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AUGENJER'S EDITION,

No.9190.

THE

ORCHESTRA.

VOLUME

II.

ORCHESTRAL

COMBINATION.

BY

EBENEZER

PROUT,

B.A.London,Han. Mus.Doc. Trin.Coll.Dublin

and

Edinburgh,

and

Professor of Mttsic in the University of Dublin.

LONDON

:

AUGENER

&

CO.

[enteredat stationers' hall.]

CopyrightforallCountries.] [Rights ofTranslationReserved.

Copyright,1899,by Augener

&

Co.

PREFACE.

With

the present

volume

the subject of Instrumentation is

completed. After

what

was

said in the preface to the first

volume

of this

work,

no

lengthy

remarks

will

be

needful here.

The

firstthingto

be

saidis,thathere,

more

thanin

any

other

volume

ofthis series, it has

been

necessary toteach

by

example.

It will

be

seen, therefore that the quotations

from

orchestral scores

occupy a

far larger portionof the space than the

letter-press.

Merely

to talkabout combinations ofinstruments,without

givingactualillustrations,

would have been

absolutely useless to the student.

As

inthe preceding volume, the passages selected have

been

taken

from

works

of the

most

varied style,

and

of different periods,

from

the time of

Haydn down

tothe present day.

With

the exceptionof

two

passages

by Bach and

Handel

in

Chapter

VII., illustrating the

employment

of the organ,

no

examples have been quoted

anterior to

Haydn

; forit iswiththis

composer

that the

modern

scienceof orchestration

may

be

said tobegin.

Though

a

few

well-known

extractswill

be found

among

the illustrations, special efforthas

been

made

toavoid, asfaras

possible,

hackneyed

quotations,

and

theauthorbelieves that the verylarge majorityof the

examples

given will

be

new

tothe greater

number

of

his readers.

With

a view

of systematizing the teachingasfaraspossible, the stringed orchestra is first dealt with; this subject is

com-paratively so simple that its treatment presented but little

difficulty. In the following chapter, the

management

of the

wind

instruments

—

a

much

more

complicatedsubject

—

is

spoken

of.

To

do anything

likejusticetothisquestion, alarge

number

of illustrations

were

absolutely necessary.

Students are soapt toimagine that, in order to

produce

any

adequate results, itisnecessary tousealarge

number

of

instru-ments, that it

was

thought advisable to give a chapter

on

the treatmentof the 'small orchestra,' in orderto

show

how much

iv

Pref.

ICE.

was

possiblewiththisalone. Itis

hoped

thatthe

many

charming,

and

mostly unfamiliar passages

quoted

inthis chapter

may

lead the

young

musicianto see the beauty of

moderation

in theuseof

his resources.

The

two

followingchapters,

on

'Balance of

Tone,

'

and

'

Con-trast

and

Colour,'

were

atthe

same

time the

most

difficult,

and

the

most

fascinating to write, of the

whole volume.

There

is

no

mistake

which

beginnersare so

prone

to

make

as thatof balanc-ingtheir partsbadly, especiallyina tutti; atthe

same

time,there is

no

part oforchestral writing

in-which

practical experience is

more

necessary.

The

chapter

devoted

tothissubjectistherefore

one

ofthelotigestinthevolume.

Yet

theauthordoes not flatter

himselfthat

he

hasdealtwithitadequately; nothing

beyond

the

most

generalprinciplescould

be

laid

down.

Only

carefulanalysis

by

the studentof the

examples

quoted

can give the necessary guidance inthis

most

importantmatter.

Hardly

lessis the case with the chapter

on

'_Contrast

and

Colour.'

The

latter, especially, is so essentially a question of

personalfeeling

and

taste

on

the partof the

composer,

thatall

that has

been

possible has

been

to

endeavour

to stimulate his imagination,

by

settingbefore

him

a large

number

of

models

of the

most

varied kinds,

showing

him some

of the

innumerable

possibilities ofthe

modern

orchestra.

The

chapter

on

'

The

_Combination

_{of the}

_Organ

_{with the}

Orchestra'

dealswith a subject

on

which, so farasthe authoris aware,verylittlehas

been

written. Itis

hoped

thatthe

numerous

examples quoted

will

be found

of assistancetothestudent. In the following chapter, the important question of 'Orchestral

Accompaniment

' isdealtwithas fullyas space allowed.

The

arrangement

of

music

forthe orchestraisa matter

which

offersconsiderable difficulty to

most

students,

owing

tothe large

amount

of textual alteration

which

isoften necessary.

In

order to teach this, the author has thought itbest, first totakea few representativepianofortepassages,

and

toscore

them

fororchestra, explaining as fullyas

he

couldthe reasons

why

aparticularcourse has

been adopted

;

and

thento give

some

passagesforthe

piano

which eminent composers have

themselves scored.

Here,

again,

it has

been

impossibleto lay

down

rules applicable in all cases.

A

short chapter follows, in

which

some

hints are given as to scoringforincomplete orchestras.

It

was

the author's original intention totreat the subject of

Chamber

Music, to

which

thefinal chapterisdevoted, at

much

PrjEFA

CE.

V

greater length than has

been found

possible within thelimits of

this

volume,

and, as inother partsof the work, to give copious examples.

The

exigencies of spaceabsolutelyforbadethis;

and

nothing

more

than generalprinciples

have been

given,

which may,

it isthought,

be found

serviceable. Here, as inthe restofthis

volume, the student

must supplement what

is

wanting

by

careful examination of the

works

of the great masters.

Nobody

can

be

more

conscious thantheauthor of the

short-comings

of the present treatise.

The

subject is sovast,

and

so impossible toexhaust, thathe feels keenly

how

much

remainsto

be

said.

Happily

it ispossible forthestudentto

supplement

for

himselfthe instructionsheregiven. Orchestrationcannotpossibly

be

learned solely

from

books

on

the subject; long

and

careful

study ofscores,

and

thehearing oforchestralmusic,areabsolutely necessaryadjuncts.

But

the present

work

will at least serve to guidethe learnerastothedirection

which

his

own

studiesshould take; the rest

he must do

forhimself.

As

inthefirstvolume, the author

would

again

acknowledge

his

obligations to his predecessors in the

same

field.

He

has, as

before,

found

much

assistance

from

M.

Gevaert'streatise,sooften referred to,

and

he

has also taken

some

valuablehints,especially

forthe final chapter,

from

the fourth

volume

of

Marx's

'

Compo-sition'

—

the only

work

he

has

met

with

which

deals with the

subjectof

Chamber

Music.

Once

again, the author has to

thank

his friends Professor

Mahaffy

and

Dr. C.

W.

Pearce for their

kind

assistance in cor-rectingtheproof-sheets,

and

his pupil,

Mr.

_J. Spawforth, for the preparation of theanalytical index.

Itiswith great thankfulness thatthe author completes with

this

volume

the series of theoretical

works

which

for the last

eleven years

have

occupiedso

much

ofhistime

and

thoughts.

Many

of

hishappiest hours

have

been

spentinthe writingofthese

volumes

;

and

the reception they

have

met

with; both in this

country

and

abroad, has

proved

to

him

that

he

has not laboured in vain,

nor

spent his strength for naught.

The

benefit that

he

has reason to believe that students

have

derived

from

the

series has

more

than repaid

him

forall the labour spentinits

preparation.

TABLE

OF

CONTENTS.

\N.B.

