_How Orchestral Music Grew_
XVI. From Bach to Haydn 217
XVII. From Beethoven to Richard Strauss 226
Index 235
Portraits
Beethoven _Frontispiece_
FACING
PAGE
Arthur Nikisch 48
Haydn 86
Wagner 114
Charles Lamoureux 128
Theodore Thomas 142
Hans Richter 162
Berlioz 208
PART I
How the Orchestra is Constituted
I
Instruments Played with the Bow
The modern orchestra is a musical instrument upon which a performer,
known as a conductor, plays compositions written especially for it. It
is true that an orchestra is a collection of instruments, but these are
intended to be so distributed and operated that the result shall be
homogeneous, the effect that of one grand organ of sound. Within itself
the orchestra embraces a wide variety of tone-qualities and many grades
of power and brilliancy, and these are due to the presence of several
different families of instruments, each having general qualities, with
special traits in the individuals. It is by causing these different
families to work together or separately that the composer achieves the
expression of his thought, and it is by governing wisely the operations
of the individual members and the families that the conductor conveys
the composer’s design to the hearer.
The orchestra of to-day is the result of a series of interesting
developments, of which some considerable account will be given in this
volume. But it is necessary before that development can be traced that
the reader shall take a bird’s-eye view of the orchestra as it now
is. Subsequently we shall examine its constitution in detail, but at
present we shall simply glance at its general features. Orchestras are
not the same for all compositions. Composers select their instruments
in these days according to the purpose of the work in hand. But the
orchestra employed by Beethoven and his immediate successors in their
symphonies is the typical orchestra for independent performance.
Curtailed or extended as it may be for special effects, its general
plan remains undisturbed.
The modern orchestra, then, is composed of the following instruments:
Flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets, trombones, drums,
and other instruments of percussion, violins, violas, violoncellos,
and double-basses. These instruments naturally divide themselves into
families. Flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons are instruments
of wood, and are caused to sound by the blowing of the breath of
the players. They therefore form a single group or family, known as
the “wood-wind,” or, more briefly, the wood. Horns, trumpets, and
trombones are instruments of brass, and they form a family known as
the brass. The percussion instruments (drums, triangles, cymbals, etc.)
are sometimes called “the battery.” Violins, violas, violoncellos
(usually called ’cellos), and double-basses are all stringed
instruments played with a bow, and they form a group known as “the
strings.”
At present the reader will not be invited to study the characteristics
and possibilities of these groups and their combinations, but will be
asked to acquaint himself with the individual instruments composing
them. The foundation of an orchestra is its body of strings. Two
principal reasons may here be given for this: The strings are
capable, when playing alone, of a greater variety of expression than
either the wood or the brass, and they never grow tired. Blowers of
wind-instruments require frequent periods of rest, but the strings are
equal to the demands of an operatic act an hour and a half in length.
Because the strings are the foundation of the orchestra we must study
them first. The string group is often described as the “quartet.” This
was correct in early times when composers wrote the same part for the
’cellos and double-basses, but it is not correct now, because the
strings almost invariably play in five real parts. The violins are
divided into two bodies, known as first and second violins. First
violins are the sopranos of the strings, second violins the altos,
violas the tenors, ’cellos the barytones, and double-basses the basses.
This is not strictly true, because the compass of the viola and of the
’cello enables those instruments to sing above the violins at times.
But the normal distribution of the parts of the strings is that which
has been given, and this distribution is disturbed only when special
effects are required, as we shall see hereafter.
THE VIOLIN
Let us begin our survey of the individual instruments with a look
at the violin, the prima donna of the orchestra. The violin is both
a dramatic and a colorature soprano. It can sob with the woes of an
_Isolde_ as eloquently as Lilli Lehmann, or it can twitter with the
trills and roulades of a _Lucia_ as brightly as a Melba. Its resources
in the way of technical agility are great, and its powers of emotional
expression are still greater. It is not necessary to expatiate upon the
abilities of the violin, because it is so familiar an instrument; but
it is well to note that the effect of a solo violin is very different
from that of a number of violins playing together in an orchestra.
A body of violins is capable of producing a vigorous, masculine,
sonorous volume of tone whose character is as different from that of a
solo instrument as its amount is.
The violin has four strings, the lowest being tuned to the G below the
treble clef. The other three are tuned to D, A, and E, the E being
that in the uppermost space of the treble clef. The E is called the
first string, and the G the fourth. The compass of the instrument as
employed in the orchestra is from the low G, three and a half octaves
upward, to the C in the sixth space above the staff. This compass is
sometimes increased by the employment of what are called harmonics.
These are strangely sweet flute-like sounds, which the Germans call the
flageolet tones of the violin. They are nothing more or less than what
the scientists describe as overtones, or, better, upper partials. It
is a fact of acoustics that every musical tone is composed of several
tones, the ear hearing plainly only that which is the fundamental sound
of the series. In the case of a vibrating string the lesser tones can
be utilized. Professor Zahm, in his “Sound and Music,” says: “A string
emitting a musical note rarely, if ever, vibrates as a whole, without,
at the same time, vibrating in segments, which are aliquot parts of
the whole.” Violinists have discovered that by touching the vibrating
string at certain points very lightly with the fingers of the left
hand, they can stop the vibrations of the fundamental tone, leaving the
upper partial to be heard. These harmonics are very high in pitch and
sweet in quality, and cannot be used in loud or vigorous music, but
in certain kinds of passages they enable the violin to soar away into
realms of ethereal beauty of tone.
The normal tone of a body of violins playing together is clear,
penetrating, and rich. As Berlioz has noted in his book on
orchestration, a mass of violins playing in the middle and upper
registers produces the most brilliant color of the modern orchestra.
The opening measures of Mendelssohn’s Italian symphony, the finale of
Weber’s “Oberon” overture, the closing measures of the garden scene in
Gounod’s “Faust,” or the whole of the prelude to Wagner’s “Lohengrin,”
may be instanced as illustrations of pure violin color and power.
The prelude to “Lohengrin” also makes use of harmonics. They are heard
in the peculiar, mystic, high tones at the close of the number. It
should be noted here that harmonics, or upper partials, need not be
used simply to increase the compass of the violin. On the contrary,
they can be produced from any of the four strings. Those of the G
string, for instance, have a singularly mellow, flute-like quality.
Thus, harmonics can be employed in tone-coloring, in which the
resources of the modern orchestra are almost inexhaustible.
A great many special effects can be produced from violins. The manner
of drawing the bow across the strings has much to do with them. For
instance, bowing close to the bridge of the instrument produces a
rough, metallic sound, while bowing over the finger-board evokes a
soft, veiled tone. There is even a difference in the sound of a tone
produced by the pushing of the bow upward and that given out when it is
drawn downward. The use of the toe or the heel of the bow also makes a
difference. The toe is best employed for a delicate touch, while the
heel is used for short, vigorous notes. All possible gradations between
a smooth, fluent cantilena and the sharpest staccato are possible to
the violin, and can be employed in the orchestra with excellent effect.
Rapid alternating strokes of the bow upward and downward produce the
tremolo effect, which is very common in orchestral music. Berlioz
notes, with his customary accuracy in regard to instrumental effects,
that the tremolo of violins expresses great agitation when played by
many violins not far above the middle B flat, while a forte on the
middle of the first string is stormy and violent. Wagner’s “Flying
Dutchman” overture affords admirable examples of both these effects.
