edg e o f an i ntricate s ubj ec t .

F L O RE N C E G . F ID L E R .
 FO R EWO R D TO ST U D ENTS

Students wi thout any know l edge of Harmon y

and Counte r point are assured that although such
,

knowl e dge is o f immense service in Orchestra

tion it is not n eces s a ry u n ti l the scores b ecome
,

well advanced G ood elementar y orchestra

.

tion only requires acquaint ance with the

elements of music ( keys time s ignatures
,
-
,

etc ) and a working knowledge of transposition

. .

The b est method to follow is t o stu dy H ar

mony side by side with Orchestra t ion thu s ,

—
developing the tonal co l our sense simu l tane
o u s ly with that of structure and design The
.

unfortunate method o f p ostponing the study o r !

Orchestration unti l the final stage of a prolonged

course o f theoretical training in music is reached
is equivalent t o forbidding a child t o colour
pictures until he can draw co rr ect l y .

The two P arts of this book a r e t o be used

concurrently and the student also requires
,

copies of the P iano music and orchestra l scores

listed on P age 7 . The graded course of
study is the result of long experience in teach
in g the subj ect String writing correct but
.
,

not necessarily elaborate must be mastered

,
2 HAN DBOO K OE O R CHEST R ATI ON

first as it is the fundamental basis of all o r ches

,

t r a t io n
. The student is advised to st u dy
thoroughly each Section ( of P a r t I) befo r e
going on to the n ext it is the quickest in t he
end and nothing is gained by t r ying to lea r n
,

all at once the details of many in t s r um en t s .

Concentration on one point at a time is the aim

o f this system ,
which is o n ly intended to star t
—
the stud ent on the r ight r oad a r oad which
has n o end
N o detai l ed description of the inst r uments has
been given as it is obvious that unless the
student knows them already by sight and b y
sound he cannot hope to achieve much Tone .

colouring like pict u r e colou r i n g ca n not be

, ,

taught in wo r ds and any endeavou r to desc r ibe

,

sounds generally res u lts in abs u rdity or in c o h e r

ence The ear can o n ly be t r ai n ed by constant
listening t o a n orchest r a fi r st of all concent r a
,

ting o n single instruments and on g r oups a n d ,

then studying the mo r e complex sou n ds o f

their va r ious combinatio n s The st u de n t m u st
.

n o t be satisfied until he can hea r me n tall y

every sco r e he reads o r w r ites .

Al l statements r elate to E n glish methods a n d

instruments o n ly and histo r ic i n fo r mation has
,

been rigorously excluded The g ro wth a n d.

d evelopme n t o f m u sical inst r ume n ts is a s u b

 FO R EWO R D TO ST U DENTS 3

jec t of immense inte r est

,
but it has no bearing
whateve r on the study of elementa r y orchestra
tion and had bet ter be defer r ed u n til later
,
.

S tudents who wish t o p u r sue this b r a n ch of the

s u bj ect are refe rr ed to the Bibli o graphy at the
e n d of this v o lume . The methods of the most
moder n composers are also omitted as being too
complicated fo r the beg inner who is assu r ed
,

that if his foundations a r e sound he will find

l ittle difficulty in embellishi n g his scores later
with the most r ecent ornamentation .

I t is u n wise to obscure the plan of a t ext b ook -

such as thi s by the intro duction of cont r oversial

matte r : the direct ions and statements there
fo r e have been made intentionally dogmatic .

Students who discove r numerous exception s

and side issues must be generous eno u gh to
-

remembe r this .

In additi o n to the use of this book and the ,

music to be s tu died in con n ection with it the ,

st u de n t sho u ld ( I ) at tend every o r chestral

co n ce r t possible a n d always sit whe r e he c a n
,

s ee the players well ;

( )
2 cultivate f r om the
fi r st the habit of playing from sco r e he sho u ld
play all the scores he w r ites a n d as m u ch as he
c a n of those chosen f or study
; (3 ) copy o u t
o n e o r mo r e full scores f r om the s e t of separate

o r chestral pa r ts ; ( 4 ) sco r e some well k n o -

2 HAN DBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

first as it is the fundamental basis of all o r ches

,

t r a t io n
. The student is advised to st u dy
thoroughly each Section ( o f P a r t I ) befo r e
going o n t o the next it is the quickest in the
end and nothing is gai n ed by trying to lea r n
,

all at once the details of many in t s r um e n t s .

Concentration on o n e point at a time is the aim

o f this system ,
which is o n ly intended to sta r t
the stud ent on the right r oad a road which -

has n o end
N o detai l ed description of the instruments has
been given as it is obvious that unless the
student knows them already by sight and by
sound he cannot hope to achieve m u ch Tone .

colouring like pictu r e colouri n g cannot be

, ,

taught in wo r ds a n d any endeavou r to desc r ibe

,

sounds generally results in absurdity or in co h e r

ence The ear can only be t r ained by constant
listening t o a n orchest r a fi r st of all concent r a
,

ting o n single instruments and on g r oups a n d ,

then studying the mo r e complex sou n ds o f

their va r ious combinatio n s . The st u de n t must
n o t be satisfied until he can hea r me n tall y

every sco r e he reads o r w r ites .

All stateme n ts r elate to E n glish methods a n d

instrume n ts only and histo r ic i n fo r mation has
,

been rigo r ously excluded The g ro wth a n d

.

d eve l opme n t o f m u sical inst r ume n ts is a s u b

 FO R EWO R D TO ST U DENTS 3

jec t of immense inte r est

,
but it has no bearing
whateve r on the study of elementary o r chestra
tion a n d had bet ter be defer r ed until later
,

S tude n ts who wish t o pu r sue this b r anch of the

subj ect are r efe r red t o the Bibli o g r aphy at the
end o f this volume The methods o f the most
.

modern composers are also omitted as being too

complicated fo r the beg inner who is assured
,

that if his foundations a r e sound he will find

l ittle diffi culty in embellishi n g his sco r es later
with the most recent ornamentation .

I t is u nwise to obscure the plan of a t ext b ook -

such as thi s by the introduction of cont r oversial

matter : the direct ions and statements there
fo r e have been made intentionally dogmatic .

Students who discover numerous exception s

—
and side issues must be gene r ous enough to
remembe r this .

In additi o n to the use of this book and the ,

music to be s tu died in co n n ection with it the ,

st u de n t should ( I ) at tend eve r y o r chestral

conce r t possible and always s it whe r e he can
,

s ee the playe r s well ;

( )
2 c u ltivate from the
fi r st the habit of playi n g f r om sco r e he sho u ld
play all the scores he w r ites and as much as he
c a n of those chosen f Or st u dy
; (3 ) copy out
o n e o r more full scores f r om the s e t of sepa r ate

o r chest r al pa r ts ; ( 4 ) sco r e some well k n o -

w
4 HANDBO OK OF O R CHEST R ATI ON .

orchestral wo r k from the piano arrangement ,

and then compare his o w n version with the

composer s original ( 5 ) study every full score
’

he can get hold o f when possible noting in a

,

piano version ( with red ink and a private l y

invented shorthand ) the detai l s o f the scoring
( )
6 play some orchestral instrument ,
be it only
Triangle o r B ass D r um in order t o obtain
,

practica l experience in orchestral methods .

A p rop os O f this it m ay be added that wind in s t r u

ments are o n the whole easier t o play than
strings and are more in demand in amateur
,

orchestras .
 L IST OF TH E M U S I C TO B E U SED WITH
TH I S B OO K

F ULL SCO R E S
B eethoven Sy mp hony i n E fla t N o I I I ( Eroi a)
.

c ,
.

Men dels s ohn

! Five N umbers from the M i d
N ight D r ea m M n s ic
’
s n m m er s .

( S cher z o ,
In term ezz o ,
N o ctn rn e ,

W edding M a r ch R i tp elta nz ) ,

Ts cha iho ws ky Suite C a s s e N oi s ette Op 7 1

. .
,
. .

Ts cha ihows hy
’

Symphon y N o V I ( P a theti q n e)
.
,
.

Op 74 . .

P IANO M U SIC
M endels s ohn . L i eder ohn e Worte ( A n y comp l ete
e d it ion )
B eethoven P iano Sonatas
.

B or ch P etites P i eces
’

c a r a cter is ti n es Op
.

q . .
49 .

Bk I
A
( g u e n
. e r )
F a rj eon N ight M us i c Seven P ieces )
. .
(
A
( g u e n e r )
R a chm a n i n off S erena de O p III N o
. . .
,
.
3 ( This
is inc l u d e d in severa l a lb ums of short
pieces )
G r i eg . Hu m o res k en Op 6 , . .
6 —
HANDBOO K OF O R C I IE S TR A T IO N

ABB R EVIATIONS
In rder to save space in the text the four
o ,

full sco r es a r e r efe r r ed to as E r oic a M N D ,

. . .
,

S ui te ,
an d P a th Sy m
. The page numbers
.

are those of the mi n iature edition ( The .

D o n a j o w s k i Edition now published by M essrs

,
.

Feldman Sc Co ) The initial

. M sig n ifi es
M oveme n t . In the piano music the com
pose r s n ame only is given with the number
'

of the piece in the collection .

 G ENE R A L INT R O D U CTI ON To THE
s uE J E CT

The O r chestra is divided i n to three G roups

St r i n gs Wind and P ercussion Win d and
, ,
.

P e r cussion pa r ts a r e never duplicated — that is ,

the r e is only o n e player for each part S tring

pa r t are pe r fo r med by several players together
s .

The St r ings form the body of the orchestra ,

and can neve r be done without for very l ong .

This is because ( 1 ) they have the greatest range

in executio n as regards rapidit y expression , ,

g r adatio n of tone and the facility with which

,

they c a n accomodate themselves i n stant l y t o any

musical idea ( 2 ) as they use their hands on l y ,

St r ing playe r s do n o t tire s o quick l y as d o

Wi n d players and c a n play continuously :
,

(3) the to n e of the St r ings does not pa ll o n t he

ear s o soo n a s the tone of the Wind .

D r R iemann has pointed o u t that whereas

.

the Strings must always give the form an d

gene r al characte r of the music the Wood Wind
,

adds a fr ee statement of definite ideas and the ,

Brass proclaims thos e ideas : to this may be

added the suggestio n that the P e rcussion
clinches the mat te r .
8 HANDBO OK OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

A little thought will show that musical

instruments follow the general scheme o f N ature s ’

L aws big things have deep voices little things ,

have high voices : big things talk slowly ,

litt l e things talk quickly So in the Orchestra

.

the larger the i n strument the deeper its note

, ,

and the greater its di fficulty in playing fast .

The l argest and the smallest instruments have

the least power of expression and ( in the ,

Wind G roup particularl y) it is the middle si z ed

instruments that are the best suite d to solo
work .

Th e modern arrangement of the parts in a

Ful l Score is Wood Wind at the top then ,

Brass then P ercussion with the Strings at the

, ,

foot the instruments of each group being

, ,

p l aced roughly in their order o f pitch As

, ,
.

String writing must be studied first it is n e c es

sar y t o b egin the study o f the Score at the
bottom The Violoncello and Dou b le Bass
.

parts must n o w always be written o n separate

, ,

staves and this arrangement of five staves

for the S trings rigidly adhered t o until such
time as extra ones are requi r ed for the s u b
division o f parts The two pa r ts of each pair
.

of Win d instruments are always p l aced o n the .

same stave and care must be e x ercised in the

,

matter o f tails and res ts the tails of all notes

 G EN E R A L I NT R OD U CTI ON 9

to be playe d by the Firs t being upward and ,

those of the Second downward irrespective o f ,

their positions on the Stave Doub l e rests .

must be inserted except in those bars where

,

both are silent it is allowable however , ,

( )
I when only o n e o f the pair is p l aying
for a long time t o write Im o o r
,
2 do at
the beginning of the passage and ( 2 ) when both
,

are in unison for some time t o write the term

,

unis in order t o save space .

Orchestra l writing must invariably be a

matter o f artist ic nicety an d e x actitude with ,

no detai l s left vague or un e x plaine d The .

success o f a score depends very greatl y o n the

clarity o f its in d ependent parts every o n e o f ,

which should be complete in itself having its ,

own phrasing expression marks et c I t is

, ,
.

wise to ru l e the bar lines f o r the whole score

-

before beg inning t o work and t o write in a ll

,

the c l efs key signatures et c

,
-
,
a l so t o num b er
.

the bars and those o f the piano copy o f t he

piece to be scored I t is n o t necessar y t o begin
.

a score at the beginning the better p l an being

,

t o work the easiest parts first : in every case

the who l e p l an o f the score shou l d be sketched
out b efore any details ar e filled in .

Ever y pupil d emands t o be to l d sooner o r

l ater why he is troubled with transposing
i o
H A N D B OO K OF O R CHE S T R ATI ON

i n struments B r iefly the r easo n is this

.
,

the case of these instruments the choice lies

between making things easy f o r the w r ite r o f
the sco r e and the co n ductor of th e o r chest r a
o n the one hand and on the othe r maki n g
,

thi n gs easy for the players o f the pa r ts eithe r ,

by similarity of finge r ing to that of a ki n d r ed

i n st r ume n t ( as in the case of the Co r A n glais ) ,

or by the avoidance of leg er lines ( as in D o u ble

B ass ) or by a less st r enuous mental e ffort ( as
,

in Hor n ) there is only one writer and o n e

conductor to a number of playe r s and both ,

writer and conductor are entirely at the mercy

of the players therefore it pays in the long r u n
to make things as easy a s possible f o r them at
the expense of eve r ybody else M o r eove r a s.
,

P rofesso r P rout points out eve r y stude n t

,

must learn to read parts written in the accepted

fashion or the whole of orchest r al literature
,

will be closed to him and there is nothi n g

,

gained by reading scores in one way and w r iting

them in another .

The choice of key is not so importan t a

matter as it formerly was but all i n struments
,

are more resonant a n d have easie r parts in those

keys which have few sharps or flats Other .

thi n gs being equal it is better to take a flat key

than a sharp one Horn and Trumpet players
.
 EX P L ANATI ON OF CO M P ASS CHA RTS .

The notes o n the stave at the top o f the

Chart represent the real sound o f each note
shown beneath : all other notes In the Cha rt
are those written fo r the respective instruments .

S T R I N G S The four open strings o f each

.

instrument are numbered and written in semi

b r eves ; the suggested t o p stopped note as a
mi n im The lowest artificial harmonic obtain
.

ab l e and the highest advisable appear a s

c r otchets with a diamon d shaped note a b ove
-
.

N atura l harmonics are marked as b l ack dots

without tails ; it must be understood that
others are scientifically possible but undesirable
in an orchestral score I t will b e noted that in
.

each case the sound o f the lowest artificia l

harmonic can also be obtained a s a natura l
h armonic The same re l ative harmonics are
.

given to the Viola as t o the other Strings ,

but the stu d ent is referre d to the S ection on the

Viola in P art I I ( P a r
,
.

W IN D The system followed is to regard the

.

semibreve as representing the most perfect note ,

and the demisemiquaver as the most imperfect ,

and to S how the interv ening gradation by

means o f the re l ative note va l ues s o the bes t
-
 E X P L ANATI ON O F CO M P ASS CHA R TS I3

pa r t of each inst r u ment is that e n closed between

two semibreves The P edal N otes of the Tenor
.

T r ombo n e are shown with diamond S haped -

heads a n d the lette r P over each Four separate

.

staves are a llotted t o the Trumpet because its ,

notation is not yet standardised : there is o f

cou r se n o instrument ca ll ed Trumpet in C
but a mode r ate compass without transposition
has been included un d er this tit l e as a guide to
begin n ers who invariably fin d the Trumpet
,

the most difficult of the transposing instruments

to write for at fi r st The two notes in brackets
.

in Double Bassoon are only to be found o n

certa in makes O f instrument .

P E R C U SSION
. The e x treme notes of the four
K ettledrums in common use are given : the
si z e of the M iddle Drum varies so both sorts ,

a r e represented . In Harp G locke n spiel et c

, ,
.

the system of graduated note values ( as in -

Wi n d ) is followed The smallest G lockenspiel

.

compass is quoted : but all these mechanical

inst r ume n ts are s o va r io u s in kind and s o ,

continually changed and improved that n o

final word o n their construction is p o s s ib l
I t must be understood that these Charts a r e
only inten d ed t o serve as a rough gui d e t o the
beginner The compass ( especially the upwar d
.

compass ) o f most musical inst r uments is in d e t e r

T4 HAN D B O O K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

minate depe n ding to a great extent o n the make

,

a n d q u ality of the inst r u me n t

,
the ability o f
the playe r a n d the co n diti o n s of the m o m e n t
,
.

Ext r eme n otes a r e always best avoided .

 PA RT 1 T HE S CO RE .

G RA D E D C O URS E OF S T U DY .

CHAP TE R I : The S t ri n g O r ch es t r a

CHA P TE R II : The W o o d W ind

CHA P TE R III : The S ma ll O r ch e s t ra

CHA P TE R I V : The Fu ll O r ch es tr a

CHA P TE R V : N o t e s fo r A d v a n c e d S tud en ts
 PA RT l T HE S CO RE
A G RA D E D C OURS E OF S T U DY .

C HA P TE R I . T HE S T R I N G OR CHEST R A

SECTI ON I

ST U D Y . P a r t II ,
Ch I 1 5 ; and Chap I I
.
,
-
.
,

Se e . I R efer also t o Sections 2

.
,

3 4
, ,

E r oi ca ; M . 2 ( Funera l M arch ) S tring

pa r ts only .

S CO R E hi endets s ohn N o 4 8 ( Op 1 02 N o 6 )
.
,
. .
,
.

for St r ings .

N o 9 ( Op 3 0 N o 3 ) for Strings
. .
,
.
,

omitting the Fi r st and l ast b ars

which contai n arpeggios .

N OTES I R u l e M S music paper into lines

. .
-

of five staves each j oining them w ith a brace,

on the left hand Allot one stave t o each

-
.

instrument placed in order of pitch as fo ll ows

, ,

Fi r st Violin ,

Second Violin ,

Vi o la ,

Violo n cello ,

D o uble Bass .
18 HAN D B OO K OF O R CHEST R ATI O N

The two violins like women s voices S ing in ’

t w o parts ; the second is the one which

plays the lower part .

2 .Each o f the five parts must be comp l ete

in itself having it s own clef key signatures
, ,
-

and e x pression ma r ks ; but directions wh ich

a ffect the time of the whole ( such as A lleg ro ,

r a lt
) need. only be inserted at the top of the
score ( E roi ca .
,

3 .I t is not necessa r y to keep every in s t r u »

ment p l aying continuously ( E roi ca 1 00 1 1 7.

, ,

121 )

4 .Any note can be given t o any instrument

prov id e d it is within it s compass : the First
Vio l in need not always be at the top ( E r oi ca .
,

1 1 8)

5 .The tune S hould bear the same position

in regard to the whole as in the original : the
bass may never be altere d e x cept in octave ; ,

it must a l ways remain at the bottom o f the

harmony .

6 .Notes may be double d in two or more

parts ( E r oi ca 1 05
.
, ,

7 .N othing may be added to the harmony

e g
. . a common C hord must r emain a common
chord and have no seventh added to it
,
.

8 .The instrument that begi n s a sentence

should finish it as in speaki n g ,
.
 T HE ST R IN G O R CH EST R A 1
9

SECTI ON I I

ST U DY . P a rt I] ,
Ch I . . 6 -
10 ; an d Chap I I .
,

Sec .
3 .

E roi c a M 3 ( S cherz o) String parts only

. .

S CO R E . B or ch No 2 S a r a ba n de fo r Str ings
,
.
, ,
.

M en dels s ohn N o 4 5 ( Op 1 02 N o 3 )
,
. .
,
.

for Strings .

N OTES I P l an o u t a scheme for the who l e score

. .

before b eginning t o write The b est way is t o .

play it marking o n the piano copy meanwhi l e

,

the propose d distribution o f parts .

2. Every short piece h a s o n e big climax :

this shou l d be foun d written Tutti ( every b o d y ,

playing) worke d up t o an d away from

,
.