—

Thenumbersrefer in everyinstanceto

Me

sections,notto thepages

_^

CHAPTER

I.— Introduction ^ pagei

Objectofthepresentvolume, 1

—

Technique and combination overlap, 2

—

Stringsand wind separately, 3

—

The

small andfullorchestra,4

—

Bal-anceof tone,5'

—

Contrastandcolour, 6

—

The

accompanyingorchestra;

arrangements,7

—

Incompleteorchestras, 8

—

Chambermusic, 9

—

A

warn-ingtothe student, 10.

CHAPTER

II.

—

The

Stringed

Orchestra

pagej^

Workswrittenforstringsalone, 11

—

Contrast,

how

obtained, 12

—

Theusual

arrangementofthestrings;crossing of theparts,13

—

Positionof the

har-mony;exampleby Auber,14

—

Ditto,bySpohr, 15

—

Contrastedrhythms; examplebySchubert, 16

—

Thedouble-bassessilent;example byHaydn,1

17

—

Changingtherelativepositionof thestrings, 18

—

An

extendedpas-|

sage dividedbetweenthestrings;example byNicolai,19

—

Themelody

giventothecelli,20

—The

pizzicato; examplebyDelibes, 21

—

Two-part

harmony.22, 23—Unisonpassages,24

—

Theactualunison;example by

Meyerbeer,25

—

Thevoiceaccompaniedonlybyviolasandcelli;example byWeber,26

—

Five-partharmonyfor strings,27

—

Rarer combinations;

example bySchumann, 28

—

Ditto,bySchubert, 29 -Employmentof a

solo quartettofstrings;example byGounod,30

—

Imitation ofaguitarby

thestrings; examplebyBerlioz, 31

—

Veryfullharmonyforstrings;;

ex-amplebyGounod, 32

—

Ditto,byGrieg, 33

—

Effectofdifferentkeyson

thestrings,34.

CHAPTER

III.

—

The

Treatment

OF

Wind

Instruments ... page22.

The

infinite varietyof possible combinations, 35

—

Two

methodsof treating

windinstruments,36

—

Accompanimentof a solo instrument; example by

Mendelssohn. 37

—

Ditto,bySpohr,38,

39—

Ditto,by Beethoven,4c)

—

A

flutesoloaccompanied bybrass,piano, 41

—

Foursolo v/ind instruments

;

example byCherubini,42

—

Ditto,by Auber,43

—

Departure from! the

usual order,44

—

Homogeneoustone,

how

obtainable, 45

—

Passaged

di-vided between different wind instruments; example by Herold, 46

—

Ditto,by Meyerbeer, 47

—

Thedoublingof instrumentsinunison, 4^,49

—

Itsjudiciousemployment; examplebyWeber,

50—

Ditto, by

Tschai-kowsky, 51

—

Doublinginoctaves, 52, 53

—

Arpeggiosonthechalumeau

of the clarinet; example by Weber, 54

—

A

tutti for wind instruments

Contents.

wind,piano, bySpohr, 57

—

Individualizing tlie Instruments; example

byM^hul, 58

—

Alternation ofgroups; examplebyMozart, 59

—

Ditto,

bySchubert,60

—

Ditto,byHaydn,6l

—

Voices accompaniedbywind;

example by Verdi, 62

—

Doublings ofinstruments; example by

Schu-bert,63

—

An

effectiveiuiiihyAuber,64.

—

A

solo accompanied bybrass

and drums,pianissimo, 65

—

Employmentoflessusual instruments;

ex-amplesbyWagner,66,67

—

Impossibilityof laying

down

fixedrules,68.

CHAPTER

IV.—The

Small Orchestra

pagt₅₅

The "smallorchestra"defined,69

—

Frequencyofitsemployment,70

—

An

important generalprinciple,71

—

Exception,72

—

The

hornsbelongtotwo

g3:oupsof instruments, 73

—

Illustrationsreferredto,74

—

Stringsdoubled

bywind; examplebyAuber,75

—

Example byBeethoven, 76

—

Ditto,by

Mozart;holdingnotesforwind,77

—

Moreindependentpartsforwind

;

examplebyBoieldieu,78

—

An

effectwithveryfewinstruments,by

Men-delssohn,79

—

Melody ontheviolinsaccompaniedby wind;exampleby

Bennett, 80

—

More

importancegiventothewind; examplebyRossini,

81

—

Suppressionofallacuteinstruments; examplebyProut,82

—

Ditto by Mackenzie, 83

—

Sparklingcombination,byRossini,84

—

An

example bySchumann,85

—

Treatmentofpassing notes;examplebyHaydn,86

—

Two-partharmonyforwind andstrings;examplebyBrahms, 87

—

Ditto,

byRalf,88

—

The

crescendo,twomethodsof treatingit;exampleby

Beet-hoven,

89—

Ditto, by Cherubini, go

—

^The diminuendo; example by Spohr,91

—

Modelsforthe student,92.

CHAPTER

v.—

Balance

of

Tone

page 81

Difficultyof the subject,93

—

Balance withthestrings,94

—

Enlargedmeaning

of theterm, 95

—

Illustrations,_96,

97—

Varyingstrength of thewind

in-struments,98

—

Four-partchordsforsolowindinstruments,99

—

Ditto, for

pairsof instruments, loo, loi

—

The

combinationof thehorns withthe

wood-wind, 102

—

Balance oftone in the "small orchestra"; relative

strengthofstringsandwindvariesaccordingto sizeof orchestra,103.

—

The

accompanimentof solopassagesforwindinstruments,104

—

A

solo in themiddleof theharmony; example by Mendelssohn,105

—

A

melodyin

the tenor giventoacombinationof instruments,106

—

Differenttreatment

of amelodyaccordingtoitspositioninthe score;examplesby

Mendels-sohn, 107

—

Polyphonic writingfor the orchestra,108

—

Balancein the

small orchestra; example by Gade, analyzed, 109-111

—

Importance of

attentiontosmalldetails,112

—

A

miscalculatedeffect_{by Beethoven 113}

—

Wagner'ssuggestedemendation,114

—The

windbalancedagainst the

strings; example by Brahms,115

—

The wood

against thefullorchestra

;

examplebyBoieldieu,analyzed,I16

—

Treatmentof the brass,ll7,ii8

Reeds andBrass alone; examplebyRossini, analyzed, 119

—

Incorrect

treatment of thedrums, 120

—

The

employmentof the brassbythe older

composers,I2I

—

Limitations of the"natural"brass instruments;example byBeethoven, 122

—

Which

notesof achordto reinforce, 123

—

A

badly-scoredpassagebySchubert,124

—

How

tolayout atutti forfullorchestra

;

thestrings,125

—

Positionof thebrass,126

—

_{Comparative unimportance of}

the

wood

intuttipassages,1

27—

Examplefor fullorchestraby Beethoven 128

—

Ditto,by Mendelssohn, 129,

130—

Ditto, by Rheinberger, 131

Minuteexaminationof scores needful, 132

—

The

middleharmonynotto

betoothin,

133— Nor

toothick,

134—

Specialimportance of clearness

'35-Contents.

ix

CHAPTER

VI.

