ORCHESTRATION by Books by Walter Piston y conor WALTER PISTON COUNTERPOINT PROFESSOR OF MUSIC, HARVARD UNIVERSITY LONDON VICTOR GOLLANCZ LTD 1969First published November 1955 Second impression June 1938 ‘Third impression May 1 oe Fourth impeeaion September 1965 Fifth impression May 1969 eos oni 8 4 CONTENTS FOREWORD vii ONE . THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRA 1. STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 3 THE VIOLIN 37 3. THE VIOLA fi Un eS - 4. THE VIOLONCELLO 80 OF TASMANIA 5. THE DOUBLE-DASS 98 LERARY 6, WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS 4 { 7. THE FLU 28 8. THE onoe 146 9. THE CLARINET 163 ns re 10. THE BASSOON 188 11, BRASS INSTRUMENTS 206 12, THE HORN 13. THE TRUMPET 1g. THE TROMBONE 15. THE TUBA priya 1 hear BRITAIN BY 16. PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS 296 17. THE HARP 333 18, KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS 340ORCHE RATION TWO ANALYSIS OF ORCHESTRATION ‘TYPES OF TEXTURE—TYPE I, ORCHESTRAL UNISON TYPES OF TEXTURE—TYPE Il, MELODY AND ACcOM- PANIMENT TYPES OF TEXTURE—TYPE Il, SECONDARY MELODY TYPES OF TEXTURE—TYPE IV, PART WRITING ‘TYPES OF TEXTURE—TYPE V, CONTRAPUNTAL TEXTURE TYPES OF TEXTURE—TYPE VI, CHORDS ‘TYPES OF TEXTURE—TYPE VI, COMPLEX TEXTURE THREE - PROBLEMS IN ORCHESTRATION ORCHESTRATION OF MELODY BACKGROUND AND ACCOMPANIMENT. SCORING OF CHORDS VOICE LEADING AND COUNTERPOINT CONCLUSION INDEX 355 364 374 382 388 396 405 ans Bt 452 461 463 FOREWORD He true art of orchestration is inseparable from the creative act | ‘of composing music, The sounds made by the orchestra are the ultimate external manifestation of musical ideas germi- nated in the mind of the composer. One skilled in the technique of or- chestration may practice a somewhat lesser att of transcribing for orchestra music originally writcen for another medium. This can be a fine though difficult art, provided the orchestrator is able to put him- self momentarily in the composer's place, and, so to speak, to think the composer's thoughts, Failing this, the result is unlikely to amount to more than a display of skill and craft, often of a superficial and artificial nature, Orchestration, in the sense here employed, refers to the process of writing music for the orchestra, using principles of instrumental com- bination essentially those observed operating in the scores of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, It is a common technique, employed in present-day symphonic music as well as in that of the classical and romantic periods. For the present purposes it will not be considered to embrace earlier processes based on improvisation, fortuitous instru- ‘mental balance, and the stabilizing influence of a keyboard instrument, with basso continuo. The technical equipment of both composer and orchestrator must include a thorough knowledge of the individual instruments, their capabilities and characteristics, and a mental conception of the sound of each. Then the effects and resources of instrumental combination must be learned, involving such matters as balance of tone, mixed tone colors, clarity in texture, and the like. Finally, the orchestra is to be sensed as itself an individual instrument, flexibly employed to present the music, in form and content, with fidelity and effectiveness.vii ORCHESTRATION A multitude of obstacles and unsolved problems has prevented the establishment of a science of orchestration, The imperfection and vagueness of our musical notation makes it impossible to indicate with accuracy dynamic and rhythmic quantities as well as pitch, to say nothing of shades of rone color, warmth and intensity. One conse~ ce of this is the preponderance of the role played by the per- formers and the conductor in the translation of written notes into sound. It is a well-known fact that no two performances of a work sound alike, and we find pleasure and satisfaction in this versatility of music as written. But for the student anxious to know the effect in sound of what he has put on paper, the unknown quantity of the performer's understanding has to be acknowledged in his calculations There are also mechanical and physical influences that cause vari- ants i the sound of an orchestral score. No two orchestras sound alike. They may differ in the number of strings, in the quality and make of the instruments, and quite naturally in the capabilities of the players. A wide difference exists in the acoustic properties of the various auditoriums in which the individual orchestras habitually play, and the same orchestra will sound different in a different place. Because of this variety in the sounds produced from the same given notes, and also because the student of orchestration seldom has an op- portunity to hear those notes played at all, the student works under severe handicaps in striving to