The saltato is sometimes employed. This is a performance of rapid
successions of notes by causing the bow to jump on the strings by its
own elasticity instead of drawing it smoothly. The direction _col
legno_, sometimes seen in orchestra scores, means that the violinists
are to use the backs of their bows instead of the hair. This produces
a harsh, grotesque kind of staccato, and it is a method employed only
in music with something of grim humor in it. Some of the best instances
of its employment are to be found in Wagner’s “Siegfried,” where it
is used in the music accompanying _Mime’s_ betrayal of his gleeful
expectations of _Siegfried’s_ death.
Pizzicato is a term used to express the plucking of the strings with
the fingers. This is a very familiar musical effect. In earlier times
it was employed very little, and confined chiefly to the basses. It
is very common in modern music, and sometimes whole movements are
directed to be played in this manner. The familiar pizzicato movement
of Delibes’s “Sylvia” ballet is an excellent example.
Sordines are little contrivances of wood or brass with teeth which can
be pressed down over the strings so as to deaden their vibrations.
You will often, if you are observant, see the players take them out
of their waistcoat-pockets and place them over the strings of their
instruments just in front of the bridges. These sordine, or mutes,
give the tone of the instrument a veiled sound, which adds to the
mournfulness of pathetic music, and to the mystery of anything weird or
strange. In the “Queen Mab” scherzo of Berlioz’s “Romeo et Juliette”
symphony, for instance, the use of the sordines adds to the suggestion
of the supernatural world, while in “Asa’s Death” in Grieg’s “Peer
Gynt” suite they deepen the impression of crushing sorrow. For the
benefit of those who read orchestral scores it must be added that the
direction to use the mutes is _con sordini_, and the words _senza
sordini_ signify that their use is to be discontinued. The use of the
bow after a pizzicato passage is directed by the words _col arco_, or
simply _arco_ (the bow).
Violins in the orchestra are divided into two bodies, first and
second. A friend once asked me: “What is the difference between a
first and a second violin?” The question amused me and I repeated it
to my friend, Philip Hale, the brilliant music critic of the Boston
_Journal_. He promptly answered: “There is no difference except in the
price.” That is quite true. Violins are all alike, but a first violin
player is sometimes paid more than a second. The reason for dividing
the instruments into two bodies is that the middle voices of the
harmony may be properly filled out. If there were no second violins,
the violas, which we shall presently consider, would have to play
continually in their upper register in order to fill what may be called
the contralto part of the harmony. Then the ’cellos would have to be
pushed up into the tenor register, and there would be a big gap between
them and the low-toned double-basses. On the other hand, if the violas
were kept down, there would be a gap between them and the violins.
But by dividing the violins into two bodies, the second violins are
available for the notes of the harmony lying between those sounded by
the first violins and those given out by the violas. First and second
violins can frequently play the same notes, when the harmonic support
is confided to the wind-instruments, and thus a double amount of power
is attained. Indeed, it is not uncommon to write a melody for all the
violins, violas, and ’cellos to sing together, with wind accompaniment.
First and second violins, on the other hand, are often subdivided into
four or more parts. So are all the other stringed instruments. This is
an effect which we shall consider more in detail when we come to the
extended examination of the separate choirs.
THE VIOLA
This adorable instrument always reminds me of Shakespeare’s
_Viola_--“She never told her love, but let concealment, like a worm
i’ the bud, prey on her damask cheek.” The viola speaks often enough,
but no one recognizes her voice. She is unknown to the average
concert-goer. Kept in the background by the position of the players,
who sit behind the violins, and by the unskilful employment of the
earlier composers, this beautiful and expressive member of the viol
family is almost a stranger to lovers of music. The viola is nothing
more or less than a larger violin with a deeper compass. The violin is
tuned, as we have already seen, thus:
[Music]
The viola has also four strings, which are tuned thus:
[Music]
In order to avoid the inconvenience of writing the part of the viola
in two clefs, the old custom of writing it on what is known as the
alto clef is continued. The peculiarities of clefs will be explained
in a separate chapter. The viola is both a tenor and a contralto,
though it is usually employed in modern scores to discharge the duties
of a tenor. The early composers knew so little about its expressive
power that they frequently used it simply to reinforce the basses. The
most recent writers have gone to the other extreme. They have been so
delighted with the individuality of the viola’s tone that they have
shown a tendency to overwork it. The lowest register of the viola has
a peculiarly sepulchral tone, which gives it a dark and threatening
character, admirably adapted to the demands of tragic music. In its
middle register the viola sings with a peculiar pathos which cannot
be imitated by any other instrument playing in the same region of
pitch, and even in the higher parts of its scale the viola maintains
its individuality by a penetrating sweetness and gentleness of tone.
Nevertheless, it blends well with other stringed instruments. If a
composer desires to write a long scale, exceeding the downward range
of violins, he can pass from violins to violas, and so to ’cellos,
without any abrupt change of tonal quality. Again, violas can be used
to reinforce other stringed instruments, as in the beginning of the
_andante con moto_ of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, where they play the
melody in unison with the ’cellos. Meyerbeer, Berlioz, and Wagner
have made excellent use of the characteristic qualities of the viola.
The first named gives a good example of his style of treatment in the
viola accompaniment to _Raoul’s_ romance, “Plus blanche que la blanche
hermine,” in Act I. of “Les Huguenots.” Berlioz employs a solo viola
in his “Harold in Italy” symphony to represent Byron’s melancholy
wanderer. Wagner takes advantage of the peculiar tone-color of the
instrument in many places in his scores. A familiar example is that
which begins the bacchanalian passage in the “Tannhäuser” overture:
[Music]
All that has been said about the methods of bowing, tremolo, pizzicato,
harmonics, sordines, etc., applies to the viola as well as to the
violin.
THE VIOLONCELLO
This instrument is so well known that it will not be necessary to say
much about it. Its tone and its various effects are familiar to all
concert-goers. The ’cello is tuned precisely as the viola is, but an
octave lower:
[Music]
The compass usually employed in the orchestra is three and one-half
octaves from the low C to the G just above the treble staff. This
compass may be increased further by the employment of harmonics.
Students of scores will find that three different clefs are used for
’cello music, as explained in the account of clefs.
All that has been said about playing the violin applies also to the
’cello, though, of course, in orchestral music the ’cello is not
expected to display so much agility as the violin. It is heard to
the best advantage in broad and fluent melody. As Berlioz justly
says: “Nothing is more voluptuously melancholy or more suited to the
utterance of tender, languishing themes than a mass of violoncellos
playing in unison on their first strings.” He might have added that
nothing is more expressive of dignity without passion than the lower
tones of the ’cello when uttered by several instruments at once. Owing
to its great compass the ’cello can be used as the bass of the string
quartet, as a solo instrument, or as the singer of the melody with an
accompaniment by the other strings.