—

Contrast

and Colour

page 114

The

difficultyofteaching thesesubjects, 136

—

Contrast andcolour with the

older composers, 137

—

Various ways of obtaining contrast, 138

—

Con-trasts with strings alone, 139

—

The two kinds ofcontrast, 140

—

How

often changes of color should bemade,

i4i^Where

they should be

made,142-144—

An

important exception, 145

—

Exampleby Beethoven,

146

—

Ditto,by Auber,147

—

Contrastedgroupsof instruments;example

byHaydn,148

—

Ditto,byCherubini,149

—

Ditto,byNicolai, 150, 151

—

Ditto,byRossini, 152, 153

—

Contrastsbetweenthe variouswind

instru-ments; example byHaydn, 154

—

Ditto,bySchubert, 155, 156

—

Ditto,

byRaff,157

—

Ditto,by Auber, 158-160

—

Ditto,byWagner,161

—

Ditto,

by Tschaikowsky,162

—

Colotir,defined,163

—

Colourproduced bysingle

holdingnotes; example by Auber, 164

—

Ditto,byVerdi, 165

—

Brilliant

colouring; example by Meyerbeer, 166

—

Sombre colouring; example

byWagner,167

—

Ditto,byVerdi, 168

—

Varied colouring; example by Weber, 169

—

Religious colouring; example byMozart, 170

—

Ditto, by

Spontini,171

—

Picturesque colouring,by Auber,172

—

Specialcolouring

byjudicious use ofpercussion instruments; example bySpohr, 174

—

Ditto, by Verdi,

175—

Ditto, by Saint-Saens,176

—

Unusual

combina-tionsof instruments;example byWagner,177

—

Ditto,by Tschaikowsky, 178-181

—

Ditto,byProut, 182

—

Advicetothe student, 183.

CHAPTER

VH.

—

The

Combination of

the

Organ with the

Orchestra page 161

Berliozontheuse of theorganwith the orchestra, 185

—

Probable

explana-tionof his views, 186

—

Bach's treatment of theorganasan obbligaio

instrument; example, 187

—

Example by Handel; the best qualityof

organ-toneincombination, 188,189

—

Handel's organConcertos, 190

—

Exampleof combinationbyHaydn,191

—

Ditto,byMozart, 192, 193

—

The organwith brass instrumentsand harp; example by Mendelssohn,

194

—

Modern organ Concertos; examples byRheinberger, 195; 196

—

Ditto, by Guilmant, 197, 198

—

Ditto,by Prbut,199-203

—

Indic-ations

ofregistering, 204

—

Use of the organ in opera, 205

—

Employmentof the

Harmonium,

206.

CHAPTER

VIH.

—

Orchestral

Accompaniment

page 184

The

orchestra in a subordinate position,207

—

Thetreatment of concertos,

208

—

The

accompanimentof the solo instrument, 209

—

Why

chiefly for strings,210,

211—

Concertos forthe piano, 212

—

How

theydiffer from

concertosforstringedorwi^dinstruments,213

—

Thepiano alternating

with the orchestra;exampleby Beethoven, 214

—

Ditto,byGrieg,215

—

A

melodyforpianoaccompaniedbystrings;example byMozart,2i6

—

A

lightpizzicato accompaniment,217^

—

Thepiano accompanied by wind; example byGoetz,218

—

Thepiano accompanyingthe orchestra,219

—

Melodies in both piano and orchestra,220

—

A

novel combination by

Liszt,221

—

Concertos fora stringed instrument,222

—

Examples from Beethoven'sviolinconcerto, 223,224

—

Employmentof the fourthstring

;

example by Spohr, 225

—

A

sustained melody for the solo violin with

contrapuntalaccompaniment; example by Mendelssohn, 226

—

Double-stoppingforthesoloist; example by Bruch, 227

—

Contrastbetweensolo

andaccompaniment, 228

—

Concertosforother stringed instruments,229

—

Ditto, formorethanonestringedinstrument,230

—

Concertosforwind

instruments, 231

—

The accompanimentof vocalmusic,232

—

The

treat-mentofrecitative,233

—

Necessity of alightaccompaniment, 234

—

Contents.

accompanied by wind instruments, 237

—

Solo music accompanied by

stringsonly, 238,

239—

Contrasted accompaniments;example by

Cheru-bini, 240-Charming eiTect byBoieldieu,

241—

The voice subordinate

to the orchestra; example bySchubert,

242—An

oWA^a/i; instrument

accompanying the voice; example by Spohr, 243

—The

voice

accom-panied bywind only; example by Rossini,244

—

Accompaniments for

thebrass, 245

—

Thevoice accompanied. bythefullorchestra; example

byVerdi, 246

—

Other instances referred to,247

—

The

accompaniment

of choral music,248

—

Balance of chorus and orchestra, 248{note)

—

The

orchestramostly employed inmassesand groups,249

—

Treatment

of dissonant notes, 250-

A

pianissimo accompaniment; example by

Mozart, 251

—

The accompanimentof fugue, 252, 253

—

Choral unison accompanied by orchestra; example by Mendelssohn,

254—

The

rare

converse case; example by Weber, 255

—Employment

of theorganin

sacred music,256

—

Chorusaccompanied byfull orchestra, piano;

ex-ample by Rossini, 257

—

Importance of discretion in the accompani-ments,258.

CHAPTER

IX.

—

Arranging

for

the Orchestra

page 235 Arrangements sometimesnecessary,259

—The

most

common

mistake

made

bybeginners,260

—

A

passage by Dussek, arranged, 261

—

Many

differ-entwaysof arrangingpossible,262

—

Modification of pianoforte passages

often necessary; thetreatment of arpeggios,263

—

Example by

Beeth-ovenscored, 264

—

The

introductionof

new

matter,265

—

Treatmentof

thetremolo; example by Schubert, 266

—

Sombre colouring, 267

—

A

difficult passage to arr&nge, 268

—A

passage by Schubert,scoredand

analyzed, 269,270

—

Alternativemethodsof scoring the same passage,

271,272

—

Arrangementsinwhichthevoice partisgiventothe

orches-tra; transposing,273

—

Beethoven'sscoringof theFuneralMarchinhis

Op.26, 274, 275

—

Grieg's arrangement for strings ofhis Suite,'_Aus

Holberg's Zeit,'276

—

Berlioz's arrangementofWeber's'_{Invitation k}

laValse,'277

—

Thedifficultyofthisbranchof orchestration, 278.

CHAPTER

X.

—

Scoring FOk Incomplete

Orchestras

... page 260

Special arrangement necessaryfor an incomplete orchestra,279

—

Varying

degreesofincompleteness,280

—

Orchestras with no windinstruments,

281

—

Ditto,with only affew windinstruments, 282

—

Nearly complete

orchestras, 283

—

Replacing missing instruments, 284,285

—

Replacing

thesecondpairof horns, 286

—

Selectionof suitable music, 287

—

Origi-nalcompositionforan indompleteorchestra; the pointstoconsider,288

—

Scarcityofexamples bythegreatcomposers,289

—

An

orchestra

with-outviolas,29D

—

Treatmentof thewood; examples by Mozart, 291,292

—

An

orchestra with'solo wind'; example by Mozart, 293

—

Man-agement of the brass, 294

—

Wagner's 'Siegfried-Idyll,' 295

—

298

—

Specialdifficultyof writingforan incompleteorchestra, 299.

