Instrumentation
A modern orchestra is composed of (1) a basis of strings- first and second violins, violas, violoncellos and double basses; (2) the woodwind, consisting of flutes, sometimes including a piccolo; (3) the reed contingent, consisting of two complete families, the oboes with their tenors and basses (the Cor Anglais, bassoon and the double bassoon), the clarinets with their tenor and basses with the addition sometimes of saxophones; (4) the brass wind, consisting of the horns, a group sometimes completed by the tenor and tenor-bass Wagner tubas, the trumpet or cornet, the trombones (tenor, bass and contrabass), the tubas (tenor, bass and contrabass); the percussion instruments, including the kettle drums, bells, Glockenspiel, cymbals, triangle. Harps are added when required for special effects (Raynor, 1998).
Expanded Instrumentation
Apart from the core orchestral complement, various other instruments are called for occasionally. These include the classical guitar, heckelphone, flugelhorn, cornet, harpsichord, and organ. Saxophones, for example, appear in a limited range of 19th and 20th century scores. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th century works, usually playing parts marked “tenor tuba”. The 20th century orchestra was far more flexible than its
predecessors. During the times of Beethoven and Felix Mendelssohn, the orchestra was composed of a fairly standard core of instruments which was very rarely modified. As time progressed, and as the Romantic period saw changes in accepted modification with composers such as Berlioz, followed by Johannes Brahms and eventually Gustav Mahler, the 20th century saw that instrumentation could practically be hand-picked by the composer.
Today, however, the modern orchestra has generally been considered standardized with the modern instrumentation listed below:
2.1.9 (a) Standard Instrumentation for the Modern Orchestra
Woodwinds
2-4 flutes (one doubling piccolo);
2-4 oboes (one doubling English horn) 2-4 clarinets (one doubling bass clarinet) 1-4 saxophones
2-4 bassoons (one doubling contrabassoon)
Brass 4-8 French horns in F 3-6 trumpets in C, Bb
3-6 trombones (one doubling bass trombone) Baritone horn/euphonium
1-2 tubas
Percussion
(Varies heavily according to composer‟s needs)
Timpani, snare drum, tenor drum, bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, woodblock, tambourine, glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, chimes, marimba, drum kit.
Keyboards Celesta, piano, organ.
Strings 1-2 harps
(Guitar with microphone) 16-18 violins I
14-16 violins II 12-14 violas 10-12 cellos
8-10 double basses
2.1. 9 (b) Organization of Instruments in Standard Orchestra
Among the instrument groups and within each group of instruments, there is a generally accepted hierarchy. Every instrumental group (or section) has a „principal‟ who is generally responsible for leading the group and playing orchestral solos. The violins are divided into two groups, first violin and second violin, each with its principal. The principal first violin is called the concertmaster and is considered the leader of not only the string section, but of the entire orchestra, subordinate only to the conductor. The principal trombone is considered the leader of the low brass section, while the principal trumpet is generally considered the leader of the entire brass section. Similarly, the principal oboe is considered the leader of the woodwind section, and is the player to whom all others tune. The horn, while technically a brass instrument, often acts in the role of both woodwind and brass. Most sections also have an assistant principal (or co-principal or associate principal), or in the case of the first violins, an assistant concertmaster, who often plays a tutti part in addition to replacing the principal in his or her absence.
A section string player plays unison with the rest of the section, except in the case of divided (divisi) parts, where upper and lower parts in the music are often assigned to “outside”
(nearer the audience) and “inside” seated players. Where a solo part is called for in a string section, the section leader invariably plays that part. Tutti wind and brass players generally play a unique but non-solo part. Section percussionists play parts assigned to them by the principal percussionist. In modern times, the musicians are usually directed by a conductor, although early orchestras did not have one, giving this role to the concertmaster or the harpsichordist playing the continuo. Some modern orchestras also do without conductors, particularly smaller orchestras and those specializing in historically accurate (so-called
“period”) performances of baroque and earlier music (Raynor, 1998)).
The most frequently performed repertoire for a symphony orchestra is Western classical music or opera. However, orchestras are used sometimes in popular music, extensively in film music, and increasingly often in video game music. Currently the music department of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (our case study), incorporates folk songs as part of the repertoire for the orchestra. The reason for this practice appears to be to fortify the students with a culturally relevant orchestral experience.
2.1.9 (c) Colour
Timbre denotes the quality or colour of a tone which differentiates it from other tones and which is determined by the relative intensity of the overtones. But colour is a term most typically used to describe instrumental combinations. “Dark” and “bright” are in common usage and, although subjective, do have a physical basis, provided by a conflict (or lack thereof) of multiple overtone series.
2.1. 9 (d) The Orchestral Page
Cooper (1973) explains that Initial observations concerning an orchestral page include:
(i) The order of instruments from top to bottom is: woodwinds; brasses; percussion;
harp (also piano; solo, if any; voices, if any); and strings.
(ii) In most instances, the instruments within each section are placed from high-sounding to low-high-sounding. The principal exception is that horns, which relate to both woodwinds and brass, are placed above trumpets on the page.
(iii) The tempo indication is placed above the woodwinds and often above the strings.
(iv) Dynamics are placed below the notes for instruments, and above the notes for voices.
(v) The variety of key signatures is caused by the fact that some instruments are transposing instruments (sound at different interval than written)
2.1. 9 (e) Transposition
Standard orchestral instruments which transpose are the English horn, clarinet, French horn, and trumpet. The piccolo sounds an octave higher than written, while the double bass and contrabassoon sound an octave lower. Transpositions are named according to the note that sounds when a written C is played. That is, all transposing instruments sound their name when written C is played. For instance, a B flat clarinet sounds B flat when it plays a written C. Key signatures often correspond to the transposition interval.