THE DOUBLE-BASS
The irreverent frequently call the double-bass the “bull fiddle.” It
is the foundation of the string choir and the fundamental bass of the
whole orchestra. It is tuned thus:
[Music]
It must be borne in mind, however, that the notes sound an octave lower
than written. The instrument is called the double-bass because it was
used in early times to double the bass part played by the ’cello. It
is only since the beginning of the nineteenth century that it has
generally been given an independent bass part. Beethoven extended its
powers immensely and revealed capacities which earlier composers did
not suspect the instrument of possessing. Indeed, some of Beethoven’s
contemporaries looked askance at his innovations. Weber wrote an
article on the great man’s Fourth Symphony. In it he depicted himself
as hearing in a dream the comments of the instruments of the orchestra.
The contra-bass (double-bass) says:
“I have just come from the rehearsal of a symphony by one of our
newest composers; and though, as you know, I have a tolerably strong
constitution, I could only just hold out, and five minutes more would
have shattered my frame and burst the sinews of my life. I have been
made to caper about like a wild goat, and to turn myself into a mere
fiddle to execute the no-ideas of Mr. Composer.”
The time had not yet come for the famous recitative passage of the
basses in the Ninth Symphony. The same methods of bowing, etc., as are
applied to the violin are applied to the double-bass, but without any
attempt at great agility. Sordines, or mutes, are not used, because
an effective mute for a double-bass would weigh about two pounds and
would be very inconvenient to carry in the pocket. Harmonics can be
produced from the double-bass, but they are strident and loud and have
no musical utility.
II
Wind-Instruments of Wood
THE FLUTE
Next in importance to the strings is the wood-wind, which is divided
into three families--flutes, oboes, and clarinets. To the first family
belong the piccolo and the flute; to the second the oboe, English
horn, and bassoon, and to the third the clarinet and bass clarinet.
In the modern orchestra, flutes, clarinets, oboes, and bassoons are
usually employed in pairs, while there is, if needed, one piccolo, one
English horn, and one bass clarinet. The flute is the most agile of the
wind-instruments, and is employed very freely in the orchestra. Its
compass is three octaves upward from the C below the treble clef, but
the two uppermost notes are seldom used. The tone is soft and sweet in
the medium register, clear and penetrating in the upper, and singularly
characteristic in the lower. Rapid passages are readily executed on
the flute, but the instrument’s powers of expression are limited,
owing partly to its tone-quality and partly to the impossibility of
giving a wide crescendo or diminuendo to any passage played upon it.
Nevertheless, it can be employed expressively when used with judgment.
Berlioz calls attention to Gluck’s use of it in his “Orfeo” in
the scene in the Elysian fields, where it voices the humility and
resignation of the bereaved husband. In the upper register rapid
sequences for the flute have an air of gayety. Well-known passages
which illustrate this are that near the close of the “Leonora” overture
No. 3, and that near the close of the finale of the “Eroica” symphony.
The piccolo, or octave-flute, is simply a small, shrill-voiced flute,
sounding an octave higher than the ordinary instrument. The sounds in
its second octave are well adapted to pieces of a joyous character,
while its upper register is useful for violent effects, such as a storm
or a scene in the infernal regions. In grotesque and supernatural
scenes it is also often employed with good results.
THE OBOE
The oboe is a reed instrument with a peculiar pastoral tone, which,
when once recognized, can never again be mistaken for that of another
instrument. It is not possible to describe this tone, beyond saying
that the average hearer thinks of it as the tone of a shepherd’s
pipe. The instrument is so well suited to pastoral music that the
principal melody is almost always given to it in passages having such
a character. Rapid passages, except in rare instances, are not suited
to the utterance of the oboe, though when it joins with the whole
mass of instruments in a tutti, anything that is not impossible may
be written for it. But it is essentially a lyric instrument of tender
expression, and it is seldom called upon for either gayety or tragedy.
Berlioz says: “Candor, artless grace, soft joy, or the grief of a
fragile being, suits the oboe’s accents. It expresses them admirably in
its cantabile.” An excellent example of the oboe’s quality as a tender
lyric singer is the opening of the slow movement of Schubert’s symphony
in C:
[Music]
[Music]
Its pastoral character is illustrated by hundreds of familiar passages.
Perhaps none is more familiar than this from the first scene of
Gounod’s “Faust.”
[Music]
To the oboe belongs the duty of sounding the A to which the whole
orchestra tunes. This privilege dates from the time of Handel, when it
was the principal wind-instrument employed in the band.
THE ENGLISH HORN
The English horn is not, as its name seems to imply, an instrument of
brass, but of wood. It is, in fact, an alto oboe. Its compass is from
the E below the treble clef to the F on the fifth line. This carries
it five tones below the oboe. Its tone is similar to that of the oboe,
but is heavier and has a dryer quality. Its character is less feminine,
more sombre, and more pathetic. Yet it is not incapable of joyous
expression, if the expression is not strained by the context. In all
the range of music there are no such examples of the eloquence of the
English horn as in the works of Wagner, who made it speak with a human
voice. The finest instances of its powers are to be found in his later
dramas, and perhaps the most familiar are in “Tristan und Isolde.” The
English horn is the instrument which imitates the shepherd’s pipe in
the melancholy wail of Act III., played while _Tristan_ is waiting for
news of the ship.
[Music]
When the ship is sighted by the herdsman, his pipe (still the English
horn) bursts into this pæan of joy:
[Music]
THE BASSOON
The bassoon is the bass of the oboe, and it occupies among the
wood-wind instruments a position similar to that of the ’cello among
the strings. Its upper tones resemble somewhat those of the English
horn, while its lower tones are deep and hoarse. Its extreme compass
is from the B flat below the bass clef to the F at the top of the
treble, but the last four notes are uncertain and of unnatural quality.
Music for the bassoon, like that for the ’cello, is written on three
clefs--bass, tenor, and treble. Bassoons are employed in pairs in
the orchestra. They are used either to fill out the harmonies, to
strengthen the bass, or as solo instruments.
The bassoon is capable of a great variety of effects. Its upper
register has a pastoral quality, combined with a certain
plaintiveness, which makes it suitable to the utterance of gentle grief
or melancholy. Composers have frequently availed themselves of the
humorous effects to be obtained by making the bassoon play music which
ill comports with the quality of its tone. The effect is really funny,
though the fun arises, not from the inherent humor of the instrument,
but from the incongruity of the singer and the song. The most familiar
example of this kind of fun is in the clown’s march in Mendelssohn’s
“Midsummer Night’s Dream” music:
[Music]
There is also a contra-bass bassoon, which sounds an octave lower than
the ordinary bassoon. The reader will find that in orchestra scores the
bassoons are usually designated by their Italian title, fagotti. This
name is applied to the instrument because it resembles two sticks bound
together, as in a bundle of fagots.