3. A score S houl d b e sometimes thick with

many instruments playing and sometimes thin ,

with on l y a few accor d ing t o the nature o f the

,

music .

4. L earn from the first t o regard a score

hori z ontal l y as well as vertical ly and make ,

each part interesting in itself The bes t .

test to app l y is t o p l ay or hum it through b y

itse l f without reference t o the others this wil l
S how among other things that a phrase which
, ,

finishes o n the beat h a s the smoothest e ffect .

5. T o discover h o w fas t p i zz i c a to can b e

p l a y e d o n a v io lin ho ld a p iec e o f string b e tw e e n
,
20 H A I D B O O K OF O R CI IE STR A T IO N
I —

the teeth a n d the left ha n d and twitch it with ,

the first finger of the right hand meanwhile ,

S ingi n g mentally the passage in question : it

cannot be done beyond a certain speed which ,

is still less in the case of the l arge r St r ings .

( P art I I Chap ,
1 .
,

3. When do u bling the notes of a chord

divide them a s equally as possible if there be
a remainder st r e n g then the root of the C hord ,

and then the thi r d .

7. Try always t o convey the spi r it of the

music itself I f a piece is graceful and flowing

.
,

write the o r chest r al par ts in long slurred smooth

passages ; if it is j erky and lively us e S hort ,

notes and p izz i ca to The music is to be t r ans .

lated from one la n guage to another far richer ,

in expressio n ; and the best t r anslations a r e

those which keep the spirit rather than the
l etter of the original .

S ECTI ON I I I
S T U D Y P a rt II Chap 1 1 1 1 3 and Chap
.
,
.
,
-
,
.

1 1 Secs 2 and 4 ,
. .

E r oi ca M IV ; St r ing parts only

,
. .

S u ite O ver tur e M in i a tu r e ;

,
St r ing
parts only .

S CO R E M endels s ohn N O 1 0 ( Op 3 0 N o 4 )
.
,
.
,
.
,
.

for S trings .

B eethoven S on a ta in E N o 9 M 1 , ,
.
,

for S tr ings .
 THE ST R I N G O R CH EST R A 21

N OTES . 1 I t is most impo r tant to have a

.

fi r m harmonic bass when there are many parts

above it to suppo r t When a S hort note is
.

give n in the pia n o pa r t a l o ng sustained note

should often take its place in the sco r e The .

guide to this is the use of the piano pedal

in every case where the pedal holds a low note
while the left ha n d plays a middle part the
-
,

bass of the orchest r a S hould hold on likewise .

A p izz i ca to bass passage is good f o r r hythm ,

but it is not often in itself a su fficiently strong

foundation unless another instrument h a s the
same note sustained .

2
. Sustained tone in the middle parts is
often required and to this too the pedal is the
,

su r est guide I f in the piano part the hands

.

are widely separated leaving a space in the

,

middle of the inst r ument witho u t notes this ,

space S hould b e filled up by means of the

sub division of the Strings into several parts
-
.

3
. I t is necessary to detach the mind from
the limitation O f the p iano and of the pianist s ’

two hands and ten finge r s and to write accord ,

in g to the g r eater wealth of mate r ial which an

o r chest r a supplies If 3 passage is loud ful l in
.
,

tone a n d broad in style par ts shou l d b e thick

, ,

ened and notes doubled The o r chest r a can .

play that which is impossible to the pianist .

22 HANDBO O K OF O R CHEST R AT ION

4. The common form o f piano fou r note -

a r peggio ( Beethoven S on a ta Bar ,

is best
r eproduced in Strings by r eiterated semiquavers

o r bowed tremolo ,
the chords being sp r ead and
divided between several instruments and the ,

pa r ts sub divided if necessary ( E r oica 9 7

-
,
.
, ,

1 1 4 and the final P r es to )

,
.

5. I f a long passage o r scale

,
or arpeggio , ,

proceeds through seve r al octaves and is cut up ,

between di ff erent instruments the smoothest

,

e ffect can be obtained by careful dovetail in g o f

the j oins leaving n o moment o f silence One
,
.

o r more notes shou l d overlap ; a good plan is

to end o n e part and sta r t the next s imultane
o u s ly o n the b eat . S cherz o p ,
.
2
4 HANDBO O K OF O R CHEST R ATION

M N D W eddi ng M a r ch Vvo o d a n d
’

. . . .
,

String parts only .

S uite All Flute pa r ts but pa r ticula r ly

, ,

those of the D anse des M i r litons .

S CO R E . M en dels s ohn N o 1 2 ( G o n d ellie dl fo r

,
.
,

on e Flute and S t r ings : and

N o 2 0 ( Op 5 3 N o 2 ) for one
.
,
.
,
.

Flute one Oboe and St r ings

, , .

SE CTI ON IV
ST U DY . P art II
Chap IV Sec 5 The Clarinet .
,
.
, .

M N D . S cher z o Wood and St r ing

. .
, ,

parts only .

S u i te all Clarinet parts

, .

S CO R E M en dels s ohn N o 3 6 ( Op 6 7 N o 6 )
.
,
. .
,
.

f o r one C l arinet and Stri n gs .

M en dels s ohn N o 2 8 for Wood Wind .

,

only ( two Flutes two Oboes two , ,

C l arinets and two B assoons ) .

N OTES 1 Wind Instruments must be w r itten

. .

f o r vocally as if for the human voice and

, ,

doubtful points can often be solved by refe r ence

’
t o the singer s point of V iew For inst a nce it .
,

is as bad t o keep a Wind for long on its highest

notes as it would be in the case of a S i n ge r :
and a Wind playe r must have time to b r eathe
j ust as a si n ger must .
 T HE W O OD WIN D 25

2 . In w r iting for one Wind instrument and

Strings it is impossible to avoid t r eating it
more or less as a solo par t But whe n sco r ing .

f o r many Wind togethe r it is a good plan to

accompany a Wind solo with S t r ings and a ,

String solo with Wind in order to get the va r ied,

tone colour-
.

3 . In writing a T u tti of the eight Wood

Wind and S trings the harmony should be com
p l e t e in itself in each g r oup so that the Strings
,

by themselves would sound well a n d the Wind ,

equally well .

4 . If a chord of three or four notes is intended

to sound a s one whole with the tone well ,

blended the b est way to get this e ffect is by

,

giving it to St r ings e n ti r ely or to Wind entirely .

Four note chords in Wood blend best when given

-

either to Flutes and Cla r inets or to Oboes and ,

—
B assoons Six note chords blend well with
.

the Flutes and C l arinets crossed and the B as

s o o n s below .

5 . There is l itt l e gained b y giving a solo to

the Second player in a pair of W ind in s t ru
’
ments The Second s purpose in the Orchestra
.

is ( 1 ) to strengthen the part in a loud passage ,

( E r o i ca 1 55)
, ( )
2 t o add notes to the ha r mony
( E r o i c a 1 5 ) (3)
, to play a duet with the First ,

such as a passage of thi r ds or sixths ( E r oi c a , ,

26 HANDBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

13 , ) (4)
3 1 to r elieve the First when he needs
r est ( E r o i,
c a 1 8 9 and onwa r ds and
,

(5 ) to lead up to a passage by the Fi r st.

6 . I t the tune is doubled the a c co m p a n i

,

ment must be cor r espondingly thickened t o

preserve ba l ance I f the tune is taken up an
.

octave the gap between must be filled In .

taking the scoring up in this way it is generally

wise t o carry the bass down and thus by , ,

contrary motion t o avoid t o p heavin ess

,
-
.

7 . In regard t o the last score in Sec IV

. .

( W ood Wind only ) it may be pointed o u t that

there are three gene r al ways o f obtaining good
ba l ance in a Wood Tu tti : ( 1 ) by making the
order o f parts coincide with the order o f in s t r u
ments o n the score ( 2 ) by crossing and inter
weaving the p arts ; and ( 3 ) by placi n g the
parts o f o n e pai r o f instruments in between the
parts o f another pair .
 C HA P TE R I I I . T HE SM A LL OR CHEST R A

S E CTI ON I
N O TE . The t e rm W o od u s e d a l o n e d e n o t e s t h e e i gh t
, ,

in s t ru m e n ts in o rdi n a r y u s e — t w o Fl u t e s t w o O b o e s t w o , ,

C l a ri n e t s t wo B a s s oo n s
,
The t e rm D r u m s u s e d a l o n e
.
“

r e f e r s t o t h e K e t t l e d ru m s Fo r t h e e xp l a n a t i o n o f t he
.

Ho r n a nd T r u mp e t t r a n s p o s i ti o ns o f th e fo u r m o d e l s c o re s ,

s e e pa g e 1 2 6 .

STU DY . P a r t II ,
Chap I V Sec .
,
. 8 ,
The Horn .

M N D N octu r n e
. . . .

S u ite M a r ch N o
,
Wood Horn an d,
. 2, ,

St r ing parts only .

S CO R E . M en dels s ohn , No . 22 , fo r tw o H orns

an d Strings .

B eethoven Sonata I X M 2 f o r Wood

, ,
.

and Four Horns .

M en dels s ohn N o 2 9 for W o od t w o

,
.
, ,

H o rns and Strings .

B or ch No 3 for one Oboe two H o r ns

,
.
, ,

and St r ings .

B eethoven Sonata V I M 2 for Wood

, ,
.
,

four H orn s and St r ings .

1 . In writing a Tu tti it is wise t o

28 H AN DB OO K OF O R CH EST R AT I ON

make the four Horns complete the ha r mony in

themselves as already done in the case of
,

the S t r ings and the Wood .

2 . I t is a good plan to test the correctn ess of

transposed parts by playing them first fro m ,

the piano o r iginal and then from the score ,

when the ear should detect any inaccuracy .

S ECTI ON I I
STU DY . P a rt I I Chap IV Sec 4 The Cor
,
.
,
. .

Anglais .

S u ite Tr ep a k a n d D a n s e A r a be
,

Wood Horn and St r ing parts only

,
.

S CO R E . F a rj N o 5 for two Flutes Cor

eon , .
, ,

Anglais two Clarinets two Bas , ,

s o on s two Horns and S t r i n gs

, ,
.

B or ch N o 1 for Wood Cor Anglais

,
.
, , ,

four H orns and S trings .

R a chm a n i n ofl S er en a de for Wood two , , ,

H orns and S trings .

M en dels s ohn N O 3 4 for Wood two ,

.
, ,

H orns and Strings ,

.

N OTE . In every orchestral piece there are ,

ro u ghly generalising three compone n t pa r ts

, ,

( )
1 the tune ( 2 ) a moving accompanime n t
, ,

an d ( 3 ) a veiled backg r ound of sustained tone .

 T HE S MA LL O R CHEST R A 29

This thi r d part is not foun d in piano music ,

except to some extent by the u s e of the pedal

( agai n the surest guide to its inclusion ) and in
sco r ing it has to be invented : without it a
score sounds thi n and poo r in quality In .

hea r ing an orchestra this unostentatious body

of sound acting as a foil to the movi n g parts
, ,

should be listened for carefully The best .

part of each instrument to use for the back

ground is its most neutral pa r t ; notes which
are ve r y high very low or in any way c o n s p ic
, ,

u o u s should be avoided ; the crossing o f s u s

t a in e d parts is often a usefu l p l an to fo ll ow .

SECTI ON I I I
STU DY . P a r t II Chap V ,
Chap V I S ecs . .
, .

1 4 5 ,
P ercussion
,
Instruments , .

P a th Sy m M I I I
. . . .

S u ite ; al l P ercussion parts .

S CO R E . F a rj N o 2 S lu m ber S ong for Woo d

eo n , .
, , ,

four Hor n s Drums and Strings , .

G r i eg N o 4 for Woo d t w o Horns

. .
, , ,

D rums Triangle Cymba l s and

, , ,

S trings .

B eethoven S on a ta N o 8 ( P ath !tique )

, ,
.
,

the last twelve bars of the First

M ovement to be scored a s a
cr es c en do tu tti .
3 0 H A N DBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI O N

N OTES 1 M onotony S hould always be a

. .

voided A n idea s a y for accompa n yi n g a

.
, ,

solo may be quite good in itself but if pe r sisted

, ,

in for a long time it becomes wearisome to the

,

b e a r e r no one thing should be done continuously .

The best guide to the points W here it is W ise to

to change the style is the phrasing of the original
piano music being scored a new phrase generally ,

needing a new mode of expression .

2 . A S stated in P art I I the D rum note must ,

always be a part of the harmony though it nee d ,

n o t necessarily be the bass When it is not the .

bass the B ass o r Cello should be below it

, .

3 . The easiest way o f producing a genera l

cr es c endo is to make each instrument play louder

a more artistic metho d is by the gradual and

regu l ar ad d ition of instruments to the score .

The exercise given ( from a Beethoven Sonata )

shou l d commence with the S t r ings only and ,

conc l ude with the Tu tti of all the i n strume n ts

studied up to this point the Wind and P ercussion
,

being a d de d gradual ly .
3 2 HAN DBO O K O F O R CHEST R ATI O N

S co r e F a rj N o 3 IVi ll o the IVi sp fo r ’

eon ;
' '
. .
, ,

P iccolo Flute Triangle a n d St r i n gs

, , .

B o r ch No 4 for Wood Bass Cla r i n et

,
.
, , ,

D ouble B assoon four Horns D r ums , , ,

T r iangle Cymbals and St r ings , .

G r i eg N o I for Full Orchestra

,
.
, .

SECTI ON I I I
P a rt II Chap VI S ec I I The Harp
, .
,
. . .

S u i te . V a ls e des Fleu r s .

S core . B eethoven Sonata I I I

.
,
M3 ,
for Wood
and H arp .

F a rj eon , No .
3 ,
In the M oon lig ht ,

for Full Orchest r a with Cor A n g ,

lais B ass Clarinet Double Bassoon, ,

and H arp .

G r i eg N o 2 for F ull Orchestra

,
.
,
.

The student who has worked steadily

through this P art S houl d now be able to select
his own material for scores A S a general ru l e .

it wi l l b e found that music most distinct l y

pianistic is the worst for the purpose
Chopi n a n d S chumann provide little or no
mate r al but nearly e v er t hin g that B eethoven
i
,

wrote can b e scored A list is added of pieces that .

have been scored by pupils w ith s ucce s s and is ,

given m erely as a suggestion In e v ery case wh e r e .

 THE F ULL O R CHEST R A

there is already a solo part the accompaniment ,

only should be scored thus creating a co n cert o , .

P ia n ists would do well to score music which

they play ; singers the accompa n iments o f ,

their songs In songs where several verses

.

a r e alike ,
the best practice lies in scoring eac h
ve r se di fferently
DEB U SS Y The C hi ldr en s C or n er Suite
’

. .

DVO R AK A u s dem B dhm er Wa lde Bk 1

. . .

( P iano four hands )

K A L IW O D A N o ctu rn es for Viola and P iano
. .

E M I L K R E U Z Song A L a k e a n d a F a iry .
,

B oa t .

L I S ZT . Songs , D i e L or eley and E s wa r ein

K On ig in Thu le .

M ACKEN Z I E P ar t . song ,
C om e ,
s i s ter s ,

com e ! ( N o v e llo .
)
P A UL P UG ET . S ong ,
C han s o n de R oute ,

( from C h a n s on s p our E lle) .

R ACH M AN I N OFF Album o f Short P ieces . .

SCHA R WEN KA B i lder a u s dem S uden .

( P iano four hands ),

SCH U BE R T P iano Sonat as . .

S ITT F a n ta s i es ti tch in F M inor fo r Viola

.

Op 5 3 N o 1
. . .

SVENDSEN R om a n ce in G f o r Violin
.
,
.

WA L FO R D DAV I ES P ar t song The C lou d .

-
,

( Sidney R io r d e n ) .
C HAPTE R V . N OTES FO R A DVANCED S T U DENTS

S E CTI ON I . Tu tti Writing

1 . There should be economy in Tu tti writing :
t he ear soon tires o f noise and the good e ffect of a
Tutti is in inverse proportion t o its length and
its frequenc y .

2. The general ru l e given that each G roup

in a Tutti shou l d make complete harmony in
itself ho l ds good in near l y every case The .

Wood b eing the least powerful G roup cannot

b e heard individual l y in any large Tu tti except
the high F l ute register and the P iccolo The .

best p l an t o fo ll ow therefo r e is to w r ite fi r st

t he String and the Brass parts and then use
the Wood fo r fi l ling in the gaps .

3. A Tu tti can be made thick by a multi

p li c it y o f parts o r thin by a limited numbe r

o f parts d oub l ed by many instruments Whe n .

t he tota l compass is wide thick sco r ing is a

n e ce s sity ,
as wi d e gaps in the middle always
s ound ba dly .In a unison octave passage the
-

parts should be equal l y divi d ed between the

octav es when any individual instrument get
,

ing o u t o f its compass c a n leap up o r down an

o ctave without disturbing the general e ffect .
 N OT E S FO R ADVA N CED ST U D E NTS 35

4 . The tone co l our -

o f a Tu tti depends
mostly o n the register in which the individual
instruments are p l aced The most b r illiance
.

can be obtained by putting them high ; a

sombre grave tone by putting them low .

I f quantity of sound merely is desired each

should have its easiest and most resonant
—
notes Strings with open st r ings Brass with ,

—
open notes and needless t o sa y unlimited -
,

P e r cussion .

In buil d ing up a en do by additions

5 . cr es c ,

the Wood again cannot be considered by them

selves as they are neither strong enough nor
,

subt l e enough t o infl uence the scheme I t is .

wise t o begin with the St r ings then to add the ,

Wood and Brass in unisons in pairs and to , ,

keep back the P ercussion for the climax .

6 . A good a r rangement for the t o p Wood

parts in a brilliant Tu tti is to use the P iccolo
for the top notes double it in the octave with
,

both Oboes fill in between with the Flutes

, ,

and doub l e the Fl utes in the l ower octave by

the C l arinets .

SECTI ON I I . H armony
1 Although quite satisfactory orchestra
.

tion can b e done by means o f common sense

an d musical feeling without any know l e d g e
C HAPTE R V . N OTES FO R A DVANCED S T U DENTS

S E CTI ON I . Tu tti Writing

1 . Th e re should be economy in Tu tti writing :
t he e a r soon tires o f noise and the good e ffect o f a
Tutti is in inverse proportion t o its length and
its frequenc y .

2 . The general ru l e given that each G roup

in a Tutti shou l d make complete harmony in
itse l f h o l ds good in nearly every case The .

Wood b e ing the least powerful G roup cannot

b e h e ar d ind ividual l y in any large Tu tti except
t h e high F l ute register and the P iccolo The .

best p l an t o fo ll ow therefo r e is t o write fi r st

t he String and the Brass parts and then use
t he Woo d f o r fi l ling in the gaps .

3 . A Tu tti can be ma d e thick by a multi

p l ic it y o f parts o r thin by a limited numbe r

o f parts d oub l e d by many instruments Whe n.

t he tota l compass is wide thick scoring is a

n ec e s sity ,
as wi d e gaps in the middle always
s o und bad l y .In a unison octave passage the
-

part s should be equal l y d ivided between the

o ct a v e s
,
when any individual instrument get
ing o u t o f its compass can leap up o r down an
o ctave without disturbing the general e ffect .
 N OT E S F O R ADV A N CED ST U D E NTS 35

4 . The tone colour of

-
a Tu tti depends
mostly o n the register in which the individua l
instruments are placed The most brilliance
.

can be obtained by putting them high ; a

sombre grave tone by putti n g them low .

I f quantity of sound merely is desired each

S hould have its easiest and most resonant
—
notes St r ings with open st r ings Brass with ,

—
open notes and needless t o sa y un l imited —
,

P ercussion .

In bui l ding up a en do by additions

5 . c r es c ,

the Wood again cannot be considered by them

selves as they are neither strong enough nor
,

subt l e enough t o in fl uence the scheme I t is

wise t o begin with the St r ings then to add the ,

Wood and Brass in unisons in pairs and to , ,

keep back the P ercussion for the climax .