cultivate a capacity for the mental hearing of orchestral scores. In the event that his opportunities are limited to hearing phono- graph records and radio broadcasts, he must be cautioned that these resources often have serious and misleading deficiencies, It is possible to doube that the usual commercial recording of a symphonic work can stand the test of comparison with the printed score. At least in this writer's experience, almost every recording produces some sounds that do not exist in the score, and fails to produce some of the notes printed therein, besides showing numerous other discrepancies. The phono- graph record is valuable as a means of conveying the over-all effect of a composition, but it is an insecure medium through which to store up instrumental sounds in the memory, or to ascertain the sound effect of a printed page of orchestration. ‘The shortcomings of radio broadcasting of music are too well FOREWORD ix known to need description here. The complex vicissitudes suffered by a musical tone from the time it leaves the orchestra until itis perceived by the ear of the listener all have their effect upon the quality of the tone. When recordings are broadcast, the efficiency of the initial “pick up” is improved, but often the records are worn, and frequently the pitch is clearly not the same as the pitch of the performance from which the recording was made, This means that a variation in speed has been introduced at some stage of the recording or reproducing process. This, in turn, means a loss of fidelity not only in pitch, but also in tempo and in the tone color of each instrument. - Through a realization of these existing conditions, a philosophy of musical experience can be formed, so that conclusions are drawn not from one or two examples of actual sound, but from the cumulative evidence of many experiences, and even then held subject to subse- quent revision The three esentl aspects ofthe study of orchestration are treated in the three divisions of this book. In Part One, the instruments and their playing techniques are studied in detail. In Part Two, an ap- proach to the analysis of orchestration is suggested, and in Part Three, typical problems in orchestration are given wtih some examples of their solution, ~ Throughout the book emphasis is placed on the method of stud the orientation of the student's program of action, to help him in con- tinuing further studies along the paths suggested. The material cov ered is designed for a ycar’s course in orchestration at the college level, but it is the author's conviction thar the subject matter is too flexible co be presented as a course of graduated steps and exercises. ‘A presentation is called for that will be adaptable to varied musical backgrounds, although it will always be difficult for persons lacki a knowledge of harmony and counterpoint to work out problems orchestration. The student should be stimulated to make acquaintance with scores, and to develop self-reliance and initiative in seeking a deep knowledge of the instruments and how they are combined. Such a presentation will be found, it is hoped, in this introduction to the art of orchestration.ONE THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE ORCHESTRACHAPTER ONE me STRINGED INSTRUMENTS inovoHtour the comparatively brief history of orchestration the | string group—violins, violas, ‘cellos, and double-basses—has maintained its position as dominant element of the symphony orchestra’ Countless scores from all periods bear evidence that their composers regarded woodwind and brass rather as accessories and were hesitant to entrust much of their essential music: stringed instruments ‘Such an attitude is partly justifiable because of the superiority of the stri virtually any kind of music. They have a greater dynamic range than wind instruments and far more expressive capacity. The ton of the string group is fairly homogeneous from top to bottom, varia~ tions in the different registers being much more subt Ac the same time, stringed instrum ing different kinds of sound. As string tone is rich in overtones all is practical. One does not tire of hear- ing string tone as soon as one tires of wind tone; in fact, there exists a sizable literature of compositions written for string orchestra without wind instruments. The string section of a typical symphony orchestra usually consists of sixteen first violins, fourteen second violins, twelve violas, ten violoncellos, and eight double-basses. Variations in these proportions may be found, reflecting the predilections of individual conductors, or perhaps determined by some such circumstance as the size of the con- material to any but in so many important respects. Strings are tireless and can play 1¢ color le than in the winds. are the most versatile in produc. manner of close and open spacing cert stage. ,