2.1. 9 (f) Reasons for Transposing
Though writing for transposing instruments entails more work for a composer or arranger, there are several reasons to transpose for certain instruments. They are:
Switching
Transposing makes it easier to move between instruments in certain families of instruments.
Many instruments are members of a family of instruments that differ mainly in size, such as the saxophone, clarinet, flute, etc. the instruments in these families have differing ranges, with the members sounding lower as they get larger, but an identical pattern of fingering on two instruments in the same family produces pitches a fixed interval apart. For example, the fingerings which produce the notes of a C major scale on a flute, a non-transposing instrument, produce a G major scale on an alto flute. As a result these instruments‟ parts are notated so that the written notes are fingered the same way on each instrument, making it easier for a single instrumentalist to play several instruments in the same family. However, a few instrument families, such as trombones and tubas, are not written transposed. Instruments that transpose this way are often referred to as being in a certain “key, such as the “A clarinet or “clarinet in A”. The instrument‟s key tells which pitch will sound when the player plays a note written as C. A player of a B-flat clarinet who reads a written C will sound a B-flat while the player of an A clarinet will read the same note and sound an A.
Reconciling Pitch Standards
During the Baroque period, and notably in the music of J. S. Bach, instruments used for different purposes were often tuned to different pitch standards, called Chorton (“choir pitch”) and Kammerton (“chamber [music] pitch”). When they played together in an ensemble, the parts of some instruments would then have to be transposed to compensate. In many of Bach‟s cantatas the organ part is notated a full step lower than the other instruments.
A few early-music ensembles of the present day must do something similar if they comprise some instruments tuned to A415 and others to A440, approximately a semitone apart.
Modern builders of continuo instruments (cello, double bass, and harpsichord) sometimes include movable keyboards which can play with either pitch standard.
Accommodating Extreme Ranges of Instruments
If an instrument has a range too high or too low for composers to easily write its music on bass or treble clef, the music may be written either an octave higher or an octave lower than it
sounds, in order to reduce the use of ledger lines. Instruments that “transpose at octave” are not playing in a different key from concert pitch instruments, but sound an octave higher or lower than written. Some instruments with extremely high or low ranges use two-, or even three- octave transposition.
2.1.9 (g) Instrumental Ranges
Cooper (1973:74) advises that „A knowledge of instrumental ranges… and their relative dynamic strength in each register is essential for an inquiring musician‟.
2.1. 9 (h) Register
The register of an orchestral musical instrument refers to a specific segment of the total range of pitches available to the instrument. It may often be described loosely simply as high, low, etc (The New Harvard dictionary of Music, 1986). The relationship between the concept of range and register of an orchestral musical instrument is somewhat complex. For instance, while the range refers to the compass of the instrument explorable by an average player (Ottman, 1972); the register of the instrument can be explored beyond the given range lower or higher. This has some implications for the student because the combinations of the various instruments in orchestra often demand the low or high registers of a given orchestral instrument. The student therefore endeavours to, not only be familiar with the normal range of his instrument, but also, be acquainted with the dimensions of its register in order to function effectively in the orchestra. The concept of register and its exploitation play a very crucial part in instrumental combinations in ensemble. For instance, some members of an instrumental family play particular roles among their counterparts with regard to their low or high register. For example, the violin, trumpet, piccolo, and cymbals play leading role in their group owing to their distinctive high registers. Also the string bass, tuba, baritone sax, and bass drum are distinguished for their deep and low registers in their respective groups and are used to add “weight” to the orchestra (Kamien, 1986).
2.1. 9 (i) Instrumental Combination
In traditional scoring, several principles and concepts are observed, each of which requires considerable knowledge and experience before it is completely mastered and used with sophistication. These principles include:
Vertical Balance
Vertical balance is achieved by specific combination of instruments, agreement with the overtone series, dynamic adjustments, and placement in terms of range (Cooper, 1973).
Cooper (1973: 76), points out that, “Generally speaking, in chordal progressions or in a contrapuntal texture of equal voices, an even vertical balance is desirable. Most orchestral music is, of course, beyond these limited categories. In a composite texture of melodic, accompanimental, and supporting bass functions, the vertical balance is appropriately adjusted by the composer.
Horizontal Balance
According to cooper (1973), horizontalbalance in traditional scoring involves at least three different considerations:
(i) Equal voicing in a contrapuntal texture.
(ii) Careful voice leading in general, including the resolution of dissonant intervals and the maintenance of a logical line, appropriate for the style.
(iii) The development of a musical logic in each part and for the instrumental design as a whole.
Textural Balance
Textural balance provides for both contrast and unity. Passages employing the full orchestra (tutti) are typically contrasted by sections for fewer instruments or for specific colours.
2.1.9 (j) Sitting Arrangement for Orchestral Instruments
The concept of spatial arrangement of instruments directly informs the modern positioning and sitting arrangement of instruments of the orchestra. The modern symphony orchestra seating plan features about a hundred western orchestral instruments arranged in the order:
first violins (about 18) and second violins (about (16) on the left of the podium or conductor;
harps (2) and piano (1) on the extreme left of the podium; the percussions (1 xylophone, 4 timpanis, 1 glockenspiel, 1 snare drum, 1 bass drum and I pair of cymbals) on the extreme rear –left ; the woodwinds (3 flutes, 3 oboes, 3 clarinets, 1 piccolo, 1 English horn, 3 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon and 1 bass clarinet) at the center facing the podium; the brasses (6
French horns, 4 trumpets, 4 trumpets and 1 tuba) directly behind the woodwinds; and 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 double basses on the right of the podium (Sptizer & Neil, 2004)