6 . A good arrangement for the top Wood

par ts in a bri l liant Tu tti is to use the P iccolo
f o r the top notes double it in the octave with
,

both Oboes fill in between with the Flutes

, ,

and doub l e the Flutes in the l ower octave b y

the C l arinets .

SECT I ON I I . H armony
1 Although quite satisfactory orchestra
.

tion can be done by means o f common sense

and musical feeli n g without any knowle d g e
 6 HAN D B OO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

of H armony yet it fol l ows that the most

,

advanced work requires t o be founded on a

sound har monic basis J ust as in a picture .

n o amou n t o f skill in colouring will hide bad

d r awing s o n o score sounds clear and satis

,

—
f y in g unless the part writing is good in itself ,

and the tone well bal anced between the parts

O f each chord .

2 . The best guide f o r the good spacing of

chords is the natural har monic se r ies which , ,

starting from the octave at the bottom rises by ,

regularly decreasing intervals So it follows .

that the bass instruments S hould be widely

s p aced and the treb l e instruments closely
,

presse d together In St r ing divisio n s the r e

.

fore it is generally wise r to divide the uppe r

than the l ower St r ings .

The natural a n d legitimate use of the

3 .

lowest bass instruments of each G roup ( D ouble

Bass Dou b le B assoon and B ass Tuba ) is to
, ,

give the lowest oc tave in the ha r monic se r ies ,

an d in a powe r ful T u tti they cannot be bette r

employed Close harmony of middle parts

.

S hould not lie below G at the top of the bass

st ave .

4 .
Brass ha r mony except ,
for the four
Horns alone should always b e widely sp r ead
,
.

VO O d h a r mo n y on the co n t
,
r a r y sou n ds bette
,
r
3 8 HA N D BO O K O F O R C H E S TR A TI O N

whe n a Wi n d sol o is accompanied by St r ings

(4) by the crossi n g of pa r ts a s
,
when the Ce l lo
is put above the Violins or the Oboe above the
,

Flutes .

3 . I n music w r itten for the P iano the melody

is almost always at the top of the harmony an d ,

next in orde r of frequency it l ies in the bass

least often is it found in the middle parts .

But in the Orchest r a the greatest wealth o f

material lies in the middle round about M id dl e
,

C ( which note exists on every instrument

,

except the P iccolo K ettle drums and the very

,
-
,

lowest Wind ) and a s h a s been pointed out many

, , ,

i n struments are at their b est in the middle of their

compass I t f o llows that o r chestral mel o dy
.

most generally lies in the middle of the harmony ,

and the accompaniment has to be considered

accordi n gly M elodies which lie otherwise ,

extremely high or extremely low are best ,

doubled in the octave o r even in two octaves

,
.

3 . I t is seldom wise to give a solo pass age

to two similar Wind inst ruments I f that .

mechanical precision which is inevitable when

two players have to keep togeth er is the
e ffect r eq u i r ed then the added ful n ess a n d
r oundness of tone m ay be a n advantage ;
b u t most Wind solos a r e of a delicate natu r e ,

and such so l os shou ld al ways be confined to one

 N OT E S FO R ADVAN CED ST U D E NT S 39

p laye r of each kind of instrument .

4. When a phrase o r passage is repeated it

should have more tone the second time than
the first either by the use o f stronger in st ru
,

ments or by the addition o f others

,
.

5. For purely dynamic effects the S tring an d

Brass instruments are the most respon sive ;
but the finest dim in u endo an d the so ftes t
p i a n is s im o can be obtained o n the C l a rinet .

With this exception the Wood W in d G roup

is the l east subt l e in this particu l ar wa y though ,

it furnishes the greatest var iety o f co l our .

6. The e ffect produce d by the r e ent r y o f -

Instrument o r G ro up d epen d s mo s t ly on the

length of it s previous silence .

7. Entries and Exi t s shoul d n e ver b e

written in a middle tone except in the case o f
background work A more d efinite s oftness
.

or loudness is required at the beg inn ing an d t he

end of everything .

8. One can never a ffor d at any t ime t o b e

unrhythmical least o f all at the b e ginn ing o f
,

any fresh movement the rhythm then shou ld

be slightly exaggerated in or d er that t he
hearer can feel the swing instantaneous l y ;
'

it should not take him fi v e o r s ix bars t o d e c id e

in what time the music is written .

9. G race notes of ev e ry kin d ,

b e ing a
p rform it
e .

m iddl e of thq > hrase

.
 4 0 HANDB OO K OF O R CHEST R ATION

P iano e ffect are best avoided in Orchest r atio n

,

if use d they should not be doubled In Wind .

they are only playable in those conj unctions

where shakes an d tr em olo are possi b le .

SECTI ON IV . Accompani m ent

1 Accompaniments to songs a n d in s t r u
.

menta l solos need special attention The .

soloist must have s uffi c ien t s up p o r t but must ,

—
never be over powered A Tu tti can onl y be .

used when the so l o is silent when it is ,

e ffective as a ffor d ing contrast Wind should .

be kept in the neutral registers except f o r ,

su b ordinate so l o passages The bulk of the .

accompaniment should al ways be given to

Strings even in a Vio l in Solo
, .

2 . I f the solo part is florid the a c c o m p a n i ,

ment shou ld b e simple and the scoring thin .

I f the s o le is smooth with long sustained notes ,

then the accompaniment should be florid with

a ful l tone otherwise it l acks interest
,
.

3 . In a song the accompaniment should lie

for the mo st part in a di ff erent register from the
so l o ; the man s voice S hou l d have a high
’

’
accompaniment while the woman s requires
,

a low o n e .

4. During the solo p a ssages it is unwise to

d oub l e Wind in the unison or to have a heavy ,
 N OTES FO R ADVAN CED ST U DENTS 4 1

sustai n ed Double Bass part : P ercussion must

also be spari n gly used .

5 The
. doubli n g of the so l o part in the
Orchest r a is sometimes e ffective fo r an isolate d
passage but S hould never b e pro l onged
,
.

6 Very short snappy chords on l y soun d

.

well when loud ; in a soft passage separate

C hords S hou l d be written in fairly long notes .

This applies pa r ticularly t o S trings .

7 . While remaining subordinate t o the so l o ,

every accompaniment shou l d be ma d e interest

in g in itself and acceptab l e t o the p l ayers w h o
,

perform it .

SECTI ON V . Balance Com b inations

, ,
an d
Tone Co l our
-

1 . Tone Co l our shou ld be varie d continua ll y

-
,

but without fussiness For beginners Pr o .

,

f e ss o r P rout s ru l e is a wise o n e
’
Change the ,

colour ab o ut every sixt een bars an d never in the

middle of the phrase .

2. The study of combinations is unlimite d

and can be taught by no text book the know -

l edge is only obtained by training the ear to

r ecognise the sound of each combination — to
know how for insta nce the Flute and O b oe in
, , ,

unison sound the Viola and B assoon in octaves

, ,

and s o forth .
4 2 H A N D BO O K OF O R CHE S T R A TI ON

3 The
. exact po w e r of the S t r i n gs d e pends
obviously on their n u me r ical stre n gth at the
mome n t ; but speaki n g roughly it may be
, ,

said that all the First Violins playi n g a r co

balance one Wood instrument in p i a n o and two ,

in for te .

4 . I f both Violins a r e in unison w ith Viola ,

the l atter adds fulness to the body of tone but ,

cannot be heard individually .

5 . Except in the case of the two Violin

pa r ts it is seldom advisable to put two Strings
,

of the same kind in octaves .

6 . Wood blends equally well w ith St r i n gs

or Brass if used to double St rings the tone is ,

thickened ; if to double Brass the tone is S weet ,

ened .

7 . All combinations of S trings and Wood

are good but the Strings generally drow n the
,

Wood .

8 . S trings and Brass rarely blend wel l ,

though a passage for four Ho r ns doubled by

Violas and Cellos divis i has an extremely good
e ffect .

9 . A useful combination is Wind sustained

and S t r ings p izz i ca to one giving sonority and
,

the other light n ess to the whole .

10 One S tri n g part in unison with one

.

Wood ( for instance Viola a n d Bassoo n ) pro

,
44 H A ND B OO K OF O R C H EST R ATI O N

17 Smaller Brass and Wood combinati o n s

.

requi r e care I f Wood and Horns are in

.

octaves t w o Flutes Oboes o r Clarinets are

, ,

needed to balance o n e Horn ; and three o r

four t o bal ance t w o Horns In the case of .

Woo d and Trumpets three Wood are requi r ed

t o balance o n e Trumpet when the latter is in
the lower octave but t w o are su fficient when
,

the Trumpet is in the higher o ctave A Trumpet .

passage that gets t o o high can be best tra n s

ferred t o Oboes and Clarinets in unison ; in
this case if the accompaniment to the Trumpet
was Wood it shou l d be transferred to the
,

Horns I t is wiser to avoid combinations of

.

Wood an d Trom b ones M uted Trumpets blend .

well with Oboe and Co r Anglais Stopped .

Horns b len d wel l with the cha lu m ea u of the

Clarinet .

18 A ll Win d instruments when p l a y i n g

.
,

soft l y have a b out the same power though

, ,

T r umpets and Trombones should be mark ed

P P when the others are marked P But in .

forte and fortis s im o some adj ustment is required

to procure good balance Then Trumpets .
,

Trombones and Tuba have about the same

strength Cornets have rather less Horns are
about half a s strong a s the la r ger Brass I t is .

best therefore in loud passages to put t w o

, ,
 N OTES FO R ADVAN CED ST U DENTS 45

Horns in unison to balance one T r umpet o r

o n e Trombone and two of any Wood Wind t o
,

balance one Horn .

19
. When only two Horns a r e in use a common
ar r angeme n t is t o build four part harmony
-

with the two Horns and the t w o Bassoons .

They balance perfectly in p i a n o but in for te

,

the Horns are apt t o drown the Bassoons unless

ma r ked mf or mp There are t w o metho d s o f
.

ar r angi n g this combination ( 1 ) by crossing the

four parts giving the consonant intervals t o
,

the Horns and the dissonant intervals t o the

,

Bassoons ; a n d ( 2 ) by giving the Horns an

octave at the top and bottom o f the cho r d and ,

putting the B assoon parts in b etween ; the

r everse of this would be bad Such a passage
.

is of course best when placed in the neutral

registers of both instruments .

20
. I t is always goo d t o give sustained parts
to Brass and moving pa r ts to Wood .

21
. A useful method of procu r ing a glitter
ing top part is to put the Flute and P iccolo in
unison ( n o t octaves ) the Flute being forte and
,

the P iccolo p i a n i s s i m o .

22. A uniform tone of rather a harsh kind

can be obtained by w r iting C l arinets h igh and
Oboes low .

23
. Wood Wind w r iting is simplified c o n
4 6 HAN DBO O K OF O R CHEST R ATIO N

by the use o f three Flutes and th r ee

s id e r a b ly

Cla r inets which by providing a Six note cho r d

, ,
-

of much the same tim br e gets ove r ma n ifold ,

di fficulties Several o f the R ussian composers

.

use this arrangement with o n e Oboe and one

Cor Anglais t r eating the t w o l a tter o n ly as
,

solo instruments .

24 There is n o power in the Orchestra

.
,

n o t even in the Brass that can drown a String ,

unison octave passage played loudly

-
.

25 Owing t o the relative tension of the

.

st r ings the tone o f the Violin and Cello most

,

nea r ly approximates and that o f the Viola and ,

Double Bass .

26 There are several ways of avoidi n g a

.

t o o sudden C hange of tone colour by a g r adual

- -

merging o f groups An easy method is to mark .

o n e G roup di m i n u en do and the other cr es c en do

at the same time A more subtle way is by .

the use o f those parts of individual inst r uments

which relate most nea rly to the ti m br e of the
other G roup For instance the ha r mo n ics of
.
,

St r ings ca rr y the tone colour from St r i n gs to -

high Wood ; the Viola ca r r ies St r ing t o n e to

Wood th r ough the middle Bassoo n o r low
Clar inet registers ; low Flute notes can ca r r y
V o o d tone to Brass through low soft T r umpet
il

notes ; the B assoo n a n d Ho r n playi n g m ez z o

 N OTES FO R ADVAN CED ST U D ENTS 47

fo rte a n d in neutral registe r s can ca r r y S t r ings

t o Brass fai r ly well while muted Tr u mpets
,

and stopped Ho r ns can ca r r y Wood to B r ass .

Wag n e r s sco r es a r e pa r ticula r ly useful f o r the

’

study of these tra n sitional e ffects .

A final wo r d to advanced students is that

Orchestration is in point o f fact a science that
h a s no rules and that consists entire l y o f
,

exceptions Fo r a . specia l e ffect anything

is allowable but t o o many
,
spec ial e ffects
defeat themse l ves and produce an inartistic
,

sco r e M omentary exaggeration is O ften e x

.

c e lle n t but habitua l exaggeration spells failure

,
.

Y oung composers anxious t o get their work

played S hould remember that extra in s t r u
ments involve extra expense and that scores,

containing many parts outside the ordina r y

Full O r chestra a r e n o t so r eadily accepted for
pe r fo r mance f o r that reason .
PA RT II T H E IN S T R UM EN T S

CHAP T E R I Th e S t ri ng G ro up
CHA P TE R II Th e S t ri ng I ns t ru m e n t s
@ HA P TE R III Th e W ind G ro u p
CHA P TE R IV The W ind I n s t rum e n t s
CHA P TE R V The P e r c us s i o n G r o u p
CHA P TE R VI : The P e r c us s i o n I n s t r u m e n t s and t he
Ha r p
PA RT 11 T HE IN S T R UM EN T S

C HA P TE R I THE S T R IN G G R O U P
.

( N O TE : S t r i n g w i,t h a capi t al S , r e f e r s a l w ay s t o

t h e g ro u p o f i n s t r um e n ts w i th a s ma ll t o t h e ca t g u t
“ ”
5

i t s e l f Si m i l a rly B as s w i th a capi t a l s ig ni fi es the

.

D o u b l e B a s s w hi l e w i th a s m a ll i ni t ia l l e t t e r it m e a n s th e
,

bass o f the h a rm o ny) .

T HE ST R I N G S In all bowed instruments

.

the strings are numbered downwar d s the ,

highest in pit ch being the first The strings .

a r e a ll made of catgut ; when described a s

”
covere d the refe r ence is to those which have
,

a tight l y wound metal thread spun round the

-

whole l ength These covered strings are the

.

fourth in Vio l in and the third and fourth in

,

Vio l a an d Violoncello .

K E Y S Theoretical l y al l S trings can play

.

equall y we ll in any key but those containing

their open strings are easier and have more
resonance Keys having a large number of sharps
.

o r flats shou l d be avoided it is better to write

enharmonical ly .

B O W IN G The signs H and V a r e used to

.

denote down b o w and -

u p bow r esp e c -

t iv ely b ut it is not necessary to mark them

,
5 2 HAN D B OO K OF O R CH E S T R ATI O N

it in order to get his hand r ightly placed The .

Table applies equally well to Viola if transposed

d o wn a perfect fifth but it does not apply to
,

Cello o r B ass .

5 .S HA R E S Shakes of
. all kinds are possible

on S trings except the lowest o n e o f a ll that

, ,

on the fourth open string The notation is .

and slurs should S how how much is to

be done in one bow I n a very l ong shake
.
,

however it is wiser to omit slu r s then each

, ,

p l a y er changes his b ow at wil l and the e ffect

 THE ST R I N G GR O U P 53

is cont inuous Double S hakes S hould not b e

.

used in orchestral w r iting .

6. C HO R DS AND ARP E GG IOS Chor d s and .

A r peggios of two three or four notes a r e

, ,

possible which have each note o n a separate

string and in the same position Double note .
-

C hords on adj acent strings are the only ones

that can be played solidly as the ho w can only ,

play on two st r ings at the same time L arger .

Chords are spread that is p l aye d in groups, ,

of two notes which follow each other with great

,

rapidity Chords havi n g one o r t w o open

.

st r ings fo r their lowest notes are easiest and

have the greatest resonance I t is best to .

confine spread C hords to the three upper S tring

par ts and in no case should they b e given to
,

Double Bass .

7. P I Z Z ICATO This is . done by plucking

the string with the finger ins tead of using the
bow and is an easy and useful device I t is
, .

mos t sonorous o n the lower strings and should

in n o case be written high up in the compass of
any instrument as o n a very short string the
,

tone is bad A little time is nee d ed befo r e

.

an d ( stil l more ) after a p i z z i c a to passage to

allow the p l ayer to adj ust his hand P iz z i ca to .

can never b e as rapid as b owing ; the deg r ee

of speed depends on the thickness of the string
used the Viol in
,
fi r st being the quickest to
54 HAN DBO O K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

respond and the Bass fourth the slowest .

Spread cho r ds ac r oss the stri n gs can be played

p izz i ca to under the same left hand co n ditions -

as with the b o w !uick arpeggios to be played

.

with one S weep O f the finger across the st r i n gs

sho u ld have a slur this is the only occasion in
which a slur is used in p izz i ca to w r iting
usually the finger rises for each note Ex cept .

o n the open st r ings there is no great r ange o f

fo r ce possible with p izz i ca to it is most e ffective

when played p i a n o —
L eft hand p iz z i ca to a
.
,

solo device should n o t be used in o r chestral

,

w r iting P izz ica to on a natu r al harmonic ( P a r

. .

1 0 below is possible and pa r ticularly good in

)
Cello but rather feeble o n the other St r ings
,
.

The direction for p iz z i ca to is p iz z which .

”
holds good until contradicted by a r co w ith ,

the bow .

8. M U TES A mute is a small th r ee p r o n ged

.
-

piece of metal wood o r ivo r y w hich is placed

, , ,

o n the b r idge of the inst r ument without touch

in g the st r ings I t deadens the sound some

.

what and produces a thin reedy to n e The .

di r ection is con s ordi n o and the co n t r adicti o n,

s e nz a s o r d in o Time at least th r ee slow

.
,

ba r s m u st be allowed in which to put on and

,

take O ff the mute M utes a r e least O ften u se d

.

f o r the D o uble B ass .

 THE ST R I N G GR O U P 55

9. TR E M O L O There. are th r ee ki n ds of
tr e m olo , ( 1) B o w ed ; ( )
2 F i ng e r e d ; and (3)
B r ok en . B o wed trem olo is the most common ,

a n d is very easy and useful With a quick

.

w r ist action the pla y er reiterates o n e note

-

( or a doub l e note -
chord ) as rapidly as possi bl e .

I t can be pla y ed with any d egree o f force from

P P P to forte but is most e ffective when soft
,
.

F i ng er ed tr em olo is a shake o f an interval

larger than a second that is it consists o f a —
very rapid alteration o f t w o notes using t w o ,

fi n gers on the same string ; o n e finger stops

the lower note while the other rises and fal ls as
quick l y as possible Open strings shou l d n o t
.

be used Intervals s o large as t o require t w o

.

strings S hou l d be avoided as this entai l s a ,

wrist action which is di fficult and can never be

-

rapid The l ower strings are the l east good f o r

.

fingered trem olo B rok en Tr em olo consists o f

.

stopping t w o notes o n adj acent strings an d

playing them alternate l y w ith separate bows
as rapi d ly as possible I t can never b e as fast.

as the other two kin d s but is the best f o r ,

o r ti s s i m o work A ver y rare e ffect is a p izz i

.

c a to tr em olo produced by thrumming the notes

,

o f a sprea d cho r d across the strings with the

-

soft part o f three or four fingers .

5 6 HANDBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

£62 5 6 0
,
fi bf ’

zf f d
’
J e y 53
rr
/ 7
.

10 H A RM ONICS
.
( )
1 N a tu r a l
. Every .

string vibrates as a whole and in sections

simultaneous l y B y lightly touching it at
.

certain points the whole length vibration is -

prevented and it vibrates only in sections

, ,

and thus pro d uces har monics On each .

string there are several harmonics obtainable ;

they occur as a regu l ar dim inishing progression
o f intervals upwards from the open string
octave perfect fifth perfect fourth maj or
, , ,

third minor third The lower ones in the

, .

series are the easier and the most commonly

used To indicate a harmonic a little
. 0

is wr itten above the note which in eve r y case ,

denotes the rea l sound n o t the place where the ,

string is touched .