CHAPTER

XI.—Chamber

Music page 270

Chamber music defined,30I,302

—

The

formsemployedinchambermusic,

303,304

—

The

smaller forms, 305

—

Different treatment of the

instru-ments in orchestraland chamber music,306

—

Chambermusic should

notbeorchestralin character,307

—

Chambermusictobe conceivedat

Contents.

xi

alone; the quartette,309

—

Contrapuntal treatmentof the instruments,

310

—

Obtaining contrast, 311

—

Necessity of finisheddetail,312

—

The-matic development, 313

—

The

string quintett, 314

—

True five-part

writingseldom long continued,315

—

Stringsextettsandoctetts, 316

—

Spohr's double quartetts, 317

—

String trios, 318

—

String duos, 319

—

Chambermusicforwindinstruments alone,

320^The

bestnumber to

employ, 321

—

Predominanceofoboetone inMozart'sworks,322

—

The

bestcombinationstouse,323

—

The

form,324

—

Stringsand wind

com-bined,

325—

Chamber music with piano; sonatas withviolin, 326

—

Passage-work, 327

—

Piano and violoncello, 328

—

Technical

require-mentshigherthan in orchestralmusic,329

—

Pianotrios, quartetts,and quintetts,330

—

Themodelstostudy,331

—

Pianoand windinstruments,

332

—

Different treatment ofstringsandwind,

when

combinedwiththe

piano,333

—

The

quintettsof Mozartand Beethoven compared, 334

—

The

pianocombinedwithstringsandwind,_335,336

—

Theimpossibility

The

Orchestra.

PART

II.—

ORCHESTRAL

COMBINATION.

CHAPTER

I.

INTRODUCTION.

1. In the preceding

volume

of this

work

the nature

and

capabilities of all the instruments

employed

in the

modern

orchestra

were

treatedof,

and

it

was

said,inconcludingthispart of thesubject, that

much

still

remained

to

be

taught.

To

refer

once

more

totheanalogy ofpainting,frequently

mentioned

inthe firstvolume, it

may

be

said thatthe student

who

knows no

more

than

he

has learned

from

that

volume

is in

much

the

same

conditionas

a

young

artist

would

be,

who

had

provided himself withalarge

box

ofcolours,

and

who

knew

the exactshade ofeach colourseparately,but

who

had

only very

vague

notionsas to

how

they should

be

mixed. It^sthe proper

method

of

mixing

his orchestral colours

which

itisthe object of the present

volume

to

teach—

so far at least,asit is possible to teach it

from

a book.

But

thedifficultiesinthe

way

of imparting this

knowledge

arefar

greaterthan thosehitherto

met

with. For,whileitispossible to give verydefiniterules asto

what

ispracticableor impracticable

on any

instrument,thecombinations of the different instruments with

one

another are absolutely inexhaustible;

and

so

much

depends

on

theindividual feeling

and

tasteof thecomposer, that the utmost that can

be

done

is, to lay

down

some

general principles for his guidance,

and

to illustrate these,

and

at the

same

time tostimulate his imagination,

by

placing before

him

numerous

examples

from

the

works

of the great masters of orchestration.

2.

To

a

certain extent, the

two

parts into

which

we

have divided the present

work

—

Technique and Combination

—

may

be

saidtooverlap

one

another. In the illustrationsthat

we

gavein the preceding volume,

numerous examples

of

combination

were

seen,

and

some

ofthese

were

explained

and

commented

upon

in

the text.

We

now

proposeto enter

more

systematically intothe

discussionofthe variousmattershithertoonlyincidentally

touched

upon, as well as of others

which have been

hardly, if at all,

2

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.i.

3.

The

student already

knows

that the instruments of the

orchestra areofthreekinds

—

strings,wind,

and

percussion; and, in order to

simpHfy

his studies,

we

shall deal ^^ith these separately, before treating of the orchestra as a whole.

The

percussion instruments, however, will not require separate

treat-ment, astheyarevery rarelyused

by

themselves for

more

than

a

fewnotes."'- But both the strings

and

the

wind

are frequently

employed

alone;

and

we

shallfirst

examine

the

works

ofthegreat

composers,

and

try to

deduce from

their practice

some

general hints for theguidance ofthe student.

4.

Having

considered the treatment of strings

and

wind

separateh",

we

shall next

show

how

to

combine

them.

Here,

again, our subject divides into

two

parts

—

the small orchestra

and

the full orchestra.

By

the former, of

which

we

shall first

speak, is

meant an

orchestrawithout percussion instruments,

and

with

no

brass excepting horns.

Many

veryfine

works

exist for the small orchestra,

—

it will sufficeto refer to Mozart's

immortal

symphony

in

G

minor

as

showing

how much

effect can

be

produced, even

from

the point of

view

of the orchestration, with limited means.

The

slow

movement

of Beethoven's

symphony

in D, the allegretto of his

symphony

in F,

and

the first

two

movements

of his Pastoral

symphony,

affordother

illus-trationsofthe

same

point.

5.

When

we

reach the full orchestra, a

most

important questionwill presentitself

—

thatoffeie balance oftone.

There

is, perhaps, hardly

any

matterinconnection with instrumentation in

which

the beginneris

more

likely to

go

astrav,

and

there are few, unfortunately, concerning

which

it is

more

difficult to lay

down

more

than very general rules.

A

somewhat

detailed examination of passages

by

the great masterswill

be

necessary

;

butthisalonewillnotsuffice. Practicalexperience,

and

learning

by

the failures ofhisearly attempts, will

be

almost anecessityfor

the studenthere. »

6.

No

less _{important than balance of toneare the subjects}

which

will next

engage

our attention

—

Contrast

and

Colour.

Here,

again arematters

on which

explicit directions, or

hard

and

fast rules, are impossible.

We

can only teach

bv examples

; the

students naturalability

and

feeling

must do

the rest.

A

chapter

on

the

combination

ofthe organ withthe orchestrawill

conclude

thispart of oursubject. .

7. After having dealt with_{the orchestra as}

_{an independent}

body,

we

shall treat ofits

employment

forthe purpose of

accom-paniment, both ofsolos

(whether

instrumental or \ocal)

and

of

choral music.

We

shall then speak of the

arrangement

for the orchestraofmusicoriginaillywrittenforthepiano or organ.

_This

isamatter in

which an

inexperienced studentoften

makes

grave

Chap.I.]

Introduction.

. 3

mistakes; happily, it iseasierhere than in

some

other partsof

this

volume

to lay

down

definiteprinciples for hisguidance.

8. In

many

places, especiallyinprovincialtheatres,small

and

incompleteorchestrasare to

be

found. Itwill probably beuseful to give a fewhints*£is to scoring for such combinations as are likelyto

be

met

with.

A

chapterwilltherefore

be

devotedto this

subject,

though

itwill obviously

be

impossible todeal with half the cases likelyto

be

found.

At

the most, only a few guiding principlescanpossibly

be

given.

9.

With

the

view

of

making

this

work

as

complete

aspossible,

a

chapter will

be

added

on

the scoring of

chamber

music. Properly speaking, this scarcely belongs to "orchestration" in

the strictsense ofthe

term

; butin

no

other

volume

oftheseries

could the subject

be

suitably treated, as the technique of the instruments

had

not

been

previouslyexplained.

10. Before proceeding further, the author

would

earnestly

warn

students against expectingtoo

much

from

the present book.

Ithas

been

alreadysaid that

on

many

pointsnothing

beyond

the

most

generalprinciplescan

be

given;

and under no

circumstances

can

orchestration

be

learned simply

from a

book. .

The

student

islikelytoderivefar

more

benefit

from

a carefulanalysisof the

examples

here given

from

the great mastersthan

from

the

most

assiduousstudyofthe text.

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.ii.

CHAPTER

II.

THE

STRINGED ORCHESTRA.

11.

We

said inthe preceding

volume

that thestringed

instru-ments were

the

groundwork

of the

modern

orchestra;

and

in

§§ 5S~S7

*h^reasons

were

given

why

this

must

necessarily

be

the

case.

Formerly

many

works were

composed

for stringed

instru-ments

alone;

we

need

only

name

Handel's

'Twelve

Grand

Concertos'

and

the '_{Concerti Grossi}' of Corelli as examples.