THE CLARINET
The clarinet is a wind-instrument of wood with a very mellow and
beautiful tone. It differs from the oboe chiefly in the construction
of its mouth-piece, which contains the sound-producing mechanism. The
instruments of the oboe family have mouth-pieces with two vibrating
reeds; those of the clarinet family have only one reed. This accounts
chiefly for the difference in the character of the tone. The compass
of the clarinet is from the E below the treble clef three octaves and
a half upward. The notes of the uppermost octave are shrill and are
seldom used. They are employed occasionally when a screaming effect is
desired. Clarinets are used in pairs in the orchestra, sometimes to
fill out harmonies, and frequently for solo effects. There is hardly
anything which cannot be done with a clarinet, for the instrument
is capable of great agility and brilliancy, and at the same time is
the most expressive of all the wind-instruments. It can be played
pianissimo or fortissimo through most of its compass, and the most
beautiful crescendo and diminuendo effects can be obtained. There is no
more familiar example of the high expressiveness of the clarinet than
that found in the overture to “Tannhäuser,” where the clarinet intones
the pleading passage afterward sung in the first scene by _Venus_:
[Music]
The reader will find that in scores the clarinet part is usually
written in some other key than that of the composition. This is because
three kinds of clarinet are employed, clarinets in A, B flat, and C.
A clarinet in B flat means one whose pitch is a whole tone below the
standard, so that when one plays the scale of C natural on it he gets
the sounds of the scale of B flat, just as he would from a piano tuned
a whole tone too low. A clarinet in A is a tone and a half below pitch
in the scale of C. One in C produces the scale of C when played in
C. The reason for using different kinds of clarinets is that it is
difficult to play the instrument in remote keys. By using an A clarinet
for keys having sharps and a B flat clarinet for keys having flats,
much of the difficulty is obviated. A clarinet in A is producing the
sounds of the key of three sharps when it is playing in C. To get the
sounds of the key of six sharps, it is necessary only to write for the
A clarinet in three sharps. Similarly, to get the sounds of the key of
five flats one needs only to write in three flats for a clarinet in
B flat. The kind of clarinet to be used is designated in the score.
Instruments treated in this manner are called transposing instruments.
(See Chapter V.)
THE BASS CLARINET
The bass clarinet is a clarinet whose compass extends an octave below
that of the B flat clarinet. It is a long instrument with a curved
bell at the lower end, so that it looks like an old-fashioned Dutch
pipe. Bass clarinets in B flat and A are employed, and the music is
usually written on the treble clef, thus transposing an octave below.
Wagner uses the bass clef, which is more convenient for the student of
his scores than for the performer. The tone of the lower register of
the bass clarinet is sonorous and rich, and affords a fine bass for
wood-wind passages.
As a solo instrument the bass clarinet is admirable in its dignity.
The instrument is used singly, not in pairs. As a fine example of the
effect of the bass clarinet, the music of _Elizabeth’s_ final exit in
Act III. of “Tannhäuser” may be commended.
[Music]
III
Wind-Instruments of Brass
THE HORN
The brass choir is composed of horns, trumpets, and trombones, with the
addition in most modern scores of a contra-bass tuba. Wagner has used
also bass trumpets and tenor tubas to enrich the color of this part of
his orchestra. The horn, or French horn, as it is often called, is the
old hunting horn adapted to orchestral purposes. It is an extremely
valuable instrument, because it has a most noble and expressive tone,
which makes it very interesting as a solo voice, and equally because it
blends admirably with either strings or wood, as well as with brass. In
the older compositions the reader will find that two horns were used,
but it is customary with modern composers to employ four, thus making
a full four-part harmony possible. Wagner generally doubles his horn
parts, requiring eight instruments.
It was impossible in earlier times to play in all keys on any one horn,
and so horns in various keys had to be used. The reader will find that
many scores call for horns in D, in E flat, in B flat, etc. Players
now use almost exclusively the horn in F, with valves, upon which it
is possible to play in all keys. It is customary with many composers,
however, to write horn parts in various keys, and the players have to
transpose them. As no opera is more familiar than “Faust,” the reader
may readily identify the horn as a solo instrument in the first act
when _Mephistopheles_ shows _Faust_ the vision of _Marguerite_.
[Music]
In Wagner’s “Siegfried” the horn plays all the passages which the young
hero is supposed to intone on his hunting horn. The quartet of horns
employed in the modern orchestra is frequently heard alone, and the
effect of this full harmony of mellow brass is incomparably fine. Such
effects are heard in the hunting fanfare which precedes the entrance
of the _Landgrave_ and his party in Act I. of “Tannhäuser,” and in the
echoing through the woods of the departing hunt in the beginning of Act
II. of “Tristan und Isolde.” It must not be supposed, however, that
horn quartets are used only for hunting effects. One has only to recall
the beautiful passage in Saint-Säen’s “Phäeton.”
[Music]
Stopped tones are frequently given to the horns. These are produced
by inserting the hand in the bell of the instrument, where it has an
effect not unlike that of a sordine on a violin-string. The quality
of stopped tones is nasal and stertorous. They are used with much
significance in dramatic music.
THE TRUMPET
This fine instrument, the soprano of the brass choir, is too often
replaced by the cornet. Indeed, in the United States I have heard
trumpets only in the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Walter Damrosch’s
orchestra. The trumpet has a full, round, brilliant tone, for which
that of the blatant and brassy cornet is not a good substitute. But it
is much easier to get good cornet-players than good trumpeters, so the
cornet is quite common. The pealing, militant character of the trumpet
is always associated in the mind with that of the army bugle, which it
closely resembles. The trumpets are usually employed in chords written
for the brass, or in the big mass effects of the orchestra. They are
seldom called upon to intone a melody except in passages in which the
brass plays alone, or when a very brilliant and forcible orchestration
is used. The instrument is so familiar that no illustration is
necessary. Trumpets in various keys were formerly always employed, but
it is now customary to use chiefly the F trumpet, with valves. Cornets
employed in the orchestra are in A and B flat. There is a high cornet
in E flat, but it is used only in military bands. Stopped tones are
easily produced from the cornet or trumpet, and are often used for
comic effects. They sound much like the voice of a person singing in
a falsetto voice through his nose. Trumpets and cornets are generally
used in pairs in the orchestra.
THE TROMBONE
The trombone is one of the noblest of all orchestral instruments. When
it sounds ignoble, it is either because its part is not well written
or because it is badly played. In respect of register there are three
principal kinds of trombones--alto, tenor, and bass. The alto has a
compass extending from A at the bottom of the bass clef to the E flat
in the top space of the treble clef. The tenor ranges from E below the
bass clef to the B flat in the middle of the treble clef, and this is
the instrument most frequently employed. The bass trombone’s register
runs from B below the bass to the F in the first space of the treble
clef. The alto trombone is in E flat, the tenor in B flat, and the
bass in F. There is also a contra-bass trombone in B flat, sounding an
octave lower than the tenor trombone. It is very fatiguing to play,
and is usually replaced by the tuba, whose tone is of a considerably
different character. Although all these trombones stand in keys other
than C, they are not treated as transposing, but are written in the key
of the composition.
The tone of the trombone is grave and majestic, but it may be made
to rage hoarsely. In all solemn or broadly dignified music trombones
play a conspicuous part. It is customary to write in three parts for
these instruments, but when necessary they may be made to play in
unison, as in the proclamation of the pilgrims’ chorus in the overture
to “Tannhäuser,” or the curse motive in various parts of the Nibelung
series. A fine example of the employment of trombones in several
parts is to be found in the first act of “Die Walküre” on the first
appearance of the “Walhalla” motive.