( )
2 A r tifi ci a l Any note o
. n the three
highest Strings which is t w o octaves and a note
above its lowest string can b e produced as an
art ificial harmon i c by stopping the note two
octaves bel o w and lightly touching the st r i n g
w ith the fou r th finger In this case the real .

s ound produced is n o t w r itten but instead , , ,

 T HE ST R I N G GR O U P 57

the two notes which are stoppe d and touched

the s t e p p e d note is written in the usual way ,

and the touched note ( a l ways of course a

perfect fourth highe r ) ha s a diamond shaped -

head As t h e whole hand has t o move fo r

.

each artificial harmonic slurs should be avoided

and intervals kept small These ha r monics .

a r e easy o n the Violin di fficu l t an d r isky o n

,

Viola possible and good on Cello an d impossible

, ,

o n B ass They should not be w r itten higher

.

than t w o octaves above the lowest one possible .

The harmonic is a special e ffect an d must b e

treated as such : the sound is thin and flu t y ,

and can never be loud Harmonics a r e always

.

unsuitable when the music is fast and in no case ,

should a S ingle one b e int r oduced in the middle

of a quick stopped passage The bow must be .

used rapidly s o long s l urs are bad and a passage

, ,

written entirely In harmonics should as a gene r a l

rule consist on l y o f the natural or only ”

of the artificial kin d as an interm ixture is

,

di fficult The . natural harmonics are the

easier an d have the b etter tone A litt l e time .

f o r preparation is required f o r the cor r ect

production o f al l harmonics as need l ess to ,

say unless perfectly in tune they do not sound

, ,

at all .

11 . D IVISION OF P A R TS All String p a r t s.

 8 HAN D BO O K O F O R C HE STR A IO N
'

can be sub divided in to two three or mo r e

-
, ,

sepa r ate v o ices In w r iting for S tri gs alone

.

this is o ften necessary in o r de r t o c o m le t e the

harmon y but at al l times it is a useful ev ic e by
,

which t o obtain variet y o f tone co l o r in the -

String G roup I t is unwise however 0 divide

.
, ,

the D oub l e Basses except fo r a s p e c ii e ffe ct ;

an d as a general rule sub divisions s o uld be -

confine d t o the three upper S trings I t must .

a l wa y s be borne in min d that b y d iv iling o n e

String part into t w o the tone is the e d irn in
,
'

is he d by o n e h a l f with the result h a t the

,

t on e ba l ance requi r e s r e adj ustment n deli

- -
.

cat e pas sa ges it is bes t t o divide e y e when ,

i t is p o ssib l e fo r o n e p l a y er t o get b o tI notes ,

as there is inevitab ly some roughness ii d ouble

not e p l aying because the b o w is le a lin g
,

simu l t aneous l y with t w o s t r ings o f iffer e n t

t h ickness .I n f o r te w o rk ho w e v er whe r e ,

quantity o f t one is requir ed the pa r t sho u ld ,

n o t be d i vi d ed if p l a y able w ithout h ere is .

on ly o n e satisfact or y not ation fo r a iv is io n

of part s t he dir e ction
,
div and 3 1 the .
“

cont ra d iction unis The am big uo u term

.

a2 shou l d be avo id ed I f p art s ar e i v id e d

.

int o m ore than t w o it is nec es s ar y t o u s e x tra

st aves .

12 . S P ECIA L E FFECTS ( )
I S u
.
l p or ic ellf) ,
5 8 HANDBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

can be s u b divided i n to two three o r mo r e

-
, ,

sepa r ate voices In w r iting f o r St r i n gs alone

.

this is O ften necessary in o r de r to complete the

ha r mony but at all times it is a useful de v ice by
,

which t o obta i n va r iety o f tone colour in the -

St r ing G roup I t is unwise however to divide

.
, ,

the Doub l e Basses except for a special e ff e ct ;

and as a general rule sub divisions should be -

confined t o the three upper Strings I t must .

always be borne in mind that by dividing one

St r ing part into t w o the tone is thereby dimin
,

is h ed by o n e half with the result that the

,

tone balance requi r es r e adj ustment In deli

- -
.

cate passages it is best to divide even when ,

it is possible f o r o n e player to get both notes ,

as there is inevitab l y some roughness in double

note p l aying because the bow is dealing
,

simultaneously with two stri n gs of di ffe r e n t

thickness In for te wo r k however whe r e
.
, ,

quantity o f tone is req u i r ed the part should ,

n o t be divided if playable without There is .

only o n e satisfactory notation for a division

of parts the direction
,
div an d f o r the .

contradiction unis The ambiguous term

.

a2 should be avoided I f pa r ts are divided .

into more than two it is necessary to u s e extra

staves .

S P ECI A L E FFECTS S l p on ti c ello

12.
( )
I u .
,
 THE ST R I N G GR O U P 59

with the b o w kept c l ose t o the bridge I t .

produces an unpleasant hard tone and is usua l ,

ly co n fined to bowed tr em olo .

( )
2 S u l ta s to

( or s u r l a to u che,) the b o w being drawn over the

fingerboard ; this produces a light thin tone , ,

only suitab l e for P P .

(3) C ol l e
g n o when the ,

player uses the stick instead of the hair o f the

b ow . I t is not d r awn but th r own on the stri n g
,

and allowed to rebou n d : the result is a success

io n o f hard woode n taps and conside r able
damage t o the varnish o f the b o w : the effect
can never be loud and t o be successful requires
,

a large num b er o f p l ayers ; it is wiser therefo r e

t o give it t o a l l the Strings at once . The contra
diction fo r al l three devices is n a tu r a le .

13 . CR OSSI N G OF P A R TS This is a useful

.

device with many possibilities but if the Viola

,

or
( more particularly ) the Ce ll o is
,
put above
the Violins it becomes very conspicuous and
,

can only be given a prominent part .

62 HAN DB OO K OF O R CHEST R A TI ON

2 . N OTATI ON I t is the o n ly instrument in

.

the Orchestra to u s e habitually the Alto Clef .

When the part gets very high the Treble C l ef is

used the part being always written in real notes
, .

3 . B O W IN G The .b o w is shorter heavier , ,

and less elastic that the Vio l in b o w I t is .

necessary therefore t o keep it moving at a

, ,

good pace in order t o get pure tone consequent

ly slurs shou l d be shorter than in Vio l in parts .

All the various kinds o f bowing are possible .

S P ECIA L E FFECTS C ol le n o p n ti ll
4 .
g o
. c e o , ,

s u l ta s to p i zz ica to
, and the lower natural har
,

monies are al l possible and usefu l but it is best ,

t o avoid artificia l harmonics M utes are par

.

t ic u la rly e ffective o n the Viola especia l ly o n the ,

two outer strings .

5 . GENE R A L The tone

. o f the Vio l a part ,

ic ula rly o n the first and fourth strings is qu ite ,

unique and cannot b e obtained o n any other

instrument ; solos shou l d be kept a s much as
p ossib l e on these t w o strings The mi d d l e.

strings combine we ll with an y thing s o are use ,

ful for filling ih and background work The

-
.

Viola b l ends better than any other String with

the wind even with the brass M inor keys are
,
.

better than m aj or ; all flat keys bett er than sharp

the worst keys fo r the instrument are E maj or
an d B maj or A Viola so l o is a l ways effectiv e
.
 TH E ST R I N G I N ST RU M ENTS 63

in a score but it shoul d be short and it must

, ,

n ever be forgotten that the instrument is natur

ally unsuited t o great rapidity of movement .

In modern scores the Violas are fre q uently

divided sometimes into four o r s ix parts an d
, ,

this gives the harmony a som b re richness that

is not obtaina b le in any other way .

SECTI ON I I I The Violonce ll o

1 C O M P ASS The four strings are tune d t o
. .

a n octave be l ow those o f the V io l a

-
.

The upward compass is o f course variab l e b ut ,

the highest E in the Treb l e stave ma y b e sug

gested a s a possib l e highest note .

2 N OTATION A l l three c l efs bass tenor

. .
, ,

and treble are used and n o w the rea l soun d , , ,

is always written I n o l d scores when the tre bl e

.

clef is used the notes are often wr itten an

,

octave a b ove the real sound ; an d because o f

this ambiguit y it is wiser t o avoi d the tre bl e
clef a l together unless the part gets very high
, .

3 B
. O W IN G A l.l the various kinds o f b owing
can be app l ied to the Cello Very l ong s l urs .

are impossib l e a s the bow heavier an d l ess el astic ,

than the Violin bow h a s t o be use d more rapi dl y

,

in or d er to keep the thick strings in v ib ration .

4 F
. I N G E R IN G The strings
. o f the Ce ll o are
nearly double the l ength o f those o f the Vio l in ,
62 HANDB OO K OF O R CHEST R A TI ON

2 . N OTATI ON I t is the o n ly instrument in

.

the Orchestra to use habitually the Alto Clef .

When the part gets very high the T r eble Clef is

used the part being always written in real notes
, .

3 . B O W IN G The b.o w is shorter heavier , ,

and less elastic that the Vio l in b o w I t is .

necessary therefore t o keep it moving at a

, ,

good pace in o r der t o get pure tone consequent

ly s l urs should be S horter than in Vio l in parts .

All the various kinds o f bowing are possible .

S P ECIA L E FFECTS C ol le n o p n ti ll
4 .
g o . ce o , ,

s u l ta s to p izz ica to
, and the lower natural har
,

monies are al l possible and usefu l but it is best ,

t o avoid artificia l harmonics M utes are par.

t ic u la r ly e ffective o n the Viola especia l ly o n the ,

two outer strings .

5 . GENE R A L The tone. o f the Vio l a part ,

ic ula rly o n the first and fourth strings is qu ite ,

unique and cannot b e obtained o n any other

instrument ; solos shou l d be kept as much as
possib l e o n these t w o strings The mi d d l e .

strings com b ine we ll with anything s o are u s e ,

ful for filling in and background work The

-
.

Viola blends better than any other S tring with

the wind even with the brass M inor keys are
,
.

better than m aj or ; all flat keys bett er than sharp

the worst keys fo r the instrument are E maj or
an d B maj or A Viola so l o is a l ways e ffectiv e
.
 THE ST R IN G I N ST RU M ENTS 63

in a score but it shou ld be short and it must

, ,

never be forgotten that the instrument is natur

ally unsuited t o great rapidity of movement .

In modern scores the Vio l as are frequently

divided sometimes into four o r si x parts an d
, ,

this gives the harmony a som b re ri chness that

is not obtaina bl e in any other wa y .

SECTI ON I I I The Violonce ll o

1 C O M P ASS The four strings are tune d t o
. .

—
a n octave below those o f the V io l a .

The upward compass is o f course var ia bl e b ut ,

the highest E in the Treb l e stave ma y be s ug

gested as a possib l e highest note .

2 N OTATION Al l three c l efs bass tenor

. .
, ,

and treble are used and n o w the real soun d , , ,

is always written In o ld scores when the tre bl e

.

clef is use d the notes are often wr itten an

,

octave a b ove the r e al sound ; and because o f

this ambiguity it is wiser t o avoi d the tre bl e
clef a l together unless the part gets very high
, .

3 B
. O W I N G .Al l the various kin d s o f bowing
can be app l ied to the Cello Very l ong s l urs .

are impossible as the bow heavier an d l ess e l ast ic

,

tha n the Vio l in bow has t o be use d more rapi dl y

,

in or d er to keep the thick strings in v ib ration .

4 F
. I N G E R IN G The strings
. o f the Ce ll o are
nearly doub l e the l ength o f those o f the Vio l in ,
64 HAN DB O O K O F O R CHEST R AT I O N

consequent l y the fi n ge r i n g is di ffe r e n t A S a

.

rule the player uses consecutive fingers for

a semitone and alternate fingers for a tone ,

s o he can on l y stretch a maj o r thi r d in o n e posi

tion F or high passages ( above the B in the

.

treble stave ) the thumb is brought round and

placed on the strings ; these high thumb
positions are rarely needed in orchestral
music but if used the player must be given
,

a few moments in which to readj ust his hand .

5
. S HAKES A ll shakes
. are p ossi b le but
,
it
is best to avoid those on the thick C string .

6
. TR E M O L O B owe d t r emolo is easy and
.

e ff ective F ingered and Broken tremo l o must

.

be written with regard t o the l imitations o f the

stretch of the l eft han d .

GENE R A L P i z i ca to is easy and most

7
. z .

useful but shou l d not b e t oo fast Dou b le

, .

stopping is not advisab l e in orchestra l writing ,

unless ver y easy it is far better t o d ivide the

part O ctaves unless the l ower note is an
.
,

open string are also unadvisab l e The fourth

,
.

is the most awkward interval on the Cello s o ,

any phrase or figu r e bui l t on fourths should be

avoided H a r monics of both kinds a r e easy
.

to produce anywhere Fo r merly the Cello w a s

.

only used as the bass of the Stri n gs but n o w ,

it can b e all ote d any task a n d is equ a lly good

66 HAN DBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

p l ent y of t ime must be allowed for the tu ning

and r e t u ning o f the st r ing
-
.

4. F IN G E R IN G At .the nut the maxi m u m

stretch between the fi r st a n d fo u r th finge r s is a
whole to n e ; only the fi r st and second fi n ge r s
can stretch a semitone The usual method o f .

p l aying a passage o f semitones from one ope n

string t o the next is 02 4 2 4 0 ; as the intervals
get smal l er in the higher positions the fi r st
finger is b rought into u s e .

5. B O W IN G The
. b o w is very S hort and the
strings are very thick s o in p i a n o the bow has
,

t o be changed every few seconds and mo r e ,

frequent l y as the tone is increased A lo n g .

sustained note should be written either with

o n e l ong slur ( when
,
each player tu r ns his bow

at pleasure and s o the tone is continuous ) o r

with a succession o f short notes p orta m en to s o ,

that the b o w is change d in acco r dance with the

rhythm .

6. D O U B L E N OTES A few are possible .

,

o n e o r both being O pen st r ings but their use ,

is ina d visable and it is better to divide the pa r t

,
.

7. H A RM ONICS Artificial
. harmonics are
impossible but a few natural harmonics are
,

obta inab le and are easy a n d e ffective ; they

,

are writte n in r eal sounds with black dots on

the Comp a ss Chart A S stated above the re a l
.
 THE ST R I N G I N ST RU M E N TS 67

soun d is alwa y s written in the case of ha m o n iC ,

r S

and the treble clef may be used .

8
. P I ZZ ICATO This is easy an d useful but
.
,

exhausting t o the player if continued fo r l ong .

I t should never be fast particular ly o n the ,

lower strings o r the e ffect is muddle d The

,
.

lower it is the more resonant is the soun d .

9
. S H A R E S These are .possib l e but n ot

desirable as they always sound thick I f used

,
.

they S hould be ver y S hort and doub l ed in the

10 . TR E M O L O Bowed tremolo is ver y often

.

found in scores but it is never s o loud as de

,

t a c h e d notes only more e x citing and noisy ;

,

separate notes as a genera l rule produce the

better resu l t Fingered Tremolo o f an interval
.

n o t greater than a minor third is practicable

( but undes irable ) when the lower note is at

least a maj or third above the open string On .

the three lower strings it is only good when

p i a n o but o n the t o p string it can be mf o r
,

even forte and come o u t fairly wel l Broken

, .

Tremolo is theoretical l y possible when o n e o f

the t w o notes is an open string but it is in ev it ,

ably 5 0 S low as hardly t o be cal l ed a tremolo .

11. S P ECIA L E FFECTS Those mentioned in .

Chapter 1 1 2 can be p r oduced o n the Bass and

,

a r e generally successful M utes are occasio n

.
68 H ANDBO O K OF O R CHEST R ATI O N

a ll y use d but are n o t recommen d e d ; most

,

p l ayers O bj ect t o their use .

12
. GENE R A L As a rule it is bad t o write
.

fast fo r the Bass as it is a Sl ow speaking in s t r u

,
-

ment and qu ick movement o f any kind is totall y

unsuited t o its nature ; the numerous quick
passages t o be found in o ld mus ic b e l ong t o
the orchestra l vagueness o f the past when the
Ce ll o an d Bass played from the same part ,

and each did what he l iked and could G ener a ll y .

the B ass part should be kept up as the continual

,

grow l o f the l ower strings is ug l y and heavy

Very lo w sounds o f an y kind demand harmonic
simp l icity an d fo r the Bass continual moderate
movement is the b est wa y o f writing The .

division o f Basses is quite legitimate and n o w

ve r y usual but in very smal l orchestra there
,

is often on l y o n e Bass p l ayer when O bvio u s

,

di fficu l ties arise ; in a thin score it is r arely

good t o d ivi d e the Basses The best part o f the
.

instrument is from the A O pen string t o about

a tenth o r twelfth above ; speaking roughly
therefore it is well t o confine the Bass part
within the limits o f the Bass stave A quick .

l oud passage which continues fo r a long time

is very tiring t o the p l ayers and it is a good
,

p l an in such a case t o divide the Basses and ,

cut up the passage between them ( P a th S y u . .

r

PB 0
5 , SI
)
 C HA P TE R I I I : THE WI N D GRO U P

1 . W OOD A N D BR ASS The main di v ISIO n .

o f Win d i n struments is b etween those that are

ma d e o f woo d cal l e d The Woo d an d those

, ,

that are ma d e o f meta l genera ll y brass cal l e d , ,

The Brass The p itch o f each d epends o n

.
”

the l ength o f its tube The d ifferences o f tone .

co l our are d ue chiefly t o ( 1 ) the metho d in

whic h the air is s e t in motion ( 2 ) whether the ,

tu b e is conica l o r c yl in d rical a n d ( 3 ) the propor ,

tion the si z e o f the tu b e b ears t o its l ength .

The Woo d W in d instruments in genera l use

are the Fl ute an d the P icco l o in wh ich the ,

tone is pro d uce d by bl ow ing across a ho l e in

the tu b e ; the C l arinet an d Bass C l ar inet ,

which have a sing l e ree d ; an d the O b oe Co r ,

Ang l ais Bassoon an d Dou bl e Bassoon w hic h

, ,

h ave a d ou bl e ree d The ree d s are pieces

.

o f rush wh ich are attache d t o the mouthp iece

in suc h a wa y that t he y v ib rate w it h t he

’
p l a y er s b reath an d in the ir turn s e t in v ib ra
,

t ion the air within the tube .

The Brass W in d consists o f C ornet Trumpet , ,

Horn Trom b one an d B ass Tu b a a ll h av ing a

, ,

cuppe d mouth p iec e the e x act shap e o f which

,

l a rge ly d eterm ines t he tone The B r a ss has t he .

68 H AN DBOO K O F O R CH E ST R ATI O N

a ll y use d but are n o t recommen d e d ; most

,

p l ayers obj ect t o their use .

12 . GENE R A L As a ru l e it is bad t o write

.

fast fo r the Bass as it is a slow S peaking in s t r u

,
-

ment and qu ick movement o f any kind is totall y

unsuited t o its nature ; the numerous quick
passages t o be found in o ld mus ic b e l ong t o
the orchestra l vagueness o f the past when the
Cel l o and Bass p l ayed from the same part ,

an d each d id what he l iked and cou ld G ener a ll y.

the Bass part shou ld be kept up as the continual

,

grow l o f the l ower strings is ugly and heavy

Very lo w sounds o f an y kin d demand harmonic
simp l icity and fo r the Bass continua l moderate
movement is the b est wa y o f writing The .

division o f Basses is quite legitimate an d n o w

ve r y usual but in ver y smal l orchestra there
,

is often on l y o n e B ass p l ayer when obvio u s

,

di fficu l ties arise ; in a thin score it is rarely

goo d t o divide the Basses The best part o f the
.

instrument is from the A O pen string t o about

a tenth o r twelfth above ; speaking roughly
therefore it is well t o confine the Bass part
within the limits o f the Bass stave A quick .

l oud passage which continues f o r a long time

is very tiring t o the p l a y ers and it is a good
,

p l an in such a case t o divide the Basses and ,

cut up the passage between them ( P a th S y m . . .