At

the present time comparativelylittle iswrittenforthe stringed orchestra,

though

Grimm, Volkmann,

Wiierst,

and

others

have

composed

Suitesforstringsalone. Itisnevertheless soimportant thatthe student should

know how

towrite well for strings, that

we

must

enterat

some

lengthinto thesubjectbeforespeaking of theorchestra as a whole.

12.

Owing

tothe general similarity in the qualityof toneof stringed instruments,far lessvarietyof colourispossible,inwriting

for

them

alone, than

when

theyare

combined

oralternatedwith

wind

instruments. True, thereisa perceptibledifference

between

thetone of theviolin

and

of theviola, and.iStill

more

between

that ofthe violin

and

of the

upper

registerof thevioloncello; but the differenceisfar lessthanthat existing

between

any

stringed

instru-ment

and, let us say, a clarinet or

a

horn.

When,

therefore, contrast isrequired

from

thestrings, it issought for

by

variety of

rhythm,

and

by

other devices

which

will

be

shown

in our examples.

13.

As

a generalrule(though,as

we

shallsee presently,there are

numerous

exceptions),

music

forthestringsiswrittenin four

parts,the lowestpart

—

that

of

thevioloncellos

—

^being

doubled

jn

the octave

below

by

thedouble-basses.

While

in

most

casesthe

melody

isgiven tothefirstviolins, thealtopartof the

harmony

to the

second

violins,the tenor totheviolas,

and

thebass tothe celli, with or without the double-bass, crossing of the parts is

mucH

more

freely used than invocal writing. In general the student

may

cross hisparts

whenever he

findsitconvenientto

do

so forthesake ofthe purityofhis part-writing.

But

thereis

one

limitation tothisgeneral permission.

Owing

tothe penetrating

and

incisive tone of the

upper

notesof thevioloncello, that

in-strument should not

be

written

above

theviolaorviolins, except

foraspecial

melodic

effect. (See Vol.I.,Ex. 42

Chap.11.]

The

Strlvced

Orchestra.

of

which

we

are

now

speaking referschiefly to the three

upper

string parts.

14.

The

firstquestion to

be

considered isthe position of the

harmony.

Herd

thegeneral rules for vocal part-writing apply,

though

exceptions, not only tothis, but probablyto every other

rule

we

shall givein thisvolume, are to

be

found

m

the

works

of

thegreat composers. It

must

not.

be

forgotten that

we

do

not profess to

do

more

thantolay

down

general principles,tfie appli-cation of

which

may

be

subject to

many

modifications. It is mostly not

good

to

have

too

wide an

interval

between

two

adjacent

parts, especially

between

thetwip

upper

or the

two middle

parts.

The

following passage

shows

a

good

distribution of thestrings.

Ex.1. Viol Viol. -.1. Viola. AuBER; 'LeMagon.' C. B.

_pp

#«=3=^^

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.11.

15.

Our

next

example shows

some

wider

intervals

between

the parts.

Ex,2. SpojiR: 2nd Symphony.

Viol. I?

Viol

The

chiefpointto noticehereis,that

from

thefourthbar

onwards

thevioloncellosreplace theviolas,because the counterpoint

which

the

composer

hererequiresgoes

below

the

compass

of the latter instrument.

The

wide

intervals—nearly

two

octaves in bar 5

—

between

the cello

and

the double-bass

do

not here

produce

a

bad

effect, because thedouble bass has asustained pedal note.

A

moving-bass part not

doubled

in the octave

above would have

been

less good.

Chap.II.]

The

Stringed

Orchestra.

16. It

was

said

above

(§12), that contrast in writingforstrings

"tvas mostly obtained

by

varietyofrhythms.

Our

next quotation

will illustrate thispoint.

Ex.3. Schubert;'AlfonsoundEstrella.'

Andante, consord.

Viol.

Viol.«.

Viola.

Alfonso.

Here

threekinds ofcontrastareseen

—

that of the

moving

semi-quavers of theviolaswith thesustained

harmony

of the violins

and

cello, that of the violins con sordini as against the other

strings without mutes,

and

the pizzicato of the double basses againstthearco oftheotherstrings.

The

separationofthedouble basses

from

the violoncellos is far

more

common,

and

more

effectiveina.piano, as here, thanins^forte.

17. Frequently, especiallyin quiet passages, thedouble-basses

aresilent,

and

the bassis givento the violoncellos alone.

The

commencement

of

one

of

Haydn's

least-known

symphonies

furnishesa

good example

ofthis.

Ex.4. Haydn:SymphonyinG,No.51.

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.II.

The

first

chord

hereisalsoplayed

by

the

wind

instruments

—

flute, oboes, bassoons,

and

horns

—

^whichitisneedlesstoquote.

Note

thepositionofthefirstchord,asillustrating

what was

saidin

§

14.

18. Occasionally,foraspecialeffect, theusual distribution

of

thestring parts _{(§ 13)} ischanged.

Fagotti

Viol.

Viol.

Violi

Gluck; *Iphigenie enAulide/

Here

the bassof the

harmony

isgiventothefirstviolins,

doubled

inthe first

two

bars

by

theviolas, while the

second

violins

have

the top part.

Observe

also, as bearing

on

the important

question of balance oftone,with

which

we

shalldeal later,that at thethird bar the violas are reinforced

by

the first bassoon, in ordertobring the

middle

partof the

harmony

into

due prominence.

19. Ifthe

composer

wishestowritea passage

—

whether

scale,' arpeggio, or other

melodic

design—

which

exceedsthe

compass

of'

Chap.II.]

The

Stringed

Orchestra.

one

instrument,

and

hastobe, so to speak,

"

handed along" from

one

toanother,it isbest,in orderto securea

smooth

connection, toletthe

newly

enteringpartbeginon,

and

notafter,thelastnote

of

thepreceding

instmment.

A

good example

ofthiswill

be

seen in the Scherzo of

Mendelssohn's

'Midsummer

Night's

Dream'

music, just before the return of the first subject,

where

a chromaticscale offour octaves is divided

between

the strings.

We

givea lessfamiliar illustrationof the

same

procedure.

NicoLAi:*DielustigenWeiber vonWindsor.'

Ex.6.

^

Allegro moderato.

Cello.

20.

Our

next illustration

shows

the

melody

given to the

violoncelli,

and accompanied by

repeatednotes, givenalternately to the double-basses

and

thethree

upper

stringparts.

Ex.7.

Allegroagitato. Schubert:'AlfonsoundEstrella.' Viol.

Viola.

Cello

10

The

Okchestra.

[Chap.II.

21. In speaking of the pizzicato in our preceding

volume

(§ 87), the student

was warned

againstwriting too rapid passages to

be

playedin this

manner.

The

following extract

shows

not only

a most

effectiveuseof thepizzicato, butgivesapproximately the limitof rapidity advisable.

Delibes: 'Sylvia.*

Viol.I?

Viol.2''.°

Viola

Chap.II.]

The

Stringed

Orchestra.

This passage isinstructive in

more

than

one

respect.

Note

first

the dispositionofthe

harmony,

withthe occasional crossing, for

a

single chord, of the violas

and

the violoncellos. Observe, also,

particularly

how

careful the

composer

has

been

in writing his double-stops

and

chords. All are perfectly easy,

and

can

be

playedeither in thefirstor third position.

2 2.

Though

the strings are mostly written in four-part

harmony,

we

often find passages inwhich, forthesakeof

variety-orcontrast, fewer thanfour partsare

employed.