[Music]
THE TUBA
The tuba is a deep-toned brass instrument of double-bass quality. It
is, in fact, the double-bass of the brass choir. Its quality of tone is
noble and blends well with that of trombones. The instrument usually
employed in the modern orchestra is the bass tuba in B flat. Wagner
employs tenor tubas in the funeral march of the “Götterdämmerung” in
order to get a generally consistent sombre color in the brass. He uses
in other places both bass and contra-bass tubas, but his writing for
these instruments cannot be regarded as invariably felicitous.
The tuba is really a member of the large family of Saxhorns, of which
there are six principal types, all in E flat or B flat. These are the
sopranino, or piccolo Saxhorn in E flat (A below treble to B flat
above), soprano Saxhorn in B flat (German flügelhorn--E below treble
to B flat above), alto in E flat (bass A to E flat in fourth space of
treble), tenor in B flat (E below bass to B flat treble), bass in B
flat, called in Germany bass tuba, and in England euphonium (B flat
below bass to F above it), bass in E flat (same compass less one upper
note), and contra-bass in B flat (E flat an octave below the bass to F
on the third line). These instruments belong primarily to the military
band, but an orchestral composer may employ any of them that suit his
purpose.
In some older scores the music-lover will find instead of the tuba the
ophicleide, which is the bass of the keyed bugle family. Its coarse and
blatant tone is happily replaced by that of the tuba.
IV
Other Instruments
THE TYMPANI
The tympani, or kettle-drums, belong to the department of instruments
of percussion. They are the only drums which can be tuned to sound
certain notes. The other instruments of percussion need not be
described until the department is discussed as a whole. The older
composers employed only two kettle-drums. The modern writers often
use three and sometimes four. There are low and high kettle-drums.
The low drum can be tuned to any note from F below the bass clef to
C in the second space, and the high drum from B flat on the second
line to F on the fourth. The early composers used kettle-drums almost
invariably with the trumpets, and found no better employment for them
than the accentuation of rhythm and changes of harmony. Beethoven, who
was one of the keenest of all composers in his appreciation of the
individuality of instruments, saw that the kettle-drums could be used
for special effects.
The early composers always tuned them to the tonic key and its
dominant. Beethoven, in the scherzo of the Ninth Symphony, tuned them
in octaves and produced a striking effect. Again in the slow movement
of the same symphony he made the two drums play simultaneously on two
notes of a chord. This also was novel. In the andante of his First
Symphony he had already made the tympani play the bass to a melody of
violins and flutes, and in the Fourth Symphony the tympani take their
turn with the other instruments in playing the theme of two notes
often repeated. The solo effects of the tympani in the scherzo of the
Fifth Symphony and in the opening of the violin concerto are well
known. Beethoven thus paved the way for subsequent composers to make
a wide and varied use not only of the tympani but of other percussive
instruments.
Other instruments of percussion employed in the orchestra are the
military snare-drum, bass-drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine,
castanets, the carillon (a set of steel bars which produce sounds like
those of small bells), the xylophone, large bells (or heavy steel tubes
to imitate them), and the gong.
THE HARP
The reader will look in vain for the harp in the older symphonic
scores. It was in its early employment wholly an instrument of the
theatre. Although it found its way into the orchestra early, it was not
employed as a genuine orchestral instrument. Up to the beginning of the
present century, as Gevaert has clearly pointed out, composers used it
for the sake of its historical character. Thus Handel introduced it in
the first version of his “Esther” (1720), Gluck in his “Orfeo” (1762),
and Beethoven in his “Prometheus” ballet (1799). In Gluck’s “Orfeo,”
for example, the harp is heard only when _Orpheus_ is supposed to play
on the instrument carried by him. In this same manner Wagner employs
the harp in “Tannhäuser.” It was employed in a similar manner in the
early part of the present century by composers for the theatre, chiefly
in France. Biblical and classical subjects, in which the harps of the
daughters of Israel or the lyres of Greece and Rome might be heard,
naturally suggested the use of the harp, and thus it was employed
by Méhul in his “Joseph” (1809), Spontini in “La Vestale” (1807),
and Rossini in “Moïse” (1827). Again, scenes in Scotland or Ireland
required the local color of the gleeman’s harp, and for this purpose it
was employed by Méhul in his “Uthal” (1803), Lesueur in “Les Bardes”
(1807), and Catel in “Wallace” (1817).
The perfection of the pedal mechanism by Sebastian Erard in 1810 led
to a much wider use of the harp. Meyerbeer and Wagner began to use it
extensively in their operas, and Berlioz introduced it into symphonic
music of the romantic school.
The harp is provided with seven pedals, operated by the player’s feet.
By means of these pedals the tension of the strings can be instantly
altered, thus changing the pitch of the scale, or, in other words,
putting the harp into another key. It is this mechanism which enables
the harpist of to-day to play in all keys, while in earlier times only
a few were practicable.
The reader of orchestra scores will find that harp parts are written on
two staves, like piano music, and placed in the score just above the
parts of the string quintet. The harp is a non-transposing instrument
and its music is written as it sounds. Sometimes, however, in remote
keys composers remove some of a harp-player’s difficulties by changing
the key signature. For instance, certain kinds of passages, if written
in the key of B natural, are very difficult for the harp, whereas if
written in C flat (which sounds precisely the same) they become easy.
This is because the Erard system of tuning makes C flat the fundamental
key of the harp.
The instrument is much used in our day in orchestral music, as well
as in the opera. Its treatment is usually either in broad chords, as
in the air “Roi du ciel” in Meyerbeer’s “Le Prophète,” or in running
arpeggios, as in “Anges purs et radieux” in “Faust.” Glissando
effects--smooth-running passages produced by sliding the hands rapidly
over the strings without stopping to pluck them--are often used in
modern music, as in the orchestral arrangements of Liszt’s Hungarian
rhapsodies. Harmonics can be produced on the harp. They sound like the
faint tinkle of a muffled glass bell, and are very pretty when properly
applied. A familiar example is to be found in the waltz of the sylphs
in the ballet music of Berlioz’s “Damnation of Faust.”
Wagner has used the harp very freely in his music dramas. Sometimes
he employs it historically, sometimes for the sake of its luxuriant
tone in the accompaniment of lyric song, and again with a remarkable
insight into its power of combination with other instruments in
descriptive music. In this latter manner it is superbly used in the
magic fire-music of “Die Walküre:”
[Music]
V
The Orchestral Score
The printed form of an orchestral composition, or one for voices and
orchestra, is called a score. (German, Partitur.) In it are comprised
the parts to be played by all the instruments. It is read across
the page precisely as a piece of piano music is, with the important
difference that while in a piano piece there are only two staves--one
for the treble and one for the bass--in an orchestral score there are
from sixteen to twenty-four, according to the number of the parts. The
name of the instrument is printed at the beginning of its part and
also the key in which it stands, if it is a transposing instrument.
The customary order of the instruments from top to bottom of the page
is as follows: Flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets,
trombones, tuba, tympani, and other instruments of percussion, harps,
violins, violas, ’cellos, and double-basses. This order is sometimes
changed for the sake of convenience. If there are voices, as in an
opera or oratorio, they will be found in the older scores between the
viola and ’cello parts. The more modern custom is to put them above the
first violins, so that the parts of the string choir are not separated.