,

PP . 0
53 , 5 1
)
 C HA P TE R I I I : THE WI N D GRO U P

I . W OOD A N D BR ASS The main Cll V l Sl O Il .

o f Win d instruments is between those that are

ma d e o f woo d calle d The Woo d an d those

, ,

that are ma d e o f metal generall y brass cal l e d , ,

The Brass The p itch o f each d epends o n

.
”

the l ength o f its tube The d i fferences o f tone.

co l our are d ue chiefly t o ( 1 ) the metho d in

whic h the air is s e t in motion ( 2 ) whether the ,

tu b e is conica l o r c yl in d rical a n d ( 3 ) the propor ,

tion the si z e o f the tu b e b ears t o it s l ength .

The Woo d W in d instruments in genera l u s e

are the Fl ute an d the P icco l o in which the ,

tone is pro d uce d by bl ow ing across a ho l e in

the tu b e ; the C l arinet an d Bass C l ar inet ,

which have a sing l e ree d ; an d the O b oe Co r ,

Ang l a is Bassoon an d Dou bl e Bassoon w hich

, ,

h ave a d ou bl e ree d The ree d s are pieces

.

o f rush wh ich are attache d t o the mouthp iece

in suc h a wa y that the y v ibrate wit h the

p l a y er s b reath an d in their turn set in v ib ra
’

t ion the air within the tu b e .

The Brass Win d consists o f Cornet Trumpet , ,

Horn Trom b one an d B ass Tu b a a ll having a

, ,

cupped mout hp iece the e x act shape o f which

,

l arge l y d eterm ines the ton e The Br a ss ha s t he .

7 9 H AN D B O O K OF O R C H EST R AT I O N

more powe r with great possibilities o f P P cr es

, ,

cendo and dim in u endo while the Woo d ha s the

greater agility ; the relative di fficu l ty being
that while the Brass is the more di fficu l t t o
blow the Wood is the more d i fficult t o finger
,
.

A technical point o f di fference is that whereas

the mechanism o f Woo d always r a is es pitch ,

that o f Brass always lowers pitch .

2 .N UM BE R OF P L A Y E R S The Wind o f .

the modern F ul l Orchestra consists usual l y o f

the fol l ow ing p l aced in the correct or d er o n
,

the score
Two F l utes ,

!
One P iccolo ,

Two Oboes ,

!
One Cor A n glais ,

Tw o C l arinets ,

!
One Bass Clarinet ,

Tw o Bassoons ,

!
One D ou bl e B assoo n ,

Four Horns ,

‘
l‘
Tw o Trumpets ( or Corne ts ) .

!
Two Tenor Trombones ,

!
One Ba s s Trombone .

!
One B ass Tuba .

Small Orchest r as omit those with the asterisk ,

w hich are still r egarded a s extra inst r uments

an d are often pla y e d b y the secon d p l a y er
7 2 HANDB OO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

4 . TO N G U E IN G
In every Wind
. in s t r u

ment the sou n d is produced by a single action

o f the tongue which sets the air within t he

tube in motion Double and Trip l e To n gu ein g

.

( the rapid succession o f notes in groups o f t w o o r

th r ee produced by the tongue moving in such

,

a way as to i n terrupt the breath ) is possib l e

only in those cases where the player has n o pa r t
of the instrument inside the mouth On the .

F l ute and P iccolo which have n o mouthpiece

, ,

t o n g u e in g o f a ll kinds is extremely easy ;

but all the other Wood instruments having ,

some sort of mouthpiece within the l ips o f the

p l ayer cannot in consequence d o anything
,

beyond single t o n g u ein g I n the Brass where .

,

the mouthpiece is outside the lips Dou bl e ,

and Triple To n g u ein g is theoretical l y poss ibl e

for al l but only practicab l e on the small er
,

—
instruments the Cornet the Trumpet and ( t o , ,

a limited extent ) the Horn Although rapid .

t o n g u e in g is eas y it becomes exhausting if

,

continued for a long time espec ial ly o n the ,

larger instruments .

5 . C O M P ASS The comp. l ete compa ss in

Wood from the lowest Double Bassoon note
,

to the highest squeak o f the P icco l o forms the ,

most exten d ed range o f an y group in the

orchestra The exact upward compass of any
.
 THE W IN D GR O U P 73

Wind instrument is in d e fi n ab le as it depen d s ,

considerab l y o n the ab ilit y o f the p l ayer and ,

o n the make o f his instrument The compass .

given in the chart is intende d fo r ordinary

orchestra l u s e A s is the case with the human
.

voice the ver y highest an d the ver y l owest

,

notes have the l east power o f e x pression and ,

are the most di fficult and the most exhausting

t o pro d uce An invariab l e ru l e in Win d is
.

that every instrument is at it s best an d eas iest

in the mid d le o f its compass an d al l so l os an d ,

prominent passages should b e p l ace d there

f o r whereas Win d instruments are b ig o r s m a ll
, ,

high o r lo w t he human throat l ips an d han d s

, ,

remain the same si z e High notes can on l y

.

be pro d uce d l ou d ly L o w notes requ ire most

.

b reath The l ower the d escent in the compass

.
,

the s horter must b e the s l urs an d the greater the

num b er o f rests L o w notes o n all the d eep
.

bass Win d must b e use d with caution an d

restraint as they are s l ow t o speak an d ver y
,

tiring t o p l ay Every note o n every instrument

.

that l ies b e l ow the bottom o f the bass stave ha d

b est have a b reath t o itse l f These lo w notes .

can b e he ld a l i tt l e if p i a n o but when they are

,

for te they must b e quite short with man y rests

before an d after Experience d Brass players
.

“
can fake notes below the actual compass O
74 H AN D B OO K O F O R CHE ST R ATI O N

the instrument by means o f a very l oose lip ,

but it is unwise to score these ; they are o n ly

good a s a makeshift to meet the di fficulties
ar ising in old and fore ign scores ( Cp howeve r . .
, ,

P a r t I I Ch IV Sec
, .
, .

6. K E Y S As a general rule flat keys are

.

the best for W ind I nst r uments vary in the

.

degree in which they are a ffected by key but

in most cases it is best to avoid extreme keys
with a l arge number O f flats o r sharps an d it is ,

alwa y s wise to write enharmonically in order t o

avoid accident als .

7. S HAKES AN D TR E M O L OS These are gener

.

ally possible in Wind but each instrument ,

has its o w n awkward interval s and peculiar ,

di fficulties in the ir execution An exhaustive .

description of this somewhat unimportant point

can b e found in every other text b ook but this -

here information is given only where it can

be condensed in other cases the us e o f shakes
and tremolos is best avoided until the subj ect
is advanced ; they are only a trimming and
quite unnecessary in the ea rlier stages o f
orchest r a tion .

8. P HR ASIN G P hrasing means breathing

.
,

and is as impo r tant to the Wi n d player a s to

the si n ger E ach S lur must be carefu l ly thought
.

o u t with regard to the spirit of the music t o the ,

 THE W IN D GR O U P 75

cap a city of the particular instrument in u s e at

the moment and to the pitch of the n o tes
,
.

A general rule is that the higher the instrument

and the higher the notes the more can b e d one
in the same breath .

.
9 GENE R A L A S
. the lips are more easily
co n tracted than distended it follows that ascen d
ing intervals are alwa y s easier t o play tha n
descending intervals this applies especially to
leg a to slurs and to the double reed instruments -
.

Brass instruments have no distinct registe r s

o f tone ,
but generally speaking they become
stronger and more piercing as they asce n d .

The Wood often have several registers of tone ,

and become more piercing but no t always ,

stronger a s they ascend With the exception

, .

o f the Clarinets the Brass can get the softest

,

p i a n is s im o Skips up and down the compass

.

are ver y di fficult in Brass but comparative l y

,

easy for the Woo d instruments .

I t must not b e thought that the C l ar inet is

a lower instrument than the Oboe b ecause of
their respective positions o n the score which ,

is the result of the Oboe s historic se n io r ity

’
.

The Clarinet goes lower but it also goes much

,

higher .

A very important point to remembe r in

wr iti n g f o r Wi n d instrume n ts is that the y
7 6 HANDB OO K OF O R CHEST R ATI O N

must be wa r m before they can be played with

o u t risk o r di fficulty In those cases therefo r e
.

where the player has had no opportunity to

warm his instrument as in the change o f
,

Clarinets ( Chap I V Sec V 3 ) o r when the

.
, .
,

Second Flute player takes the P iccolo du r i n g

the course o f a piece o r the Second Oboist the
,

Cor Anglais then unimportant passages for

,

the new instrument should be written for a

li ttle while o r the p l ayer g iven time in w hich
,

to blow S ilently into his instrument in order t o

wa r m it .

( S tudents are referred also to the N otes fo ll ow

ing Sec I V in P art I Chap
.
,
.
 C HA P TE R I V . THE W I N D I NST RUM ENTS

SECTI ON I
'

The Flute
1 . N OTATION . Treb l e C l ef . N on -
trans
posi n g .

2 . RE G ISTE R S ( 1 ) L ow ; up t o
. tuning
A the notes are sweet and luscious b ut easily
drowned when th is lo w register 1s m use the
Dou b le Bass had b est be omitted and the ,

scoring shou l d be thin l ong s l urs shou ld also

be avoided as the player has t o breathe after
every few notes ; these lo w notes often sound
like a Trumpet ( 2 ) M iddle ; the octave u p
.

wards from tuning A is the S w eetest and

the best fo r solos ( 3 ) H ig h eve r ything above
.

the high A b ecomes more shrill an d pie r cing

as it ascends ; this register is the most useful
in a l oud tu tti .

3 . K E Y S. Comparatively speaking the Flut e

is little a ff ected b y key but maj or keys are ,

b etter suited t o it than minor particu l arl y ,

in the t w o higher registers .

4 .S HAKE S AND TR E M O L OS A ll S hakes are .

possible within the t w o octaves above E ( fi r st

line o f stave ) Tremolos S hould b e limited t o
.

thi r ds within the stave .

7 8 HAN DB O O K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

5 . A DVANTA G ES Nimb l eness ; agility

.
; the
Flute can play lega to s ta cca to r epeated notes , ,

as fast as a Violin most shakes skips arpeggios

, , ,

and scales of all sorts with perfect ease and for

longer without rest than can any other Wind
instrument its sweet lo w tone and its brilliant
high tone are equally useful .

6 . D I SADVANTA GES I t has n o powe r o f .

expression o f a soulfu l kind and can on l y be

amiable or merry ; it has n o power fo r an
e ffective s os ten u to n o r fo r cr es cen do and dim in
,

n e ndo .

7 GENE
. R A L Flute solos lying
. low are
best p i a n o and with a thin accompaniment .

The t w o lower registers are good for back

ground work but the highest is too sh r ill for
th is pu r pose In a loud tutti the Flutes should
.

be put high Flute tone quickly becomes

.

monotonous to hear so rest r aint should be ,

exercised with rega r d to its use A flute mus t not .

be expected t o pla v softly high up in its compass .

The o f t quoted defective

-
notes n eed not
be considered o n the modern instrument .

SECTI ON I I . The P iccolo

1 N OTATION Treble Clef The pa r t is

. . .

w r itten an octave lowe r than the r eal so u n d ,

in o r der to save lege r lines .

 80 HAN DB OO K OF O R CH E ST R ATI ON

ment t o be used o n specia l occasions on l y

, .

Everything said about the Fl ute applies the

o r e t ic a lly t o the P icco l o but a s the latter
,

reaches the t o p o f its compass it is more di fficult

t o p l ay L ong sustained notes are unsuited
.

t o its nature and it is at it s best in continua l

rapid movement .

SECTI ON I I I The Oboe

1 . N OTATION . Tre b le C l ef . N o n t r a ns p os
-

2 D E SC R I P TI ON The Oboe has a very

. .

small compass n o variety o f tone and is very

,

exhausting t o play continuous l y as the player ,

requires s o little breath that he has t o ho l d it

back whi l e p l aying Fo r these three reasons it
.

m u st be wr itten fo r with restraint The b est .

part o f the instrument is from G o n the second

line t o G on the first space a b ove the stave .

3 .S HAKE S AN D TR E M O L OS Al l shakes are

.

possible up t o the D above the stave Some .

t r emolos are possible but there are s o many ,

that are awkward o r di fficult that it is better

to avoid them altogether in any case they are
u n suited t o the character o f the instrume n t .

4 . A DVANTA G ES The O b.oe is particula r ly

good for solos which are short legato prefe r , ,

ably in the minor fairl y slow and confined

, ,
 THE WI N D I NST RU M ENT S

within the five lines of the treble stave I n a .

bri ll iant tutti its pierc ing tone is usefu l fo r the

higher notes I t is e x tremely good for sharp
.

s ta cca to passages which are not very fast .

5 . D I SADVANTA G ES I t can never be used.

for long at a time I ts piercing tone cuts

.

through everything an d is apt t o upset the

b al ance I t does n o t bl end we l l with other
.

instruments e x cept the Co r Anglais and in a ,

l ess d egree the Bassoon I t is good neither f o r

,
.

arpeggios n o r accompaniments n o r b ackgroun d

, , .

R apid and florid passages are ine ffective .

GENE R A L The O b oe i essentia lly a

’

5 . . s

me l o d ic instrument and its so l os shou ld b e

,

accompanied light l y and preferab l y by Strings

, .

In a Wood tutti its part should lie lo w and be

crossed w ith others I t has n o favourite keys
. .

An y passage having two sharps o r t w o flats

together is rather di fficu l t I t is less a ffecte d .

by temperature than any other instrument ,

an d for this reason is the one se l ecte d to give

the A to the Orc hestra for tuning .

S E CTI ON IV : The Co r Ang l a is

1 N OTATI ON Treble Clef The part is
. . .

written in the key a perfect fifth h igher t han

the key o f the piece .

2 D ESC R I P TION The Co r Ang l ais is an

. .

6
82 H AND BOO K OF O R CHEST R AT I O N

A l to O b oe having the same fingering and

,

practically the same technique as the ordinary

Oboe I t is rather easie r t o b l ow and rather
.

mor e d i fficu l t t o finger it s tone ha s n o bri l liance

an d is l ess piercing than that o f the Oboe .

Ever y th ing written in the prece e d ing Section

app l ies also t o the Co r Angl ais .

3 . GENE R A L . I f n o t overdone the C o r

Anglais is perhaps the most b eautifu l in s t r u

ment fo r s o l o work especi ally fo r s ole s o f a
,

mournfu l character It s t o p octave is b a d

.
,

an d it is n o t worth whi l e t o write a b ove the

tre bl e s t a ve as the O b oe can get the notes b ett er
, .

I f t he Co r A n glais p a r t is t o b e p la y e d b y the Se c o n d
Obo e p l ay e r ( a v e ry usual arrangement ) he
must ha v e t ime t o Cha nge an d warm his in s tr u
m en t .

S E CTI ON V ‘
The C l ar inet
1 . N OTATI ON Tre bl e C l ef Transposition
. .
,

a maj or sec on d o r a minor th ir d h igher than the

r e a l s oun d .

2 . D E SC R IPTIO N E very C l arinet p l a y er has

.

t w o instruments o n e built in the ke y o f B

,

flat an d a l arger o n e built in the key o f A

,
.

This is so l e l y t o avo id extreme keys which ,

invo l ve comp l icate d fingering and are therefore

articu l a r ly d i fficu l t f o r the Clar inet The B
p .
84 HANDB OO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

4 .RE G ISTE R S There are four distinct

.

registers and consequent varieties o f tone ,

though a good player can s o merge o n e into

another that the di fference is har d ly apparent
to the ear ( 1 ) C ha lu m ea u from the bottom
.
,

of the compass to E first l ine o f stave ; ( 2 ) a ,

weak section from F t o B flat ( 3 ) B natural t o

the B above ; this octave is the best part o f
the instrument ; and ( 4) al l notes above this
high B which are shri ll and piercing
,
No 1 . .

is useful for special effects particular l y when ,

there is n o B ass Clarinet but it is very eas ily ,

d rowne d N o 2 is useful fo r background

. .

work b ut shou l d be avoided in a prominent

,

passage as it is of bad tone qualit y and technic

,

ally di fficult No 3 shou l d be use d fo r so l os

. . .

N o 4 is ugl y and d iffi cu l t b ut is usefu l some

.
,

times ln Tu tti writing .

5 T
. H E BR EAK This awkward mechanica l.

weakness peculiar to the Clarinet is not

, ,

such a terrible thi n g on the modern instrument

a s it formally w a s but it shou l d not b e forgotten
, ,

I t l ies j ust r ound B flat in the middle o f the ,

treb l e stave and no prominent nor rapid passage

,

S hould l ie across it .

6 S HAKES AN D TR E M O L OS On the modern

. .

instrument al l shakes are possib l e but there are ,

a few which are c l umsy and di fficu l t These .

 THE WIN D I N ST RU M ENTS 85

are roughly maj or seconds o n any F sharp o r

, ,

C sharp minor seconds o n the lowest F natu r al

,

and G sharp and shakes c l ose t o t he break

,
.

I t is the best Wind instrument fo r tremo l o

work a ll tremo l os up t o an octave are possi b le ,

provided they d o n o t cross the b reak n o r rise ,

above the C above the treb l e stave An y c o n .

ta in ing a C sharp shou ld be avoi d e d an d the

best intervals are a third a fourth an d a fift h ,

.
7 A DVANTA G E S The various tone qua. l i
ties The Clarinet ranks ne x t t o the Fl ut e and
.

P icco l o in mobi l ity can p l a y arpeggios e x ,

t r e m e ly we ll and repeate d notes with s ing l e

,

t o ng u e in g as fast as the Fl ute ; it is goo d f o r

scal es shakes tremo l o backgroun d an d can
, , , ,

take skips easi l y : it has the most comp l ete

contro l o f an y Wind instrument over cr es cen do
and dim in u endo and it s p i a n i s s im o is the
,

softest that can be obtaine d in Wind .

8
. D I SADVANTA G ES The break and the .

weak middle reg ister : it cannot p l ay in a d

v a n c e d keys : owing t o its being built o n a
twelfth instead o f the usua l octave any series
, ,

o f octaves or passages formed o n an octave are

n o t good .

9
.
GENE RA L The Clarinet in spite o f its
.
,

disadvantages is the most useful Wind in s t r u

,

m ent o f all o n account o f its variety o f aecom

,
86 HAN DBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

p lis h m e n tpractically it can be asked t o d o

s ;
anything B efore making the choice of Cla r inet
.

the whole piece should be examined as the key ,

which Is the best at the beginning does not

always remain s o it is better t o w r ite e n ha r m o n i
cally than t o use many sharps o r flats When .

the player has t o change in the cou r se o f a

piece he should no t be given an important
passage o n the new instrument until he has had
time t o get it warm and in tune In G e r man .

scores the B flat instrument is described as

in B because the English B flat is the G erman
B and the English B is the G erman H
,
.

SE CTI ON V I : The B ass C l a r inet

1. D ESC R I PTION This instrument is an
.

enlarged edition o f the or d inar y Clarinet an ,

octave l ower in pitch ; its compass however , ,

is sma l ler by a m inor thi r d Only the B flat

.

i n strument rema ins n o w in use .

N OTATION The r e are unfortunately t w o

.

methods of writ ing the part French and G erman

, .

The French M ethod is t o write a l ways in the

Treb l e Clef a maj or ninth above the real sound
,

that is the usual maj or second transposition

,

o f the B flat Cla r inet plus the octave lower

,

this is the easier for the player as the fingeri n g

is the same for both instruments The G er man .
88 HAN DBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

cannot be worked so hard as the or d inary

C l arinet .

5 GENE
. R A L Everything written
. about the
C l arinet applies theoretically to the Bass
Clarinet but being lower in pitch it is naturally
, ,

more exhausting to blow while its si z e and the ,

great l ength o f the tracker rods make it more -

awkward t o finger M oreover it possesses very.

strong l y marke d characte r istics o f its o w n .