We

have

seen.

one

instance of this in Ex. 5,

and

many

others

may

easily

be

found.

Sometimes

the

harmony

is inonly

two

parts, as in

the

opening

ofthefinaleof Mozart'sso-called '_Parisian' symphon)'.

Ex.9. Mozart: SymphonyinD, No.31,

—^ Allegro. .

^

f~^

.-— Viol.I ' * Viol.2''.°

m

^i=^g^g^

&c. 3=3=1- =n=lr :*_»i_«r

23.

Harmony

in

two

partsis at other times giventoall the

strings,

one

or

both

parts laeing

doubled

in the octave, as inthe

following passage:

Ex.10.

12

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.II.

24.

What

are

commonly

calkd

'_unison

', passages, for the

strings—

that'-is; passages in

whith

all thestrings are playing in unison

and

octaves

—

are so

common

that

no example

isneeded.

In

suchcases, the violinsmostly play in unison, the violoncellos

an

6ctave

below

them, whilethe violas

double

inunisoneitherthe

former

or the latter, according to the pitch of the passage.

Sometimes, however,

the distributionisdifferent. Letthestudent lookatthePresto of Beethoven'sthird '

Leonora

'overture.

Here

the firstviolins begin alone; atthe ninth barthe

second

violins

double

them

in the

lower

octave; then the violas enter,

and

last

the violoncellos

and

basses, each

an

octave lower than the precedingpart, till at lastthetumultuousfigure

isheard in five octaves.

25.

On

the other hand, the difference inpitchofthe various stringedinstrumentsrenderstheactual

m\\%on\&[y

rare;.

and

ifit

is

employed,

it isnecessarytosuppress the double-basses.

We

saw

in Ex.

46

of thepreceding

volume

that

when

the violin

and

violoncello

were

playing inunison, the first string

of

thelatter

corresponded

in pitch to the fourth string of the former.

Obviously

it

would be

impracticableto writeforthe double-bass inunisonwith theviolin.

A

fine

example

oftheeffect of

which

•we are

now

speakingis

found

in Meyerbeers's '_{L'Africaine.'}

£x.11. Andantecantabile.

Meyerbeer: *L'Africaine.'

Viol.1,2

unis.

Ghap,. II]

pp

The

Stringed

Orchestra.

dim.

15.

^35^^/

5"?

*—

*li»- •'^^gS:

;*:•

"Ki^"

Here

we

see, not onlythe

whole mass

of thestrings, except the double-basses, but afurtherreinforcement oftheir

power by

the addition of the clarinets

and

bassoons.

The

low

notes of the clarinets

add a

soft

and mellow

tint to thecombination.

26.

For

aquiet

accompaniment

to asolo,

sometimes

only

a

partofthe strings are

employed.

Inthe greatscenainthe

second

act of '

_Der

_{Freischiitz,'}

the

opening

barsof the adagio are

ac-companied

only

by

divided violins

and

violas.

We

give

an

example

by

Weber

accompanied

by

violas

and

celli,

both

divided.

Weber:'Oberon,' HuON. Viola Viola^. CelloI. Cello2.

14

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.II.

i^^^E^g=^sii^^:

Spare, oh spare yon ten-der flower!

t-rr "—

—

EE^:^

pp

mm^

ts

pp*

:e

>

^1

-elfc^

Observe

here thatthe

upper

partofthe

harmony

isgiven,not tq thefirstviola, but tothefirst violoncello, the qualityof its tone

Ijeing

much

richer.

Mendelssohn

has imitated this

combination

inthe

opening

oftheduet'

'

My

song

shall

be alway

Thy

mercy,

' '

in the 'Lobgesang. '

27. Itisnot

uncommon

to find

some

ofthe stringsdividedfor

part,orthe

whole

of a

movement.

Thisisperhaps

most

frequently

thecasewiththeviolas.

We

givea

charming example

by

Mozart.

Ex.13. ,

Mozart; SymphonyinC,No.34.

Andante dimolto.

"Viol,

Chap.II.]

The

Stringed

_Orchestra.

15

28.

We

now

give a few instances of rarer, buteffective

and

interestingcombinations ofstrings.

Our

first istheEvocation of

the Spirit ofthe Alps, in

Schumann's

music to 'Manfred.'

£z.14.

Lhipoco Allegro,

Schumann: *Manfred.'

i6

The

Orchestra.

fChap.II.

Here

the

melody

is given tothefirst violinsconsordini,vt'hilethe divided

second

violins

and

the

two

violas arewithout mutes,

and

are

doubled

inthe unison

by

theflutes

and

clarinets. Notice the

effect of tjie single

harmonic

of the harp

on

the third beat of

eachbar.

29.

Our

next

example

Ex.15. Viol.2. Viola. •_Lazarus. Basso. consord.. Schubert: 'Lazarus.'

m%^^^^^

p^^*^-Viel'se lige Stun den

!Celli.J J J J ! I ;jet=t=

=EEf^^Z?E

/^/Ji

^S

PP

^^^^1^*

^^^^I^^Si

FreundschaftWon-ne

'III

dem

EdHH^

Chap.II.]

The

Stringed

Orchestra.

17 double-basses,

and echoed

by muted

violins in octaves

—

anovel

and

beautiful combination.

30. In our last

two

quotations

have

been

seen

examples

of theincidental

employment

ofsolo strings. Occasionallyonly a single stringed instrument is used in each part.

A

tolerably familiar instanceofthiswill

be

seeninthefinale of Beethoven's ChoralFantasia,

Op.

80.

We

giveashortpassage

from

Gounod's

'Faust,' in

which

the

composer

required

an

especially delicate

accompaniment

for the voices,

and

therefore

employs

a solo quartet. Gounod:'Faust.' CornoI?in F, Viol. 1? Viol. Viola. Marguerite. Cello.

w=^

—

i8

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.II.

31. In Ex. 8

we

gave an

instanceofthe treatment ofall the stringspizzicato.

We

now

give another

example

of the

same

device, in

which

the stringed orchestra is designed to imitatea

guitar. Itisthebeginning of Mephistopheles's

mocking

serenade

inBerlioz's'_Faust

';

and

a very noveleffectis

hereobtained

by

the

wide

arpeggios of the

second

violin

and

viola.

These

could hardly

be

playedinthe usual

manner

; Berlioz inthisscoredirects theperformers to glidethe

thumb

rapidlyacrossthe fourstrings.

Viol.

Viol.2.

Mkphistopheles.

Cello.

Basso.

Ex.17. TempodiValse. Berlioz: 'La DamnationdeFaust.'

pizz

De-vantlamai

-^

^^:^^

EEE5^

Chap.II.]

The

Stringed

Orchestra.

19 32. Itisquite impossible within thelimits at ourdisposal to indicate,

much

less to quote,

more

than a small

number

of the possible efifects to

be

obtained

from

the strings alone.

For

our

final

examples

we

give

two

passagesin

which

veryfull

harmony

isobtained

by

the divisionofthestrings.

The

first isaveryquiet

and

rather

sombre

effect

from Gounod's

CecilianMass.

Tiol. ..

Viol.,.

Ex,18. Adagio

dh'isi.

d2.

Gounod: MesseSolennelle.

i

fmm

=ti^

^

:t=F=q:

^3=

P

=!?=?=&:

rt=f-=:t: 14=^=11: =i»=g=

^^^

—1

f^Tf

T==S=

^^S

The

Orchestra.

[Chap II.

Insuch passages as this, it isvery

seldom

that the writingisin

eight realparts; mostly, as here, the parts are

doubled

in the octave.