In a concerto the solo instrument is similarly placed. The names of the
instruments of the score are usually given in Italian, but sometimes
in German. The following list gives the names of the instruments in
English, Italian, German, and French, with the plurals where needed:
Italian. German. French.
Flute Flautŏ(i) Flöte(n) Flute.
Oboe Oboe(i) Hoboe(n) Hautbois.
English Horn Cornŏ Inglese Englische Horn Cor Anglais.
Clarinet Clarinettŏ(i) Clarinette(n) Clarinette.
Bassoon Fagottŏ(i) Fagott(e) Basson.
Horn Cornŏ(i) Horn(er) Cor.
Trumpet Tromba(e) Trompete(n) Trompette.
Cornet Cornettó(i) Cornet(te) Cornette à pistons.
Trombone Trombonó(i) Posaune(n) Trombone.
Tuba Tuba Tuba Tuba.
Bass Drum Gran Cassa Grosse Trommel Grosse Caisse.
Cymbals Piatti Becken Cymbales.
Kettle-drums Timpani Pauken Timbales.
Harp Arpa Harfe Harpe.
Violin Violino Geige Violone.
Viola Viola Bratsche Alto.
Violoncello Violoncello Violoncell Violoncelle.
Bass Basso Bass Contrebasse.
[Music]
[Music]
In German scores the Italian names are often used. Sometimes each
instrument has a separate staff, but more frequently a pair of
instruments, as two flutes, or two oboes, is written on one staff. In
such cases the tails of the notes for the upper instrument are turned
up and of those for the lower down. If there are two sets of tails, one
up and one down, to one set of notes, it indicates that two instruments
are to play the same passage. In the case of four horns, two staves are
used, the upper for the first and second and the lower for the third
and fourth. In old scores the reader will find many different orders
of placing the instruments on the page. That which I have given is the
present method.
The reader will find many directions and abbreviations in scores not
used in piano music. The meaning of any of these can be ascertained by
consulting a dictionary of music. One or two may be explained here.
The word “divisi” written over a part in double notes (or more) means
that one instrument is to play the upper line and another the lower.
First violins are thus sometimes subdivided, and so are other stringed
instruments. The words “A due” are used as a direction for all to play
together again. The letters A, B, C, etc., often seen at the tops and
bottoms of pages, are for the convenience of conductors in rehearsing.
“If you please, gentlemen, let us go back to four bars before the
letter G,” or something of that kind, is a familiar remark at orchestra
rehearsals.
The reader will find that in many scores space is saved by omitting
from some pages the staves of those instruments which have nothing on
those pages. Usually when this is done the names of the instruments
which are playing are indicated by abbreviations placed just above the
staves, as “Fl., Cl., Fg.,” etc. The full names of the instruments
employed in any movement are given only at the beginning, and the
reader of scores should note how many staves are employed. Sometimes
the flutes are written on two staves, sometimes on one. The same is
true of the other wind-instruments. Usually the wood-choir staves are
bound together by a continuous double bar at the beginning of each
page, and sometimes the horns have one double bar. The score-reader
will soon become familiar with the various arrangements. One who loves
orchestral music and wishes to understand how its effects are produced
should study scores. Study your score first at home and try to imagine
how it ought to sound. Then follow the performance with it and note
what combinations of instruments produce particular effects. After a
time you will find that your understanding of the orchestra has greatly
increased, and you will get new enjoyment from the performance of
symphonies and overtures.
[Illustration: _Copyright by the London Stereoscopic Co._
ARTHUR NIKISCH.]
The conventional seating plan of the orchestra will help the reader
to familiarize himself with the instruments. In concerts the stringed
instruments are always placed at the front of the stage, with the
wind-instruments behind them, in order that the tone of the strings may
come out fully and without obstruction. The first violins are always
on the left of the audience, and second violins on the right. Violas
are usually placed immediately behind the second violins, though some
conductors put them behind the first. The ’cellos are arranged usually
on the side opposite the violas, and double-basses are placed at the
sides or the back, according to the conductor’s idea. The wood occupies
the middle of the stage, and the brass and instruments of percussion
are at the rear. The diagram on the next page shows the seating plan of
the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
[Illustration:
A--Conductor.
B--First Violins.
C--Second Violins.
D--Violas.
E--Violoncellos.
O--Double Basses.
F--Flutes.
G--Oboes and English Horn.
H--Clarinets.
I--Bassoons.
J--Horns.
K--Trumpets.
L--Trombones.
M--Tuba.
N--Tympani.
P--Triangle.
Q--Bass Drum.
R--Bells, etc.
SEATING PLAN OF THE BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA.]
Amateurs will find that they must extend their musical knowledge a
little, if they desire to read orchestra scores. Persons who have
studied only piano playing are nonplussed when they find themselves
in the presence of transposing instruments and other clefs than those
known as the treble and the bass. I have already briefly explained
the peculiarity of what are called transposing instruments, but it
will be well to give the reader some further help in dealing with them
in reading scores. A question which I have frequently heard is, “Why
don’t they make all instruments in C?” The answer to this question
is that there could only be one reason for doing so, namely, to make
it easy for amateurs to read scores. There are many more substantial
reasons for making instruments in various keys. For instance, brass
instruments produce most easily and with the finest tone and richest
sonority their natural notes--those notes which are produced without
any aid from valves or pistons as the notes of a cavalry bugle. If
a composer in writing a brilliant march in B natural, a bright and
incisive key for the strings, wishes to introduce trumpets, he can
make most effective use of those in B natural. But it is not possible
always to have clarinets, trumpets, and horns in every key ready for
instant use, so custom and experience have induced musicians to make a
judicious selection. Clarinets in A and B flat are now used far more
than those in C. As Gevaert says: “The choice among the three clarinets
is not always made from the simple consideration of facility; often it
is guided by the character of the tone peculiar to each. The clarinet
in C has a timbre brilliant almost to rudeness.” He further notes that
it is therefore used by the classic composers mostly in brilliant
movements in the simple diatonic scales. The clarinet in B flat or that
in A may be chosen for reasons of a like nature. The reader, however,
will probably be more interested in knowing how he is to read clarinet
parts. If they are in C, he will have no trouble, because there will
be no transposition. A clarinet in B flat playing music written in C,
sounds one tone lower than that scale. Hence the key of C is used for a
clarinet in B flat only when the violins are playing in B flat.
In other words, every sound which issues from a B flat clarinet is one
whole tone lower than that written in the score. If you write C, the
instrument sounds B flat. If you wish the instrument to sound C, you
must write D. If you wish it to sound F sharp, you must write G sharp.
If you wish it to sound E natural, you must write F sharp or G flat.
The composer has the choice of two methods of writing his clarinet
part. He may write always without any key signature and mark all flats
and sharps as accidentals, or he may use a key signature. Custom has
sanctioned the latter method, which is the more rational. I have just
said that every tone which issues from a B flat clarinet is a whole
interval below the written character. Therefore, all music for a B
flat clarinet must be written one interval higher than it is intended
to sound, and this, the reader will see, simply results in transposing
a B flat clarinet part into a key one tone higher than that of the
composition. For a composition in C write for B flat clarinets in the
key of D. For one in D write for B flat clarinets in E. For one in E
flat write for B flat clarinets in F. There is another simple way of
looking at this matter. Clarinets in B flat have already two flats in
their open scale. If you want them to play in C, you must contradict
these two flats by two sharps, and two sharps are the signature of
the key of D. Hence, write in D for B flat clarinets to play in C.