The top fifth is poor in tone and passages in

that position are best al lotted t o the smal l er
Clarinet ; if given to the Bass instrument the
part shou l d be doubled .

S E CT I ON V II
'

The Bas s oon and Double

Bassoon
1 . N OTATION The bass c l ef is used princi
.

pally for the higher notes the tenor o r treble ,

preferably the tenor fo r the same reason as in ,

the case o f the Ce ll o ( See Chap 1 1 Sec 1 1 1 2 )

.
,
.
,

N o n transposing
-
.

2 .RE G ISTE R S A l l the minute particulars

.

given in the text books o f former times -

with regard to the registers their weaknesses ,

and di fficulties apply to the O lder types o f

,

instrument In the modern B assoon with

.
,

its highly developed mechanism they have ,

al most ceas ed to exist The lowest notes as .

,
 THE WIN D IN ST R U M E N TS 89

a l wa y s with Win d are rather rough though the

, ,

lowest B flat is a good note All the m id dle .

part is good but when the treb l e stave is

,

reached the tone b egins t o get thin and poor .

3 . A DVANTA G ES I t is o n e. o f the most

useful o f the Wind o n account o f its a dapta
b ilit y I t ha s a l arge com p ass an d can d o
.

solos accompaniment o r background work

,

with equa l ease S ca l es o f a ll kin d s and r e

.

p e a t e d notes are eas y I t can take

. wide
unslurre d skips with great rapidity has an ,

e x ce ll ent lega to a ver y goo d s ta cca to and b l ends

,

we l l w ith most instruments particu l ar l y the ,

Horn .

4
. D I SADVANTA G E S I ts fatal a.
p titu d e f o r

soun d ing comic in the very things it can d o b est .

I t has a somewhat l imite d range o f dynamics ,

and cannot p l a y s o soft ly as the Fl ut e or

C l arinet n o r s o lou dly as an y other Wind o f its
p itch Arpeggios shakes an d tremolos are
.
,

i
n o t suited t o it a n d a r e b est avoi d ed I t is .

the most imperfect o f a ll the Wind instruments ,

s o the composer is cons idera b ly at the mercy

of
’
the performer s a b i l it y t o overcome the
various d efects o f his instrument .

5
. GENE R A L A Bassoon
. solo shou l d b
thin l y accompanied ; the player should neve r
be obliged t o f orce his tone o r it beco m es har sh ,
9 0 HANDBOO K OF O R CH E ST R ATION

at once P assages lying above middle C shou l d

.

be do u bled by some other instrument and

the V iola is good fo r this The combinat i on o f
.

F s h a r p G s h a r p ( G flat an d A flat ) in any o ctave

, ,

is di fficu l t and cannot be p l ayed lega to Very .

l ong sustained notes lo w down in the compass

must be avoide d .

6 . THE D O U B L E B ASSOON The l arger in s t r u

.

ment is in near l y every respect sim il ar t o the

smal ler t o which it bears the same re l at ion as
,

Dou bl e B ass bears t o the Ce l lo I t is an octave.

l ower in p itch and correspondingl y unwieldy

an d di fficu l t t o blow and handle s o it must be ,

written fo r with restraint and many rests .

E verything written about the Bassoon applies

technically t o the Doub l e B assoon The l owest .

octave is its best .

S E CTI ON VI I I : The Horn .

( N ote) T hi s s e c t i o n r e f e r s t o t h e Ho r n i n F o nly a s
,

m od e rn p l ay e rs c o nfi ne th e m s e lve s to the F c ro o k Fo r .

i n fo rma ti o n reg a rdi ng the o th e r c ro o k s s e e t he C hap t e r

O n t he S t udy o f Ol d a n d Fo re i g n S c o r e s .

1 .N OTATI ON Treb l e C l ef on l y The part

. .

is written in the key o f C a perfect fifth h igher

,

than the real sound the necessary sharps and

,

flats being added as required it is best t o write

e nha r monically if by doing s o acci d enta l s are
9 2 HA N DBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

e ffective when n o t overdone Cl ose harmony .

is b est in the middle o f the compass The

, .

F ourth Horn must n o t be put t o o lo w un l ess it ,

has an extra al l owance o f rest as it is e x hausting

,

t o play lo w notes continually it is good some

times t o help o u t the passage with Trombone .

The low parts shou l d n o t have long s l urs the

mi d dle parts can be crossed sometimes with a d
vantage and the Bassoons c a n help o u t when
m ore than four notes a re requir e d .

6 . A DVANTA G E S The Horn is the most

.

beautiful instrument in the mo d ern orchestra ,

and o n e o f the most useful I t can b l end at wi ll

.

with a n y com b ination is perfect f or s l ow

,

me l o dy b ackground work an d accompaniment

, .

7 . D I SADVANTA G E S The
. Horn l acks m o

b ilit y and cannot pl a y fast : it does n o t l ike

,

extreme keys : the part must n o t b e e v e r

wr itten in spite o f the ever present temptation
,
-
.

Skips are bad an d scal es and ar p eggios d o n o t

suit it we l l .

8 . GENE R A L I t is sti ll w i se t o write the

.

four Horn parts in pairs as has always been

,

done in a passage o f doub l e thir d s fo r instance , ,

each pair should b e put in octaves A modern .

player can play high o r lo w notes equally wel l ,

b ut he must have time t o r e adj ust his lip I f the

-
.

Horn is taken up ab ove the stave it shou l d b e ,

 THE WIN D I N ST RU M ENTS 93

by steps o f a second ( E roica p In using, .

one Horn with Wood its b est p l ace is at

the to p o r the bottom if it is t o b l end we l l The .

mid dl e register resem b les an d b l en d s we l l w ith

the B assoon s o it serves as a transitional in s t r u
,

ment between Wood an d Brass A good work .

ing ru l e is t o keep written Horn pa rts b etween

M iddle C an d the top o f the stave The Horn ,
.

is the instrument most capab l e o f making itse l f

hear d in the mi ddl e o f a mass o f tone ( M N . . .

D N octu rn e)
. .

S E CTI O N I! The Trumpet an d the Cornet

'

1 . I NT R OD U CTI ON Fo r man y years p l ay

.

ers ha d t o strugg l e with the natural Trumpet ,

that p r oduce d only open notes Then the va l ve .

Tru mpet w a s invente d and gra d ua ll y improve d

,

by var ious makers unti l the fine Trumpet in F

evo l ve d This is a no bl e dignified instrument
.
, ,

with a magnificent tone an d a l most a s much ,

co l our variety a s the Horn b ut unfortunate ly

it is e x tremel y d ifficu l t t o p l ay A s time goes .

o n music becomes more comp l e x an d as a resu l t , ,

there is a ten d enc y t o manufacture instruments

easier to p l ay the ease b eing ob tained by a sacri
,

fi c e o f tone . So we find the beautifu l F Trumpet

steadily dyi ng o u t o f u s e it s p l ace being taken by
,

a s m a ll B f l a t instrum e nt whic h is r e a lly a co m

,
94 HAN DB O O K OF O R CHES T R ATI ON

prom i se b etween the Cornet and the Trumpet .

I t h a s the same compass a s the Cornet an d is

almost a s e asy t o p l ay .

2 .N OTATI ON Tre bl e C l ef on l y A s a r e
. .

sult o f the various changes in the instrument

Trumpet wr iting is n o t yet stan d ardised and ,

players are s o e x per ience d in transposing that

they are quite in d i fferent t o it There are .

three courses open t o write f o r the F

Trumpet a perfect fourth l ower than the rea l
,

sound which has the a d vantage o f putting the

,

Trumpets in the same ke y a s the Horns ( 2 )

t o write as if fo r C l arinets ( the B flat Trumpet
is a l ways provi d e d with an A shank ) which ,

h a s the a d vantage o f being the metho d used for

the Cornet thus making the part in t erc h a ng
,

ab l e : ( 3 ) t o write the part in C that is in , ,

real notes wh ich ha s the a d vantage o f having

,

n o transposition at a ll .

3. S HAKES These are done .with the pistons

s o depen d o n the fingers a s we ll as o n the lip

a few can b e obtained in the mid dl e o f the

compass but they are risky can never be very
, ,

fast an d are o n the who l e undes ir ab l e

,
.

4. M U TE This is a pear
. shaped stopper -

inserte d in the bell by which two distinct ,

e ffects can b e obtained ; ( 1 ) p i a no which ,

r educes the soun d to a faint echo ; an d ( 2 )

9 6 HAN D BO O K OF O R C H E S T R A TI ON

p l ayers N O soft notes are possible above the

.

treb l e stave The l ower half o f the compass

.

b l ends we ll with the rest o f the Wind but as ,

the compass ascends the tone becomes more and ,

more conspicuous Below M iddle C n o long

.

s l urs are possible and n o rapidity

, .

8. THE C O R NET In the d a y s o f the Trumpet

.

in F i t wou ld have been necessary t o write a

separate section o n the Cornet ; b ut the B
flat Trumpet and the Co m et are s o near l y al ike
in compass tone e x ecution and general
, , ,

character that this is n o w needless the part is

entirely in t er ch a n g a b le I f Cornets are spec .

ia lly written f o r the parts must be transposed

,

for either the B flat or the A instrument in ,

e x a ctly the sam e way as fo r the C l arinet .

S E CTI ON X : The Trombones an d Tu b a .

1 . D E SC R IPTI ON I n E ng l an d at the present

.

time tw o kin d s o f S l i d e Trom b one are in use ,

the Tenor an d the B ass t w o o f the former and ,

o n e o f the l atter b eing foun d in every comp l ete

.

orchestra The Tuba n ow in us e is a val ve

.

and piston instrument bui l t in F which can

-
, ,

sound its fun d amental note In other countries .

various kin d s o f Trom b ones and Tubas have

been and are in use some o f which have a lower
,

compass t han the E ng l ish instruments .

 TH E WI N D I N ST RU M E N TS 97

2 .N OTATI O N B oth Trombone and Tuba.

are non transposing instruments in spite of

-
,

their being built in keys othe r than C The .

real sound is alwa y s written and the proper

key signature used The four parts are w r itten
-
.
,

o n two st aves bass clef being used for the

,

lower and e ither tenor o r bass fo r the upper

, .

3 . L o w N OTES The directions given.r e s p e c

ting lo w notes in the fifth paragraph o f Chapter

I I I ap p ly particularly to the T r ombones and
Tu b a Be l ow the ordi n ary compass o f the
.

Tenor Trombone are three deep pedal notes ,

B flat A natural and A fl at

,
marked with
, ,

diamon d heads o n the Compass Chart Of these .

the B flat is the best but al l are rather risky , ,

and if use d should be approached from the

octave ab ove o r fol l ow rests The correspond
, .

ing notes o n the B ass Trombone are im p r a c t ic

able .

.
4 TR O M BON E P OSITI ONS The Trombone .
,

like the Violin possesses a technique o f P osi

,

tions and good writing consists in placing

,

notes either in the same or in neighbouri n g

positions G reat skips to distant positions are
.

impossible without rests t o give time in which

t o adj ust the slide The following Table gives.

the pos itions o f the Teno r Trom b one and can ,

be applied t o the Bass Trombone if transposed

down a minor third .
9 8 HAN DBOO K OF O R CH E ST R ATI ON
! ‘’
” 017 7 5 017 fi U/zf bfl j
9
”
5

f a v or fi rm wa
!
re

1 I! 727
”

7
17

5 . S HAKES S
. h akes done with the lip
, only ,

are a l most impossi b le o n the Trombone Slow .

s hakes c a n be d one o n the Tu b a with the

pistons and certain o f these p l a y ed with o n e ,

piston only and l y ing w ithin the b ass stave ar e

,

practica bl e and good in e ffect But shakes are .

s o entire l y unsuited t o the nature o f these lo w

Brass instruments that the stu d ent wou l d be

,

wise t o avo id them a l together .

6 . A DVANTA G E S A s the making o f notes

.

on the Trombone is comp l etely under the

’
p l a y er s contro l ( as is the case al so with the
Strings an d the Kett l edrums ) perfect intona
tion is poss ib l e The Trombone can p l a y with
.

any deg r ee o f force with very great beaut y o f

,

t one equally well in any ke y and it can hold

, ,

the same note fo r a very l ong time Soft four .

part harmony fo r the three Trombones and

t he Tub a ( or one Horn ) is a usefu l and a most
1 00 HAN DBOO K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

should be doubled in Wood The military.

valve t r ombo n e a necessity for caval r y r egi

-
,

mental bands is o ccasio n ally used in the

,

Orchest r a the sco r i n g bei n g the same as f o r

,

the S lide instrume n t Trombo n es a r e ve r y r a r ely

.

muted .
 C HA P TE R V
'

THE P E R C U SSI ON GRO U P

1 . The P ercussion instrume n ts are the leas t
importa n t the most conspicuous the mos t
, ,

rhythmical the easies t to write for and the

,

easiest to play Their goo d e ffect is in exact

.

inve r se p r opo r tion to the frequency of their

us e . N othing vulga r ises a score s o readily ,

n o r palls on the ear s o soon as the sou n d of over ,

much percussion : nothing is more effective

than it s j udicious u s e R estraint therefore is .
, ,

the Alpha an d Omega of good writing for this

G roup .

2 . P ercussion instruments are continually

on the increase as modern composers exten d
,

their demands f o r novel e ffects The ones .

include d he r e are those in or d inary u s e the ,

w r iting for which deman d s some technical

knowledge N O pa r ticular info r mation is r e
.

qu ired in orde r to w r ite for an anvi l or a bird

whist l e .

3 . M ost P ercuss ion instruments are of

indetermi n ate pitch Of thes e it may b e said .

in a gene r al way that the T r iangle is treble the

, ,

Side d r um and the Tambou r ine alto the Cym

-
,

bals tenor and the B ass d rum and Tam tam

,
- -

bass .
1 02 H A NDB OO K O F O R C H ES TR ATI O N

4 . The Kettledrums Gl ockenspie l Xylo

, ,

phone an d Ce l este having d efinite notes mus t

, ,

have staves ; but fo r the rest o f the G roup

it is far better t o write each part o n a separat e
an d sing l e l ine even if this entails the sticking
,

o f pieces o f p l ain wh ite paper over o n e or t w o

staves o f the score I f staves are use d it is

.

usua l t o a l lot o n e t o t w o instruments when ,

great care must be e x ercised with regard t o

tai l s an d rests .

5 . A ll P ercussion instruments vi b rate f or a

consi d era bl e time after b eing struck un l ess
dampe d an d the bigger and deeper the in s t r u
,

ment the l onger it v ib rates Consequently .

the e x act l ength o f notes and rests must b e a

matter o f meticu l ous accuracy .

6 . On account o f the conspicuous character

of the P ercussion d ynamic marks must b e
,

inserted with greater attention t o detai l than

is necess ary in the case o f Strings and Win d .

Fo r instance every cr es cendo must s tate what

,

it st arts from and what it goes to In the .

case o f a lo ng cr es cendo the intervening steps at

which it arrives shoul d b e shown thus :
c r es . p cr es f cr es j f
, ,
.
, ,
.
,
.

7 . R ol l s an d trills must b e written in o n e o f

the t w o fo ll owing wa y s
C HA P TE R V I . THE P E R C U SSION I NST RUM ENTS
AND THE H A RP

SECTI ON I The Kettledrums

1 . D ESC R I P TION A Kett l edrum is a b asin
.

shaped metal shel l with a head o f skin stretched

over the top the tightness o f which is regu l ated
,

by screws all round the she l l The tightness .

o f the skin d etermines within a perfect fifth

the pitch o f the D rum I t is p l ayed upon with

.

t w o sticks having padded ends the only t w o ,

e ffects b eing separate notes and the ro l l ,

”

produce d b y a rapid wrist action o f the two

sticks at the edge o f the Drum M ost modern .

—
orchestras have three Drum s Big M iddle , ,

and Small A Kett l edrum c a n be m a n u f a c

.

t u r e d in any si z e in reason b ut the th r ee in

,

genera l use have the compass given in t he

Chart .

2
. TU NI N G The exact note to which each
.

Drum is to be tuned should be written clearly

at the beginning of the score o n a small stave .

Drums can be tuned d uring the course o f the

music but this should b e done neither u nn e c es
,

s a r il
y nor frequently The direction
. for re
tuning is Tune C to D or Change C to
,
 THE P E R C U SS I ON IN ST RU M E NTS 1 95

D or ( in I talian ) M uta C in D
,
The t w o .

important points to remember in regard t o

Drum tunings are ( 1 ) that the interval o f change
must be a s smal l a s possible o r there is the ,

risk of splitting the skin which is n o t a piece ,

o f e l astic ; and ( 2 ) t o al l ow the p l ayer amp l e

time in which to screw all the keys roun d the
Drum head a rough and ready ru l e is A ll ow
- - -

three bars of M oder a to 4 4 time for every -

interva l o f a second but of course the l onger

the time allowed the easier is it for the p l ayer
, ,

and the healthier for the instrument .

3 . N OTATI ON The
. part is written in the
bass clef with key signatu r e and rea l notes
,
-
.

4 . S P ECIA L E FFECTS ( )
1 M u ffl ing
.
( c op er ti ) ,

done by placing a handkerchief o r something

of that sort on the hea d ; ( 2 ) using the Side
’
d r um sticks or ( in a roll ) the player s knuck l es ,

instead o f the proper sticks ( 3 ) placing three

heavy articles ( such a s the tuning keys ) o n the -

head which produces an e ffect simi l ar t o that

,

of the Side d r um the obst r uction acting l ike

-
,

the snares of the l atter .

5 . GENE R A L .The K ettledrums have an

immense range of expression from the softest
p i a n i s s im o to a gigantic for ti s s im o and al l ,

gradations of tone are completely under the

control of the p l ayer I f the tunings can be .
1 06 H A N DBO O K O F O R C H E S T R A TI ON

confine d t o tw o Drums it is an advantage in the

case o f small b an d s which often only possess
,

t w o instruments As the M id d l e Drum is o f

.

varying si z e it is best t o avoi d the t o p and b o t

t o m notes G an d E , I t is possib l e t o strike
.

t w o Drums simu l taneously an d t hus get a ,

t w o note chord
-
but the e ffect is n o t good
,
.

With extra drummers and extra instruments

the possibi l ities o f Kettledrum writing are
a l most un l imited A s the D rum ha s a d efinit e
.

pitch its note must a l ways be a constituent

,

part o f the harmony but it nee d n o t n e c es ,

s ar il
y b e t he b ass Former l y .the t w o Drums

were invariab l y tune d t o the ton ic an d d omina nt ,

and in s imp l e scoring this is sti ll an e x ce ll ent

plan When a rol l is wante d be l ow the p itch
.

o f the l owest F it can be d one with the Kett l e

d rum sticks o n the Bass Drum o r a sim il ar ,

e ffect produced b y a tremo l o o n the Dou bl e

Bass I t by n o means fo ll ows that a part easy
.

t o read is therefore easy t o p l a y A ll Drum .

wr iting is eas y t o read and the best wa y t o ,

test it s actual di fficulty is t o play it through

w ith t w o sticks o n three cane seated chairs ; -

if the part is c l umsy the hands get bad ly

”
l ocke d The best Drum writing is that
.

which is simple and soft an d the lowest notes ,

are a l wa y s the best in tone Fo r a dd it ional .

1 08 HANDBOO K O F O R C H EST R ATI O N

the groups with uneven numbers are the best .

(4) T he F l a m t w o notes o n e with each ha n d , ,

playe d quickly if the first note is on the beat

i t is an Open F l am if the second is on the beat
it is a C l ose d Fl am .

’
fi L L f !A I! H
’ -
fi a /r da d/ Pa r a af r ai d /e Dr ag fl
f a ra w a
y a xfl .

3
. S P ECIA L E FFECTS M u ffl in g to prevent
.
,

the crackling soun d can be done in two ,

ways ; either by loosening the snares or by ,

pushing the cords ( o r something soft ) between

the snares and the d rum head t o prevent -

contact A goo d imitation O f c a s t e n e t s can

.

be obtaine d by p l aying o n the wooden edge

of the Drum .