33.

Our

final

example

isquitedifferent.

Ex.19. Andantedoloroso,

divisi.

Grieg:'PeerGynt.'

Cello. (consordini.) C Bassi.

44

4

.4:4

-4

A^i

_^

.4^

4-EgEl;

=F

Here

we

have

five-part

harmony

;

and

a strange

and

very unusual

effect is obtained

by

the

/

and ff

forthe

muted

strings.•

The

mutes

arealmostinvariably

employed

onlyforquiet passages. It

Chap II.]

The

Stringed

Orchestra

21

orchestra, will

be

verygreatlydiminished,first

by

the divisionof

the parts,

and

secondly

by

the

employment

of themutes.

34. In concluding this chapter, a

word

should

be

saidasto thedifferenceofeffectofthe various keys

on

the stringed

instru-ments.

Though

itis easy for the imaginationto exaggerate this

difference, therecan

be

no doubt

that itreallyexists,

and

may

be

easilyexplained.

Our

readers are

presumably

acquainted with

what

is

known

as

"sympathetic

resonance." {^e.e.

Applied

_{Forms, §§}

24-26.) Invirtue ofthe lawthereexplained, the

open

stringsof a stringed instrumentvibrateinunison with a note

sounded

in their vicinity,providedthatsuch noteiseither their

fundamental

tone, or

one

oftheir

upper

partials. Consequentlyifaviolinisplayed ina

key

containinginitsscalethenotesofits

open

strings,orthe earlier

upper

partialsof those notes, its

power

will

be

more

or

lessreinforced

by

thesympathetic resonance oftheotherstrings.

For

this reason keys

which have

not

more

than four sharpsare

more

brilliant thanthe extreme sharp keys,

and

ingeneral sharp

keysare

more

brilliant than flat.

As an

illustration ofthispoint

it

may

be mentioned

that Berlioz,inarranging

Weber's

'Invitation alaValse' _for

the orchestra, transposed it

from

D

flatto

D

major, partly, perhaps, for technical reasons, but chiefly,

no

doubt, because it

was a

far

more

brilliant

and

favourable

key

for the

strings.

We

can recall

no example

of

any

brilliant orchestral

movement

being

written inthe

key

of

A

flat,

though

E

flat isnot

uncommon,

as,forinstance, inMozart's overtureto '

_Die

Zauber-flote,'

Weber's

to 'Euryanthe,'

and

Auber's to '

Le

_{Cheval de}

Bronze.

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.in.

CHAPTER

III.

THE TREATMENT

OF

WIND

INSTRUMENTS.

35.

Owing

to the

many

kinds of

wind

instruments

employed

in the orchestra,

and

the different qualitiesof their tone,

an

in-finitely larger

number

of combinations ispossiblewith

them

than

with the stringed instruments with

which

we

dealt in the last

chapter.

There

is, indeed, practically

no

limit to thevariety of tone-colourthat

may

be

obtained

by

wind

instrumentsalone;

and

it will

be

impossible for us to

do

more

than toenunciate

a

few general principles forthe guidance ofthe student,

and

toenforce

them

by examples

taken

from works

ofdifferent

composers

and of

different schools.

36.

Wind

instruments,

when employed

alone,

maybe

treatedin

two ways

—

eitherassoloinstrumentsorinmasses. Intheformer case,

sometimes

one

instrument has the

melody,

and

the others give simply

an

accompaniment;

atother timessevjeralinstruments

are,so tospeak,individualizedas soloists.

When

treated in masses,

no

one

instrument

comes

into special

prominence,

and

the effect

isobtained

by

their

combination

on

approximately equal terms.

We

shall

proceed

togive

examples

of

both methods,

commencing

withthetreatment of

wind

instruments insolo passages. 37.

Our

first illustration

Chap, in.]

The Treatment

_of

IVjxd

Lvstrumeats.

₂₃

shows

a solo

oboe

accompanied

only

by two

clarinets; until the

cadence,

where

thestringsenter, the

harmony

isinthree parts.

38.

Our

next

example

has

two

or three points calling for

remark.

Ex,81. SpoHR: Xotturno,Op.34.

Notice firsttheorder ofthe score. In compositionswritten, like this

Nottumo,

for

wind

instrumentsalone, the bassoonsare not infrequentlyplaced

below

the horns,ashere.

The

same

arrange-ment

will

be

fouiid in Mozart's

numerous

Serenades

and

Diverti-menti

for

wind

instruments only.

"Fhe

reason is, that insuch

works

the real bass ofthe

harmony

is usually given to the bas-soons

and

it is therefore convenient that theyshould have the loweststaffor staves ofthe score.

39. It israre to-find

an

importantsolo passage given tothe

C

clarinet,

which

is inferiorin tone tothose in

B

and

A. This

work

was

written early inthe presentcentury,

when

C

clarinets

were

much

more

frequently used than yiow. Playersat present

day

would

probably transpose the

whole

movement

for the

B

clarinet.

From

thefifth bar of the

above

extract, there are

two

solo instruments, the first clarinet being imitated

by

the first

24

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.HI

40. It isnot needful that the solo should always

be

in the

upper

part.

Our

next

example shows

the

melody

inthe tenor giventothe first bassoon.

.

Ex.22. Beethoven: Sextett,Op.71.

Clarinetti inBt Fagotti. Comi inBbbasso. Adagio. •" • "•_

s^

.M.

M

^^

=^^^

g=f=iti-:^r=z

m

feaSf

-I

—

r

f-

^g

5^EE^S=S^^

₃₁₌₁₌

,^___.

^^^J

"SC»-.^fi-l^?^

^i±=

->^

1 ..-!->

-ff—

i^rr^z .^ ft .*J| :

^—

•

—

g--.

P^

s=tet

3=?^=

3=t==5Z

^3E^

S==

41. Inthe followingstriking passage,

from

the

second

finale

of *Die Zauberflote,'

Mozart: *DieZauberflote.'

Flauto. Saio. Corni inG. Trombe inC. Tromboni Trombone3. Timpani inC,G.

'W^^m

u

m B^E

^BE^^E^::=f3=^-"^^^^EEIIEE^

m

Chap,III.]

The Treatment

of

Wind

Instruments.

we

see

a

flutesolo

accompanied by

the

whole mass

ofthe brass

piano.

Observe

thatthe contrastof tone here

between

the

melody

and

the

accompaniment

is

more

strongly

marked

thanin the pre-ceding examples.

Note

also the

numerous

rests given to the

brass. Ifthese instruments

had had

sustjiinedchordswritten for

them,

theeffectoftheflutesolo

would have been

much

impaired. 42.

Sometimes

several

wind

instruments of different (juality

areall

combined

as solo instruments.

Almost

infinite variety is

obtainable in thisway.

We

give

two

examples.

Ex.24 Sostenutoassai. CHKRirniNi: MassinD.

P'lauto-Solo. Oboe. Solo. ClarinettoinC. Solo. Fagotto. Solo.

U

dot. M: }= :C ^-e-.

'^

7)- dol.

=^3^1^^

=C=P

Hi

*

-Jt !r.-je

M^m*.-f---26

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.HI.

This beautiful passage

—

the

opening

symphony

of the

"

Et

in-carnatus

"

—

^issosimple asto

need no comment.

43.

Our

next illustration,quite different in style, isthe

com-mencement

ofthe overtureto '_Zanetta.

'

Ex.25. Allegretto. Al'UEK:'Zanetta.'

Oboe. Solo. ClarinettoinB, Solo.

i

i=*=i«=^?