In reading a score all that the amateur needs to do is to remember
that every note written for the B flat clarinet sounds one tone lower
than written. Thus the chord of C for two flutes, two oboes, and two
clarinets might be written as at A so as to sound as at B.
[Music]
In the case of clarinets in A the same principles apply. The clarinet
in A sounds A when C is written, and it sounds the entire scale of A
when the scale of C is written. As C is one tone and a half above A, it
follows that notes for the A clarinet are always written a tone and a
half higher than the sounds to be produced, and the score-reader must
conceive the A clarinet parts as sounding that much lower than they are
written. Thus, to get C out of an A clarinet, you must write E flat,
and to make an A clarinet play in unison with flutes in the key of C,
you must write in E flat for the clarinet. The chord just written would
have to be rewritten thus:
[Music]
One of the peculiarities of orchestra scores is that music for horns
and trumpets is always written without any key signature--that is,
just as if it were in C major--and all the sharps and flats are put in
as accidentals. This makes difficult reading at times for an amateur.
In order to aid the music-lover I give herewith the written notes
and the corresponding real sounds of the horn in F, which is the most
frequently used. The same table will answer for the trumpet in F.
[Music]
The rules of transposition given above apply to all music for
transposing instruments. A tuba in E flat, for instance, is one which
sounds E flat when the composer writes C. Persons accustomed to
sight-reading with a “movable Do” have very little trouble in the study
of orchestra scores, and I earnestly advise all who wish to read scores
to study sight-reading.
Next comes the matter of clefs. As I have stated, it is customary to
write the viola part on the alto clef. When a bassoon or a ’cello runs
up so high that it is inconvenient to employ the bass clef, the tenor
clef is used, and if it goes still higher, the treble clef may be
introduced. These various clefs are troublesome to the amateur because
he is familiar only with the treble and bass clefs. The treble clef
is known also as the G clef; because the character [G clef symbol]
is placed upon the second line to indicate that the treble G is there
located. A clef sign simply fixes the place of some note, and the
others are located accordingly. The bass clef is also called the F
clef, because the character [F clef symbol] is placed so as to indicate
that F is on the fourth line. Now in the alto and tenor clefs the
character [alto clef symbol] is used, and its purpose is to locate the
note C. In the alto clef it is on the third line, where B is in the
treble clef. In the tenor clef it is on the fourth line, where D is in
the treble clef. The question which will arise in the amateur’s mind
is this: Which C is it that is thus located? The answer is simple and
easily remembered. It is best expressed by the following illustration:
[Music: Alto clef. Real sound. Tenor clef. Real sound.]
Here are two scales, one alto and one tenor, with the real sounds.
[Music: Alto.
Real sounds.]
[Music]
It will be seen from these illustrations that the C located by the clef
sign in the alto on the third line and the tenor clef on the fourth
line is the one situated on the first leger line below the staff in
the treble clef. Having this fact in mind, the lover of orchestral
music can learn, with a little practice, to read viola parts and ’cello
or bassoon passages which run up into the tenor clef. The following
illustration shows a ’cello passage with the middle measure written on
the tenor clef, and also the same passage written wholly on the bass
clef:
[Music]
In some scores the music-lover will find the three trombone parts
written on three clefs, alto, tenor, and bass, while in others they
are written on the bass clef only. I have already noted that bass
clarinet parts are written sometimes on the treble and sometimes on
the bass clef. The former is always used by French composers, and the
latter nearly always by Germans.
PART II
How the Orchestra is Used
VI
General Principles
The orchestra is an instrument, and composers have developed methods of
writing for it. The fundamental principles of these methods constitute
that branch of musical art called orchestration. It is not the purpose
of the present volume to teach that branch; but it is entirely within
its province to point out to the reader how composers make use of their
majestic and many-voiced instrument. In compass and power alone it
surpasses all other instruments. The compass of the modern orchestra
is enormous. It extends from grave, low sounds to those of such acute
pitch that the ear does not relish them if uttered loudly. The extreme
normal compass is shown by the following illustration:
[Music]
Mr. Corder, in his “Modern Orchestra and How to Write for It,” gives
this interesting dynamic scale: “Suppose the degrees of sound-intensity
to range from 1 (in _ppp_) to 12 (in _fff_); then one might say roughly
that
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Violins have a range
of from _ppp_ — _mp_ — — — _mf_ — — _fff_ — —
The other strings _ppp_ — — — — — — —_fff_ — — —
Clarinets on high
notes — — _ppp_ — — — —_fff_ — — — —
Clarinets low, flutes,
oboes, and bassoons — — _ppp_ — — —_fff_ — — —
Horns — _ppp_ — — — — — — _fff_ — — —
Trumpets, trombones,
and drums _ppp_ — — — — — — — — — — _fff_
Harps — — _ppp_— — _fff_ — — — — — —
I should modify this by shifting the pianissimo of low clarinet tones
back to 2, that of drums forward to 2, and that of trumpets and
trombones to 4.
Now, if there were nothing else to be considered, a composer would
have to work according to some system in using the compass and force
of his orchestra. What is known in regard to the method of doing so
is the result of many long years of experiment by the early writers.
In a general way, I may say that composers in writing a passage
for the entire orchestra can give the melody to all the soprano
instruments, the alto to all that have an alto compass, the tenor to
all the tenors, and the bass to all the basses. For example--flutes,
clarinets, oboes, and violins may utter a melody in unison, while the
remaining instruments supply the accompaniment. But it is rare that a
composer writes in only four parts for orchestra. He usually spreads
his chords out to six or eight parts, thus gaining in richness and
sonority of tone.
But compass and power are not all the composer must consider. He has
at his command a great variety of tonal qualities. We have already
seen how the characteristics of certain instruments, singing as solo
voices, are peculiarly suited to the embodiment of special kinds of
music. Now the writer for orchestra must study the result of every
possible combination of all or any of the instruments to the end that
he may produce just the desired tone, and that he may never produce
anything different from that which he wishes. The tonal tints of a
modern orchestra are the richest pigments of the musician’s palette,
and he must know how to use them either singly or combined, just as the
painter knows how to use his colors. The simplest way in which I can
point out the peculiarities of the composer’s work is by discussing
separately the uses of the different choirs.
The principal requirements of good orchestration are solidity, balance
of tone, contrast, and variety. Solidity is obtained by a proper
dispersal of the harmony, so that certain notes in the chords do not
stand out too prominently at the expense of others. The composer must
not only be a master of harmony, but he must have the true harmonic
feeling. He must have that almost instinctive grasp of the proportions
of chords which can come only from real musical gifts cultivated by
long familiarity with modern music. This feeling is not necessarily
accompanied by restlessness and complexity of harmony. The harmonic
effect of a simple diatonic Bach chorale is infinitely grander than the
most intricate chromatic convolutions of a Charbrier overture. The true
harmonic feeling is one that always produces artistic proportions, and
these will permeate the instrumentation and produce solidity, provided
the composer has sufficient intimacy with the instruments to prevent
him from giving them the wrong notes. The foundation of solidity in
orchestration is good writing for the strings. Their part of the score
must always be planned with complete harmonic skill, not only because
they are the main prop of the whole instrumental body, but because the
man who cannot write well for strings will inevitably fail in handling
wood and brass.