4
. GENE R A L The ut ility
. of the Side Drum
is either mi l itary or rhythmical and it is usef u l ,

also for adding t o the tone in a great C limax ;

i ts chief e ffect lies in it s entry after which ,

the sooner it stops the better Single detached .

notes are bad the Drag and the Flam a r e the

correct strokes for isolated accents A rol l .

shou l d never b e s o l ong as o n the Kett l e d rums .

 THE P E R C U SS I ON I N ST RU M ENTS 1 09

SECTI ON III
'

The B ass Drum

This la r ge d r um has the deepest note in the
orchestra ; it cannot be tuned ; only two
methods of playing it are possible ; ( 1 ) S ingle
st r okes at a considerable distance from each
o ther and ( 2 ) a roll done preferably with the
,

Kettledrum sticks The t w o l egitimate e ffects

.

are to add to the force of a climax or t o convey

the idea of awe in a p i a n is s im o I f a very .

short note is required it is best t o add the

direction damp as the Drum vibrates a
,

ve r y long time after b eing struck I t is mu ffled.

either by being wrapped in a c l oth or by loosen ,

ing the braces o r both

,
.

S E CTI ON IV The Triangle

The Triangle is a small bar o f steel made in
the S hape o f a triangle and struck with a stee l
,

beater The only e ffects possible are single

.

notes t r ills and groups o f notes simi l ar to the

, ,

Drag and Flam o f the Side Drum These small .

g r oups shou l d consist o f an uneven number o f

notes t o allow the player t o begin and end with
,

the downward action o f his beater The best .

e ffect o f all is that o f S ingle notes at rare intervals

and n o t t o o l ou d .
1 10 H AN DB OO K O F O R CHEST R ATI ON

S E CTI ON V . : The C y m b al s
Tw o l arge circu l ar brass plates o f equal si z e ,

( the l arger the better f o r tone ) which are played

,

in four wa y s ; ( 1 ) by clashing them together

b r u shw is e ; ( 2 ) by striking o n e either with a
Side Drum st ick o r a Kettledrum stick ; ( 3 )
the t wo p l ate ro l l
-
, produced by agitating
the edges against each other and ( 4 ) by hanging
o n e by the strap and p l aying a roll o n it ( o n e

stick o n each si d e ) with the Kett l edrum sticks

o r with the knuckles . If notes appear in the
part without instructions the player uses N o 1 ,

which is the onl y o n e p o ss ib l e fo r a loud e f ect f

exact d irections must be given f o r N o s 2 and 4 .

,

and N o s 3 and 4 require the usua l symbo l f o r a

.

roll The three last methods o f stroke are

.

only applicable t o m idd le tone o r soft passages .

S E CTI ON V I The G ong ,

or Tam tam -

This huge instrument can only be used for

single blows with the B ass Drum stick and is ,

most e ffective when soft I t is dangerous to

.

attempt more than this o n the Tam tam beca u se -

of the di f ficulty o f stoppi n g the vib r atio n s

—
afte r war d s otherwise a dinne r go n g r oll would
be possible .
 112 H A N DBO O K OF O R CH E ST R ATI ON

consists o f eight small gongs bells o r steel , ,

bars hung on a lyre shaped f r ame Both kinds -

.

are played with two wooden hammers A thi r d .

kind having a keyboar d has almost fallen out

, ,

o f use while the military instrument thirteen

, ,

plates o n a lyre shaped f r ame is rarely used in

-
,

the concert room Simple G lockenspiel pa r ts

“

-
.

are sometimes played o n a set o f Tubular B ells .

The G lockenspiel should never be given rapid

passages a s it is a slow speaking instrument and
,
-

the e ffect becomes blurred I ts best u s e is as .

a gilt edge t o high Wood Wind somewhat after

-
,

the manner o f the P iccolo but without the ,

P iccolo s velocity I t has n o sustaining power

’

.
,

s o it is useless to write notes longer than a

cr otchet o r t o introduce s l urs n o r has it any

,

range o f dynamic force beyond a uniform

middle tone The part is written o n o n e stave
.
,

treble clef t w o octaves below the real sound

,
.

I t is best to confine the part t o single notes :

Two note chords though possib l e are un s a t is
-
, ,

factory .

SECTI ON I! The Celeste

'

The Celeste most used in England cons ists

also of steel bars struck with hammers but it ,

is played from a keyboard simila r to that o f a ,

P iano shortened I t possesses a system of

,
.
 T H E P E R C U SS I ON I N ST RU MENT S 11 3

resonators and a pedal mechanism which ,

increase its sustaining power The part is .

written on two staves like a P iano part b ut

, ,

an octave below the real sound I t is as easy .

t o play as the P iano and should be treated in a

,

manner which comes b etween that of the P iano

and that o f the Gl ockenspie l M elod y notes .

should n o t be long I ts C hief u s e l ike the

.
,

G lockenspie l is to pick o u t the high l ights o f

,

a dainty Wood passage The Celeste part o f .

the C a s s e N oi s ette Suite is a perfect examp l e ,

b ut the notes here are written at the ir rea l

p itch .

SECTI ON X The Xyl ophone

This instrument is similar to the twenty
seven b arred G lockenspie l e x cept that the bars
are ma d e o f woo d instead of stee l I t is p l aye d .

with wooden hammers The part is written .

on one stave with the treb l e Cl ef an d in rea l

,

sounds The best part of the instrument is

.

the octave a b ove the C in the tre bl e stave .

SECTI ON X I The Harp

1. D E SC R I P TION E ach o n e of the forty
.

seve n strings of the H arp i s a flat note an d the ,

seven pedal mechanism causes each string t o b e

-

raise d in pitch eithe r a semitone or a tone ;

‘

8
1 14 H AN DB OO K OF O R CH E ST R A TI O N

that is each string can b e raised from the fla t

,

t o the natura l an d again from the natural t o

,

the s harp a ll the strings o f t he s ame name

,

being a ffected b y the pe d a l simu l taneous ly .

Doub l e s harps and dou bl e flat s ar e impossib l e .

The Harp b ecause it has on l y s ev e n notes in

,

it s octave is essent ia lly a d iaton ic instrument

,

chromatic passages are entire l y unsuitab l e in

a n y case an d ma y be unp l a y a bl e The b est
, .

part o f the compass is in t he mid dl e ; the

l owest strings are rather rough in ton e an d the
highe s t ar e t o o short t o b e r es onant .

2 . N OTATI ON The part is written l ike .

P iano music o n t w o staves ( tre b le and b ass )

brace d in rea l notes and with proper ke y
,
“
signatures The terms 8 v a and 8 va b a s sa
.
”

ma y b e use d fo r the e x tremes o f the compass .

Ever y thing fo r the right han d must have tai l s -

turne d up an d e ver y thing fo r the left hand

,
-

tai l s turne d d own irrespective o f compass ,

position G reat care must be e x erc is e d in

.

giving the e x act l ength o f e ach note a s the ,

strings vibrate fo r some time un l ess d amped o u t .

3 K
. E Y S M aj or keys are b
. etter than m inor .

A s the flat notes have a greater le ngth o f str ing

it fo l lows that the flat ke y s are the better f o r
the H arp The e x treme sharp ke y s s hould
.

be written en harmon ica lly B maj or written a s ,

116 HAN D BO O K OF O R CHEST R ATI ON

flat natural o r sharp For example for the

, .
,

chord A C E flat G flat the pedals are s e t

, , , , ,

for A natural B sharp C natural D sha r p

, , , ,

E flat F sharp G flat

, , .

The most e ffective g li s s a n do is lo n g four o r ,

five octaves a s the full sweep o f the st r ings can

,

be done in a second and a Sl ow g lis s a ndo ,

is an absurdity O ther kin d s are ( 1 ) a series

.

of S hort t w o octave g li s s a n dos fo l lowing each

-

other quick l y ; ( 2 ) those done by both ha n ds

in S imilar o r contrary motion ( 3 ) those done
by o n e han d while the other h a s separate notes
, .

I n every case over l app ing o f the han d s must b e

-

avoi d e d .

7 . C HO R DS AND AR PE GG IOS The chief pur .

pose in l ife for the H arp is t o accompany it is

in n o way a me l odic instrument ; chords an d
arpeggios therefore form its norma l l anguage and
the more simp l e they are the b etter They must .

b e wr itten a s for the P iano within the octave , ,

an d with never more than four notes f o r each han d .

I n general in the upper part o f the compass the

, ,

more notes there are and the closer together they

lie the better the e ffect Close chords are a l ways
,
.

‘
slight ly spread unless marked ,
sec and
this can only be applied t o very small chords .

Chords and arpeggios shou l d never over lap -

but k e ep straight o n up o r d own han d over hand , , .

 THE P E R C U S S I ON I N ST R U M ENTS 1 17

When both hands are p l a y ing arpeggios simu l tan

e o u s ly there should always be a clear octave

between the t w o parts .

8 . H A RM ONI CS . One on ly the octave above

,

the open string can be g o t o n each string

, ,

the e ffect being ver y soft and only good

in a thin score . Harmonics are best standing
alone but chords o f t w o o r three notes c l ose
,

together are possible They should never suc .

c e e d each other quickly and must be confined with

in the compass o f the great st ave the bass half ,

being rather the better in tone The mo d ern .

notation is t o write the open string with an 0

over it ( as in Violin ) but forme r ly the notes
,

were sometimes writt en at their actua l pitch .

59 . SP ECIA L E FFECTS ( )
1 S.h a k es a n d T r em
olo . These are possible b ut sound stupid and
Cl ums y being fore ign t o the nature o f th e in s tr u
,

E
’

ment ( )
.2 t f
o u ee ; the vibra tio n is stopped
as soon as the string is p l ucked the result b eing ,

an e ffect something like p izz i ca to o n the Str ings .

(3) S u l p o n ti cello ,( o r s on s p r es la ta bl e the

s tring is p l ucked at the l ower e x tremity which ,

has the e ffect o f a G uit ar The contradiction .

s en s
”
in each case is n a tu rel or ,
s n . .

10 .GE NE R A L Harp writing is n o t di fficult

.

if three points are kept in mind ; ( 1 ) the position

o f t he har ist
p ( )
2 t h e simi l arity between Ha r p
1 18 HANDBOO K O F O R CH E ST R A TI ON

p l ay ing an d Piano playing and ( 3 ) the constant

necessity f o r ample time between passages in
ord e r that the l ast notes p l ayed may be d amped
o u t and t h e
jp e d a ls r e set f-
o r the next The in s t r
. u

ment rests o n the right shou l der and is playe d

from the tre bl e e n d consequentl y the right hand
,

and arm are rather confined and cannot stretch ,

o u t s o free ly as the l eft The l eft hand p l ays the

.

lo w bass notes a s o n the P iano Both hands.

shou l d no t be put lo w d own for an y l ength o f time

as this is e x treme ly e x hausting f o r the p l ayer .

The l ittle finger is never used s o only four notes ,

can be p l ayed b y each hand these should b e

writte n within the compass o f an octave though ,

p l ayers with a b ig stretch can d o a ninth o r a tenth .

A string nee d s t o b e p l ucke d consi d erab l y o u t

o f the vertica l an d is some time in r e gaining its
,

norma l position s o reiterated notes can only I)

,

done b y means o f homophones When the pedals .

are b eing set there is inevitably a moment o f si

lence The H a r p is a slow speaking instrument
.
-
,

and becomes incoherent in a rapid passage As .

o n the P iano quick rep etitions should be avo ided

, ,

also a great space between the hands I n thick .

C hord work octaves are the best fo r the left

hand The ha r mony o f the Harp par t should
.
-

b e correct in itse l f each chord having its t r ue

,

b a ss Sca l es are not good though q u ite pla y

. ,
 1 18 H A N D BO O K OF O R C H E ST RA TION
l
p yi ng
a a nd P ia n o
p lay ing a n d 3 ) the c o n s tan t
n e c e s s ity f o r a m
p le ti m e b etwee n pass a e s In '

o r d er t ha t t he l a t g
s n o te s l
p yed may b e d am p ed
a
o u t a n d t he
fp e d a ls —
r e se t f o r the n e t
x Th e in s t r u
m en t r e s t s o n the r i
.

g h t s ho uld e r a nd is p la ye d
f o m the t r eb le en d c o n s e uen t ly t he i
r
q ,
r g h t h a nd
a nd a rm a r e
r a th er c o n fi n e d a nd c a nn ot s tretch ,

s ho uld n o tb e p u t lo w d o wn f o r a n l
y e n g t h o f t im e
a s t his i s e x r
t em ely ex ha u s t in fo r t he la y e r
Th e lit tle fin e r is n e v g p .

g e r u s e d s o o nly f o ur , no t es

wr itt e n wit hin t he c o m

pa s s o f ta ve t ho u g h
an o c
l
,

p y s wi t h a b i s t r e t c h c a n d
a e r
g o a n int h o r a t e n t h .

n o rm a lp os it io n t t
s o r e i e ra e d n o
,
t
e s c a n o nl y bf :
d o ne by m e a ns of ho m o p ho ne s . W hen t he p e d a l
a re b e ing s et t he r e is ine vit a bly a m o m e nt o f xi
le n c e
'

l he l l o r is a s lo vr s e k
p p i i t un w n t
.

a n g n
-

s r
a nd be c o m e s inc
,

o h e r e n t in a r a id
p p re t ee
n 5c A ;
- '

o n t he P ia n o
,

q u i c k r
, o
p e ti i io n o s ho u ld be av o id e d
i t li / r 51
,
.
!
f r o nt p
s a c e b e t we e n t he ha nd s t
In hic k .

c ho r d wo r k o c t v
a e s a r e t he be s t fo r t he lo f t

H u I V/ i in ll l ll o zo zh c ho rd ha vin
’

i
'
c

f
,
g t “
t r w ,
‘

fil lf f ; m o n o t
.

fl
ood h
'

g t u h it i
e

o
g q u e,
p yn
1 18 HANDBOO K OF O R CH E ST R ATI ON

p l ay ing an d Piano p l aying an d ( 3 ) the constant

necessity fo r ample time between passages in
ord e r that the last notes p l ayed may be damped
o u t and t h e
jp e d a ls r e set f o r the ne x t The in s t
. r u

ment rests o n the right shoulder and is playe d

from the treb l e en d consequently the right hand
,

and arm are rather confined and cannot stretch,

o u t s o freely as the l eft .The l eft hand plays the

lo w bass notes a s o n the P iano Both hands
.

should no t b e put lo w d own fo r any l ength o f time

as this is e x treme l y e x hausting fo r the p l ayer .

The l ittle finger is never used s o only four notes

,

can be p l ayed b y each hand these shou l d b e

writte n within the compass o f an octave though ,

p l ayers with a b ig stretch can d o a ninth o r a tenth .

A string needs t o be p l ucked consi d erabl y o u t

o f the vertica l and is some time in r e gaining its
,

norma l position s o reiterated notes can only b

,

done by means o f homophones When the pedals .

are b ei n g set there is inevitably a moment of si

lence The H arp is a slow speaking instrument
.
-
,

and becomes incoherent in a rapid passage As .

o n the P iano quick rep etitions should be avo ided

, ,

also a great space between the hands I n thick .

chord work octaves are the best fo r the left

hand The ha r mony o f the Harp pa r t should
.
-

b e correct in itself each chord having its t r u e

,

b a ss Sca l es are not good though q u ite pla y

. ,
 N OTES ON SO M E OB SO L ETE O R R A R E LY U SED
I N ST RU M E NTS .

I . B ASSETT H O R N A t enor o r alto Clari

.

net built in F with a technique similar t o that

, ,

o f the ord inary Clarinet and the compass o f the

Vio l a The part is writte n a perfect fifth high

.

er than the rea l sound The r e is also an al to .

C l arinet in E flat that is occasionally used .

2 . CL A R I NET I N C A n o n transposing C l ar
.
-

inet rather sma ll er than the B flat instrument

, ,

which has fallen o ut o f use o n account o f its bad

tone .

3
. E U PHONI UM A militar y.bass brass in s t r u

ment which occas iona ll y strays into the orches

tra the Ol der form has three valves and the same
compass as the tenor Trombone ; the modern
instrument has a fourth va l ve which extends
the compass down t o the B flat below I t is .

easy t o play an d in mi l itary music is the principal

b ass so l o voice .

4
. G U ITA R A part
. is sometimes found in
modern scores f o r this essentially u n orchestral -

inst r ument I n pitch it comes between the

.

Viola and the Cello I t has Six st r ings tuned in

.
,

thirds and fourths and the pa r t is written in the

,

treble clef a n octave below the r eal soun d .

 OBSO L ETE I NST RU M ENTS M I

5
. M AN DO L I NE This
. other u n orchestra l in -

s trument has the same tuning as the Violin but ,

its to n e is too thin to penetrate through the m o d

e r n o r chest r a a n d pa r ts w r itten for it are gener
,

ally played p iz z zca to o n the Vi o lins

’

6
. O B OE DA C ACCIA A wood instrument .

almost identical with the modern Co r Anglais ,

o n which the part is now always played Bach .

u s es real notes in the alto clef but as a r ule the ,

part used to b e transposed in the manner O f the

mode r n Cor Anglais .

O B OE D A M O
’
R E A me o —soprano Oboe
7
. z z.
,

a minor thi r d lower in pit ch with the same ,

fi nge r ing . In tone and compass it comes

midway between the Oboe and the Cor Anglais .

8
. OP HIC L EI DE A family O f brass in s t r u
.

ments havi n g holes and keys after the manne r

,

f the Wood Win d which were last used by,

M endelssohn ,
Nos I V and V ) Wagner .
,

and Berlio z They were easy to play a n d have

.

fallen out of use chiefly o n accou n t O f thei r

defective intonation The part is now generally
.

playe d by the Bass Tuba .

9
. S A ! O P H ONE A ND S A RR U SO P HONE Two .

families of French Wi nd instruments invented ,

by Sax and Sarrus respectivel y which a r e ,

made of b r ass and have a r eed and finge r

mechanism like t he E n glish W ood G r ou p
'

.
1 22 HA N DBO OK OF O R CH E ST R ATI ON

The Sa x ophones have a sing l e reed and resem bl e

the Bass Clarinet in appearance the S ar r u so
phones have a double ree d and are near l y
related t o the Bassoons Both groups are .

made in six si z es an d a l l ar e transposing in

s t r um en t s They are in general use in French
;

military bands and French composers some

,

times inc l u d e them in orchestra l scores but ,

they a r e rare ly seen in E ng l and .

IO S E R PE NT A mi l itary bass Wood Wind

. .

instrumen t occasional ly found in Ol d scores .

I ts compass was from the A be l ow the bass

st ave upwards fo r about three oct aves and the ,

part was written a maj or secon d higher than

the rea l sound .

II V I O L A D AM O R E This ha d the same

.
’
.

compas s an d notation as the or d inar y Vio l a ,

but possessed seven strings tune d t o th e chord ,

O f D maj or I t had also a second series o f

.

sympathetic strings made o f stee l wire .

I t was t O O d i fficu l t t o play t oo u n dependab l e

,
-

f or or d inary use an d coul d on ly be given ver y

,

simp l e parts I ts part is n o w p l a y ed b y the

.

Vio l a .

12 V IO L A DA GA M BA The o ld
. . Bass
Vio l ,
the predecessor o f the V io l oncello I t .

had si x strings tune d in fourths and thir d s

, ,

and h a s n o t been used in the orchestra since the

time o f B ach .
1 24 HAN DBOO K O F O R CHEST R ATI ON

new the point fo r consideration is that there has

,

never been any exact international standard

is a t io n in musical matters Each country .
,

therefore h a s developed its musical instrument

,

trade independently the result O f this is that

the instruments scored f o r by say a R ussian , ,

o r I talian composer are by n o means necessa r ily

the same that will play the par ts in E ngland

o r in France Every orchestra in the world
.
,

in dealing with scores from other countries ,

has t o adopt some system O f compromise in

their execution Again many composers
.
,

( Wagner for instance

, ) have employed sp e cially
constructed instruments n o t in or d ina r y use
,

at all but which had t o be manufactured for

,

them ; parts written for such instruments

have n o w o f course t o be p l ayed by others O f
the same pitch Every text book o n Orchestra
.
-

tion rel ates principally t o the orchestras and

t o the inst r uments o f its o w n count r y and its
o w n time which is the reason why there are
,

s o many cont radictions b etween them in matters

o f detail .