'^S^'

:-*f*l^;

rjC^sr

m.

:J==P

-^

«*•

--^^

t*-&c.

P

7=-

---ff-^

3?

^r=Er5--r

^--i--44.

Though

inthemajority ofcases

we

find insuch

examples

asthosejust

quoted

thatthe

upper

partofthe

harmony

is givento the instrument

which

stands highest in the score, it is not

un-common

to find this order departed from, as in the following passage :

Chap,lu.j

The Treatment

of

Wind

Instruments.

Flauti.

Clarinetti

in A.

Fagotti.

Adagiosostenutoassai.

Solo.

Liszt: Piano ConcertoinA.

dolcesoa'oe. ' ' ' '

ffi

dolcesoave.ve. \

ES3EE3ig3EEE:

Here

the

melody

isgiventothefirstclarinet,

and

thefirstflutehas

one

ofthe

middle

partsofthe

harmony.

45.

The

passagejust

quoted

illustratesa

somewhat

important point.

The

A

in the

middle

ofthe

harmony

is giventotheflute, nottothe oboe. Ifchords of a

smooth

and homogeneous

quality of tone aredesired

from

the

wood,

it is in

most

cases better to omittheoboes

from

thecombination.

The

tone of the

oboe

isso reedy,incisive,

and

penetrating, thatit

amalgamates

withtheother instrumentswithdifficulty,

and

always obtrudesitspersonality

more

orless. It

was

doubtless for thisreason that Mozart,

when

he

added

clarinetsto the score of his great

symphony

in

G

minor, rewrotethe original

oboe

parts,

and

in nearlyall the passages for

wind

alone replaced

them

by

the clarinets.

As

the scoreofthe revised versionof the

symphony

is verylittle

known

—

it is,

we

believe,publishedonlyinthe

complete

editionof Mozart's

works

—

we

give the lastbars ofthe

minuet

as

an

illustration.

Ex.27. Clarinetti inE. Fagotii. Comi inG, Viol.1, z. Allegretto.

Mozart:Symphonyin

G

minor.No.40.

'a *

f^E^tgl

28

The

Orchestra.

[Chap. IH.

L^t^^^d

;^

m

Ei=r

Sj=t

rj—

g

rt=^l=

i«=F=

_EE^B

#

J I |-_pz=jr=|r: p-*-

^

If -*

^=3=^5.=

i

-^^^-=^

i

.7

?=

1

Let

the student tryto hearmentallythe clarinet parts, firstwith

oboe

toneas originally written,

and

thenas here given,

and he

cannot failtonotice

how much

smoother

theblending ofthe

in-strumentsisin the lattercasethanin theformer.

46. In Ex. 6 ofthe lastchapter

we

saw

how

a

melodic

design oflarge

compass

could

be

divided

among

thedifferentstrings.

A

similar procedure with

wind

instrumentswill

be

much

less

effec-tive, because ofthe different qualities oftheir tones.

As

an

ex-ample which

cannot

be

consideredsatisfactory,

we

quotea passage

by

Harold.

Ex.28. Allegro.

Herold; '_{LePreauxClercs.'}

Piccolo.

Here

theeffectofthe scales in thirdsisdecidedly'patchy,' because'

ofthe

sudden

changesin the quality oftone,

and

it is

made

still

more

conspicuous

by

the pointsat

which

the changesare

made.

Chip,III.] Th-e

Treatment

of

Wind

Instruments.

29 note of the

second

barto the flutes,

and

to have introduced the

oboes

atthe

second

quaver

—

after,

and

noton, theaccentednote.

47. It

must be

understood that

what

has just

been

said asto the dividingofpassages

between

the

wind

does not applytocases

in

which one

instrument repeats or echoesata different pitcha

theme

already

announced

by

another.

Such

a procedureis often ofexcellenteffect, asinthe following:

Ex.29

Something

similar will

be

found in Auber's '

_Le

_Dieu

_et

la

Bayadere

' (p. 132 ofthefullscore),

where

the

theme

ispassed along

from

one

instrumenttoanother, oversustained chordsfor

thestrings.

48. It is

seldom

good, insolo passages, to double

any

wind

-instrument in unison.

We

are quite

aware

that this is not

in-frequentlydone,

even

by

eminent

composers.

A

well-known and

striking

example

isthe

opening

subjectofthe allegroof Schubert's unfinished

symphony

in

B

minor,in

which

the

melody

isgi\ento

one

oboe

and

one

clarinetinunison.

None

theless,

we

consider

the effect innearlyeverycase

more

or lessunsatisfactory;

and

it

isnotdifficulttogivethereason.

No

two

players ])roduce exactly

the

same

qualityof tone

—

probably not

even

ifperforming

on

the

same

instrument.

The

difference

may

be

sosmallas to

be

hardly

•noticeableifeach isplayingsingly,butthe factremains that

two

flutesor oboes playingin unison

do

notgi^•e

merely

theeffect of

a single

one doubled

in

power

; there isalsoa difference in the resultantquality.*

49.

What

has just

been

said about

two

instruments of the

same kind

applies,

even

more

strongly, to

two

instruments of *Thefactherestatedisfamiliarto allwhohavehadmuch experienceintheorchestra

;

theauthorwouldsuggest asapossibleexplanation (which,however,hehashad no

oppor-tunityofeitherverifyingordisproving),thatperhaps very minutedifferences in the intonation

oftlie twoinstruments

—

say,ofa fewvibrations only,which would passunnoticed when

each played alone

—

wouldsetup "beats" whenthe two playedtogether, that would be

3°

The

Orchestra.

[Chap.IIL

different kinds.

Each wind

instrument hasits

own

special quality oftone, resulting (as the researchesof

Helmholtz have proved)

from

thevarying proportionsin

which

the

upper

partial tones of theirtubes arepresent together with the

fundamental

tone.

When

two

of these differentqualitiesare

combined

inthe unison, each

losesitspurity,

and

thetone

becomes

turbid.

While

entertaining

theveryhighestadmirationforthegenius of Schubert,

we

venture tothinkthatthe

opening

ofhis

B

minor symphony, mentioned

in thelastparagraph,

would have been

more

effective

had

the

melody

been

gi\'ento the clarinet alone.

50.

We

are speaking

now

e.xclusivelyof solo passages.

For

tuttieffects the unison ofdifferent instruments

may

often

be

used

with advantage,asintli^following passage

from

the firstfinaleof

'

_Euryanthe

' : £x. 30. Weber; 'Euryanthe.' Flauti. (eOboi,unis.^ Fagotti.

^^^^^^^^m

=ff=t:

Here

the subject isallotted to

two

flutes

and two

oboesinunison.

No

single instrument

would have

given eitherthe

power

or the quality that \\'eber desired.

Chap.III.]

The Treatment

_of

Wind

Instruments.

31

51.

An

excellent

example

ofa

melody

played

by

the

whole

of the -wood inunison

and

octaves is seen in the second

movement

of Tschaikowsky's *

_Symphonic

_Pathetique.'

Ex.31, Allegro con grazia.

3 Flauti. 2Oboi. 2Clarinetti inA. 2Fagotti. Comi Corni3, 4. inF. Trombe inA. Viol! Viol2. Viola,-Cello :Basso.

TsCHAiKowsKY;SymphonicPathetique.

^EilS

z^

_P^

-v^

-0-

-^

—

=

_—

^—a

:=

r-7llp

•-^

-Sir

m

-W==

p-9-_=;__g

—

=e:

^-,L-^-inp

1^3^^=^^