The present arrangement O f the full Score

( Wood Brass
,
P rcussion,
Voie a
es or Solo
,
pa r ts ,

Strings ) seems to b e practically settled alth ough ,

the r e is still r oom f o r logi c al improvement in

t h e c a se o f the P iccol o an d t he Horns But .
 O LD AN D F O R E I GN SCO R ES 1 25

up to Wagner s time sc o res were arranged at

’

pleasure some have the Brass at the top and

the Wo o d in t h e M iddle ; others have the
Strings at the top and s o on The student is
, .

generally m o s t perplexed by the vari ty of e

transpositions in the Hor n and Trumpet parts .

Space d oes not allow for a full explanation of

the reason fo r this but bri e fly it is this
, ,
—a

tube can only produce one note ( dete r mined

by it s l ength ) and the uppe r par tic l es of that
note I t follows therefore that without any
.

sort of mechanism the natural H orn and

Trumpet could each play only a few notes .

To get over this di fficu l ty the l ength O f the tube

itse l f was regulated by means O f addition al
piece s O f tubing called crooks o r S hanks ,

there being o n e for each key hence the t erm,

in D ,
in G etc To S implify the notation
”

,
.

for the p l ayer ( as the method O f b l owing r e

maine d unchange d ) the part was a l ways written
in the key O f C K ett l e d rums a l so before
.

Beethoven S time were treate d in the same way .

They were tuned alwa y s t o the tonic an d d omi

nant o f the principal ke y o f the piece the name ,

o f the key was stated at the beginning and th e ,

part was written throughout with the notes

C an d G .
 w t » tiA N t t t t t
’ i ’ ’ i t i
l t

t t ’ ”
t i tt '
» ‘
l lt tt N A N“
‘
i

t
i
‘
‘ t t tt t t l -t S ‘ ‘
‘
t t tt t‘
i
'

f lt tt t
‘

t ti
t t t
t t t tfi l t t i ti '
ti t! ’
L t tl t
W t t tt ‘

Tu t ti ‘‘
‘
t d t ti

‘
t tt tt N

Ma r
li n . t ec
i thn vr n k e e p s his t hw e thn n - f
.

k e d in the p rinc ip a l ta n ( t tta t ) thro ug ho ut

'

i
H oo
“
.

h a w p t in t hM a w o i t he I in t a nd t hin t l in i n g:
-
‘ f a

in t he th n n i a l Ma t c h W it it lt a w c u m in wt in t i
t
.
‘ /

tmva nw the i nn w ni c n t if i n the la w o i Mino r

’

.
.
‘

( t hn hm ! t t he
p ie c e w !
a s
g u nm a tlvi
c hm r n ti n .

the w a r e n t ha t it p n w ii tm l t he ins t i nn n n t
d ‘ -

w ith m o re o
p e n no tc h ) ti w a nrze it; tta t it:
‘
3
$ tna h n t s ix t h lm h w t r
. the p a r t is m it te n a

t w d h
t h a t c ho rd
t h t tm i t i
‘

VN V n a v e na s n n n ln n v

w it h tha t p la w d b y t he V io la s f
tn the t nnr ia t
‘

Ma rc h the t h t a nd Thin ! t h u ns p la v t twir

f tn

h un t r ho u l in u n is o n with t he C la rine t s , the

‘
(
“
cu t in t . so und ing a n o c ta ve lo we r tha n it

is m itt e n .

M N t ’ M e nd e ls s. o h n v n m h e tt t t t tn m n in '

to u r a ve h t t
w h l w w t t tm t
‘

i e i v e nn o n n s n p a r s

a w in v a ria b ly w rit te n hig he r t ha n t he y su n ni t,

w t h e S e c o n d t h n n t h a t n o t e i n t h e S c h em f:
e

is the t in t e id d l t h h t hns
‘

’ h m e n t e a rm zt ta w .

p m v ii ting t he b a s s : vi t h e nhn n t t n t t w .

a u n io ns n h l a n m n a l v a pp r a i s
;
1 26 HAN DB O O K OF O R CH E ST R ATI O N

E ! PL ANATI ON O P THE H O R N AN D TRUMP ET

P A R TS O F THE F O UR FULL S CO R ES To BE U SED
W ITH THI S B OO K

HO R N PA R TS
ER OICA B eethoven keeps his three Horns
.

crooke d in the principal key ( E flat ) throughou t ,

except in th e case o f the Fi r st and Third Horns

in the Funera l M arch which are crooked in C
,

because the movement is in the key O f C M inor .

( The key O f the piece w a s genera l ly chosen f or ,

the reason that it provi d e d the instrument

with more open notes ) B ecause E flat is.

a maj or si x th b el ow C t he part is written a

,

maj or S i x th higher than the rea l sound s o the ,

very first chor d playe d by the Horns is in unison

with that played b y the Violas I n the Funera l
.

M arch the First an d Third Horns p l ay their

first chord in unison with the C l arine ts the ,

part in C soun d ing an octave l ower than it

is wr itten .

M N D
. . . M en d e l sso hn crooks his Horns in
four wa y s fo r the five movements Horn parts .

are invariab ly written higher than they sound ,

so the Second Horn 5 first note in the S c her z o

is the D in the mi d d l e O f the bass stave thus ,

providing the bass o f the chord I n the .

In term ez z o a curious Ol d anomaly appears ;

 O LD AND FO R E I G N S C O RE S . 1 27

formerly when the part g e t l ow the bass clef ,

was used an d than the part w a s written an

,

octave t o o lo w so the first C in octaves sounds

,

the t wo As o f the bass stave The oct ave G .

,

ten bars l ater being in the tre bl e c l ef soun d s

, ,

the E ( first l ine unison with S econd Vio l in )

,

an d the E b e l ow In the N octurne the part is

.

written a minor sixth higher than the rea l

soun d ( because E is a minor si x th be l ow C ) ,

and in the We dd ing M arch it is written a perfect

fourth above the rea l soun d the first chor d ,

s o un d ing F sharp A , .

P A T HE TIc S Y M PHON Y an d S U ITE T S Ch aIk O W .

sk y,
b eing a mo d e rn composer wr ites on l y ,

f o r the H orn in F .

T RUM PET PA R TS
E R OICA The Trumpets are in E flat through
.

out ,
e x cept in the second movement ( F unera l
M arch in C M inor ) where the y are in C
,
The .

Trumpet in E flat sounds higher than it is

written s o the first octave C sounds the t wo
,

E flats in the treb l e st ave The Trumpet in .

C has n o transposition at a l l .

M N D . The Trumpet in D in the Scher z o

. .

soun d s a maj or second higher than written

the first oct ave G ( page 9 ) being in uniso n
12 8 H AN D BO O K tF O R C HE ST R ATI ON

with the first V iom The Trumpets in the

.

W edd ing M a r ch s e n d as writt en .

P ATHETI C S Y M I IDN Y an d S U ITE

’
The Sym .

phon y b egins with he Trum pet in B flat and ,

this has the same r a n s p o s it io n as the B flat

Clarinet Fo r t he e s t o f the S ymphony and
.

the w hol e o f the S it e t he compos e r uses the

AI shank which ha the same transposition as
,

the A C l arinet .

( N ote ) A
. l l Ho n parts are w ri tten higher
than the y sound a n always have be e n Tr um
,
. .

p et parts vary ; r u m p e t s in D E flat E , ,

an d F are w r it t ei l ower th an the y soun d ,

these four l etters b ing above C in the musical

a l pha b et Tr u m p e in C h a s n o t ransposition
Trumpets in B B fi t an d A are written higher
, ,

than they soun d th ese three l etters b eing

,

b e l ow C in the a lp h b e t .
128 HA NDB OO K OF O R CHES TR ATI O N

with the first Violin The Tr umpets in the

.

W edding M a r ch sound as written .

P ATHETI C SYMP H ON Y and SU ITE The Sym

.

phony begins with the Tr u rn p e t in B flat and ,

this has the same t r ansposition as the B flat

Clarinet Fo r the rest of the Symphony and
.

the whole o f the Suite the composer uses the

A shank wh ich h a s the same transposition as
,

the A C l arinet .

( N ote ) A
. l l Horn parts are written higher
than they soun d and always have been Tr um
,
.

pet parts vary ; Trumpets in D E flat E , ,

and F are writ ten l ower than they soun d ,

these four l etters b eing above C in the musical

al pha b et Trumpet in C has no transposition
Trumpets in B B flat and A are written higher
, ,

than they soun d these three letters being

,

be l ow C in the a l pha b et .
 TAB L E O F INST RU M ENTS
I T A L IA N G E RM A N F R E N CH E N G L IS H

Vio l i no V i olon Violin ( or

Fi d d le )
Viol ( or Tenor )
a

Violoncello ( or
Cello )
Ko t rab a
n C
ss t b e
e n re as s Dou b le B a ss

Fl ot e Flfi t e Flu t e
Kl eine Flo t e ( or Pet it e Fl ut e Pic olo
c
P i c k e l flOt e )
O b oe O b oe H a ut b oi s O b oe ( or
o Ha ut b y)
Cor o Ingle e E ngli h e H or Cor A ngl a i
n s sc s Cor A ngla i
n s s

Cl rinet t
a e Klari ett e Clari ett e
n Cl rine t n a

Clari t t o b o B
ne as s C l ari et t e b a e B a Cla i et
as s n ss ss r n

( or Claro e ) nKlari e t t e n

F got t o
a F agot t Ba o B a oon ss n ss

Co t r f agot t o Kont ra f agot t C nt re b a o Dou b le B a oo

n a e -
ss n ss n

Cor o Ve t ile Vent ilh or

n n Cor a p i t o n H orn ( or Fre c h
- -
s ns n
H orn )
Tro m b a Ve t i le V t ilt m p t Tro m p e t t e a Tru m p et
n en ro e e -
:

( or Cla i o )r n p t Is o ns

Corne tt o Cor e t a pi to Cor e t n -

s ns n

Tro m b one Tro m b one Tro m b one

Ti m p a i n Ti m b ale K t t l d ru m ( s e e s or
Dru m ) s

Kleine Tro m m el Cai e laire ( or Si d e Dr m ss C u

T m b our) a

G ro e Tro m m el G ro e Cai e
ss Ba Dr m ss ss ss u

Triangel Tri ngle Tri ngle a a

B ec k en Cy m b ale Cym b l s a s

S h ill t m m l T m b our d
c en r o Ta m b ouri e
e a e n
B a q ue s

C mp
a tt
ene G loc k en p iel
a C rillon s a

Z il a f o n e H o lz h a r m o n ik C la q u e b o is
A rp a ar e
H f H r a pe
 B IB L I O GRA P H Y
FO R B E G IN N E R S
J OHNST O NE In s tr u m en ts
f o the M od er n
Sy mp hony O r ches tr a ( Carl Fischer N ew ,

Y ork ) This gives photographs o f a uni

.

form S i z e S howing each instrument being

p l ayed and is particu l arl y useful fo r those
,

students unfami l iar with the appearance

o f the instruments .

L Y ON ( J A M ES ) A P r a cti ca l Gu ide to O r ches tr a ti on

( Stainer B ell 1 9 1 2 1,/ This gives ,
a
useful l ist o f musical examples f o r reference .

P R O U T ( E ) In s tr u m en ta ti on ( N ove l lo s M usic
’
.

P rimers )
RIE M AN N ( H UG O ) C a techi sm of O r ches tr a ti on
A
( g u e n e r 2 / ,
This contains an examp l e
f o r the scoring O f a H aydn P iano Sonata .

RIE M AN N ( H UG O ) In tr odu cti on to P lay ing

fr om S cor e ( A u g en er 2 / ,

T A YL O R ( H J ) The O r ches tr a ( Weekes

. . Co .
,

3 )d
. This smal l booklet gives illustrations
of each instrument Tw o companion
.

volumes at the same price o n The M i lita ry

B a n d and E lem en ta ry A cou sti cs are also
useful .
132 H A N DB O O K O F O R C H EST R A TI ON

All the articles bearing o n the subj ect in

Gr ove s D icti on a ry of M u s i c ( M acmi llan
’
Co ) .

are useful The R oy al College of Organists

.

publishes volumes o f L ectu r es which have been

delivere d at the College some o f which relate
,

t o Orchestration The t w o best are The A r t

.

of Ty m p a n i P lay i ng by G ordon Cle a t h er

and S cor ing f or a M i lita ry B a n d by D r A . .

Will iams . The three o n O r ches tr a ti on by P rof .

P rout are good and include an analysis o f

,

Schubert s Symphony in C D r Turpin s o n

’
. .
’

The M a n ip u la ti on of M odern Wi n d In s tr u m ents

is mai nl y scientific and n o t a s helpfu l as the
title might suggest U sef ul information can
.

always b e gathered from the Schools and

I nstruction B ooks fo r the practice o f the
various instruments published by M essrs ,
.

Boose y Co and various other firms

,
.

F O R ADVAN CED ST UDEN TS .

T he E volu ti on of
CO E RN E ( LO U I S A DO LP H U S ) .

the M oder n O r ches tr a ( Th e M acmi l lan Co .

,

N ew Y ork ,

F O R SY T H ( C ECI L ) O r ches tr a ti on ( Stainer 85 B ell

.

and M ac m illan Co 1911 25/

.
,
This ,

is the most e xhaustive work publishe d in

England o n the subj ect .
 B I B L I O GR A P H Y . 133

GEVAE R T A N ew Tr ea ti s e on In s tr u m en ta ti on
.
,

translated by E F E Su d da r d This standard . . . .

work written in 1 8 6 3 still remai n s the

, ,

best known treatise o n the scien tific side

o f the subj ect .

RI M SK Y K O R SAKOF F P r in cip es d O r ches tr a ti on

-
’

This the most advanced fo r eign wo r k on

,

the subj ect is published in R ussian and

,

in French I t deals almost e n tirely with

.

combinations and gives 3 1 2 examples in ,

’
Full Score from the composer s o w n works .

S CH L ESI N G E R ( K AT H L EE N ) The In s tr u m en ts
h e M o der n O r ches tr a R eeves
o
f t ( 1 10
9 .
, ,

This interesting wo r k is co n ce r n ed
only with the history and developme n t of
the i n strume n ts themselves it is illust r at ed
with reproductions from o ld pi ctures ,

statuary missals e tc , , .

v
1 ITH ( H E RM AN N ) The W or ld s E a r li es t M u s i c ’
.

( R eeves ,
This is on m uch the same
lin s as M iss S chlesinger s larger book but
’
e
,

deals chiefly with the instruments o f early

Egypt and Assyri a .

S T R A U SS ( RI CHA R D ) C om m enta ry B er li oz
’
on

In s tr um en ta tio n In G erman an d
in French .
M elo d y 8 ,
1 ,
2 4, 25 , 37 . Si d e Dru m 3 43 , 1, , 101
M en d el oh ss n ( See L i e der an d 107 .

M N D ) S m all Or h e t ra 7 7 7 c s 2 0, 1
M i l it ary
. . . .
, ,

,
1 00 , 1 07 , 1 08 , 1 12, St ri g n 7 7 35
s, 3 6 4 1, ,
12 , 1 , , , 2,
1 2 0, 122, 132 .
5 6
0, 0
i gh t
.

M N D .
(M d s u m m i er N
’
s S it e 5 6
u
7 8 9 2 0, 2 2 2
u ic
. .
, , , ,

Drea
, ,

m M s ) 5 6 , ,
2 2 , 2 3 , 2 4, 3 3
1, 3 8 2, 11 12
S l p on t icello 5 8 6
, , .

7
2 9 3, 12 1, 12 7 u 11
. .
7 , , 2, .

M u ffhn g
’

,
1 05 ,
1 09 , 1 10 . Sul t t o 5 9 6 as , , 2 .

M ut e 43 5 4 6 s, , ,
2, 6 7, 9 5 , 1 00 . Sur la t o ch e 5 9 u , .

O b oe 3 4 4 4 6 , 2 , , ,
0
7 , 7 ,
1 75 ,
8 1, Tam b o r 7 u ,
10 .

3
1 2 . Tam b o ri e u 3 n ,
101 , 1 1 1, 12 .

O b oe d Caccia a ,
12 1 . T m t m 43
a -
a 111 .

Tim p a i ( See K ttl d m )

, ,

fd A m
'

Ob
’
oe or e , 12 1 . n e e ru s
O ph iclei d e
.

,
12 1 . Tone , 5 35 4 2, 6 9 7 2 1, 2 , ,
1, , 1.
Orch e t rat io s n, 1, 3 , 9, 19 , 47, T on g i g 7ue n ,
2 .

120 Tr n it ion l e ff ect 4 6 9 3

a s a s,
Tran p o ing i t ru m e t
. .
,

s 9 s ns n s, .

P art 8
,

s, 8 9 1 1, 1 1 ,
21 . II 7 7 t 3 2 12 o 1 0
P t h et ic S y m ph ony 5 6 3
.
, , , ,

a , , ,
2 , Trem olo 5 5 7 4 , ,
.

Triangl 9 4 3 9 e, 2 , ,
101 , 1 2 .

P erc ion 3 9 3 5 4 4 3
uss 1 2 1, ,
10 1 . Trom b one 3 3 4 4 4 5 7 1 1, 0,
Ph ra ing 9 3 7 4
, , , , , , , ,

s 1 0, 98 9 12

Tru m p e t 3 3 7 7 9 4
.

Pia o 5
.
, , ,

n 8 , 9 , 2 1, 2 ,
2 .
,
1 ,
1, 0, 2, ,

Piccolo 3 4 5 7 7 8 3 1, 0, 2, 0, 1 2 12 8 t 9 o 12 .

Pi ic t o 9
.
, ,

zz a 4 53 6 ,
1 ,
2 0, 2, , 2, T ch ik ow k y ( See P th ti
s a s a e c
64 67 Sy m p h y d S it ) on an u e

P l ay er
. .
,

8 4 s,5 7 1 0, 1 1, 1 ,
2 ,
2 ,
1, Tu b a ( See B T b ) ass u a .

7 6 Tuning 6 5 8 5 2, 10 .

P on t icello ( See S l P ti ll )
: , ,

u on ce o Tu t t i 9 5 6 7 3 4 3 6 7 9 1 2 2 2 , , , ,

P o i t ion ( Violin) 5 6 ( Tro m

.
, , , ,

s s ,
1, 1,

b one) 9 7
Pro t
.
,

u 4 3 1 0, 1, 1 1 . Val e Tro m b one

v ,
1 00 .

Viol
,

6 5
a, 12 , 1
7 4 6 9 , ,
0, 1, 12 .

R ch m ani o ff 5
a 8 33 n , ,
2 , . Viola d G am b a a ,
12 2 .

R i m nn 7
e 3 a , ,
1 0 . Viol d A ma
’
ore, 122 .

R oll 43
s, 4 5 7 8 10 ,
10 ,
10 ,
10 Violin 8 4 4 6 6 9 1 2 , ,
0, 12 .

Viol oncello 8 4 6 5 6 3
, , , ,

1 1 0, 1 1 1, 1 12 .
, , ,
0, ,
1 29 .

Voice 4 3 3 4 4 7 3 2 ,
0, 1, .

Sarr o ph one
, ,

us 12 1 .

S o ph one
,

ax ,
12 1 . W agner 4 7 5 6 , ,
12 1, 12 ,
12 .

Scor 4 5 9 7
e, 1 19 , 12 4 to 12 8 . W in d 7 3 34 7 7 8 12 , 2 , ,
0, .

Serp en t
, , , , , ,

,
122 . VVo o d , 7 0 .

S h ak e 5 7 4 s, 2,
lo ph one
.

!y ,
1 02 , 1 13, 129 .