Solidity in tutti passages merges itself in balance of tone. This
depends also upon a proper dispersal of the harmony and on a knowledge
of the relative power of the instruments of the three choirs. For
instance, it is not possible to play wood as softly as strings.
Consequently, in a pianissimo the composer must know just what wood
instruments to use and what parts of the chord to give them, lest he
overbalance his strings. Solidity requires great skill in writing the
middle voices. If they are too strong, the orchestration is muddy; if
they are too weak, it is thin, and the orchestra, as the saying goes,
is “all top and bottom.”
Contrast is necessary in order that monotony of color may be avoided.
It is obtained by using the three choirs of the orchestra separately,
by employing any subdivision of each, or using simultaneously
subdivisions of two, and so on. Variety is produced by mixing the
tints. For example, a passage played by a flute alone changes color
when an oboe sings in unison with the flute. Another tint results when
a clarinet is added. It is not necessary to pursue this topic further
than to say that the composer must know what tints will mix well to
produce a new one.
VII
The Strings
Since the foundation of good orchestration is skilful writing for the
strings, it is natural to consider that department first. The strings,
as we shall see, came to their proper place in the orchestra in the
works of the operatic composers. In Cavalli’s “Giasone” (1649) we find
vocal parts accompanied in something like the Handelian style by two
violins and a bass. About twenty-five years later we find the string
quartet, two violins, viola, and bass, established by Alessandro
Scarlatti, founder of the Neapolitan school of opera. Since that time
the strings have been the foundation of the orchestra, and although
methods of writing for them have greatly changed, the fundamental
principles remain the same.
The general disposition of the strings may be fairly expressed by
the formula already given, but worth repeating here: First violins
equal sopranos, second violins equal altos, violas equal tenors,
’cellos equal barytones, and double-basses equal basses. In certain
circumstances this disposition is altered, because the compass of
violas makes it possible for them to sing soprano music, though with
a distinctly individual tone, while the ’cello can cover the ordinary
range of an entire quartet. The individuality of tone possessed by
the various stringed instruments is tolerably well known, except in
the case of the viola. It is to its beautiful quality of tone that it
owes its chief value. Gloomy, sombre, and even foreboding in the lower
register, in its upper range it becomes mellow, tender, pathetic, and
inexpressibly winning. No wonder that Berlioz selected it for the voice
of the melancholy Childe Harold, or that Brahms made it play such
important parts in his quartets. Its dramatic power is now universally
recognized by composers, and from the position of a misunderstood and
ignored member of the string quintet, it is rapidly advancing to the
equally undesirable condition of being severely overworked.
It is a curious fact, however, that many of the younger composers
show a singular want of skill in using the viola, and it is this
which often upsets the balance of their orchestration. Perhaps this
is due in some measure to the Brahms cult. Brahms’s orchestration
is not a good model. His middle parts are almost always written
too low or too heavily, and hence his instrumentation is muddy. It
depends upon what a man is writing. If he is writing a symphony in the
classic style, let him follow as closely as possible the methods of
Beethoven. If he wishes to be more modern--and it is natural that he
should--let him study Dvořák, whose instrumentation is almost perfect.
Tschaikowsky’s is, too, but the reader should remember that most of
his works are sombre in thought, and that hence the instrumental style
will not be suitable to light themes. Liszt and Rubinstein are good
models. For thick, luscious coloring there is nothing better than
Rubinstein’s “Antony and Cleopatra” overture, and I can recommend also
a careful study of Goldmark’s overtures. Wagner, of course, is full
of instruction, but a composer must know a good deal before he can
discriminate sufficiently to get any benefit from Wagner. But to return
to the viola.
The placing of the viola part is of the greatest importance in the
color of the strings. For instance, in the slow movement of the famous
piano concerto in E flat, called the “Emperor,” Beethoven mutes his
violins, but not his violas, and writes the basses pizzicati, thus:
[Music]
The individuality and penetrating quality of the viola tone brings it
out with marked effect in this passage, and Beethoven knew that so well
that in the third measure he kept his second violins down and gave the
violas the real alto part, because the harmonic significance of the
passage rested so largely upon the F sharp, E sharp, E, and D sharp. If
the second violin and viola parts in that passage were exchanged, the
effect would be altogether different.
The increase of skill in the treatment of viola and ’cello parts,
but chiefly of the former, is coincident with the development of the
science of orchestration. Indeed, it may fairly be said that first-rate
writing for the strings, which is the foundation of orchestration,
depends largely upon the treatment of the viola part. Any composer
knows enough when writing for strings to give his melody to the first
violins and his bass to the basses. But the character of his harmony
is to be determined by his middle voices, and it is in the treatment
of these that we see growth in skill. Berlioz, in his treatise on
instrumentation, says of the viola: “It has, nevertheless, been long
neglected, or put to a use as unimportant as ineffectual--that of
merely doubling, in octave, the upper part of the bass. There are
many causes that have operated to induce the unjust servitude of this
noble instrument. In the first place, the majority of the composers
of the last century, rarely writing in four real parts, scarcely
knew what to do with it; and when they did not readily find some
filling-up notes in the chords for it to do, they hastily wrote the
fatal ‘col basso’--sometimes with so much inattention that it produced
a doubling in the octave of the basses, irreconcilable either with the
harmony or the melody or with both one and the other. Moreover, it was
unfortunately impossible at that time to write anything for the violas
of a prominent character, requiring even ordinary skill in execution.
Viola-players were always taken from among the refuse of violinists.
When a musician found himself incapable of creditably filling the place
of violinist, he took refuge among the violas.”
Haydn’s symphonic scores show skill coupled with restraint in the
viola parts. The instrument is never called upon to play passages of
any difficulty except when errors will be covered up in the general
body of tone. But in his scores the viola takes its correct place in a
pure four-part harmony. It is seldom that Haydn undertakes to give his
strings more than four parts to sing, though the reader will perceive
that as each instrument is easily capable of producing two notes at
a time, eight real parts can be written for a string quartet. The
’cello has few independent passages in Haydn’s symphonies. It usually
doubles the bass part. Mozart, without attempting to give the viola or
the ’cello difficulties to overcome, made wider use of their special
tone-qualities than did Haydn, though it must be admitted that Mozart’s
symphonies show a great deal of three-part writing for strings. Gluck,
in his operas, brought out the dramatic value of the lower register of
the viola, and Spontini, in “La Vestale,” was the first who assigned
the melody to it. Méhul, the French opera-writer, used it so much
that Grétry exclaimed, “I’d give a guinea to hear a first string.”
Beethoven, in the andante of his fifth symphony, gives the melody in
the opening bars to the violas and ’cellos in unison, a very rich and
beautiful effect.
In general it may be said that the string quintet did not attain the
full measure of its usefulness in the hands of the classical writers
till the viola and the ’cello had begun to be treated with freedom and
independence. Then there was no longer any difficulty in writing a
full four-part harmony, upon which depends the solidity of the string
portion of the score. The best test of scoring for strings is to
consider whether it sounds full and self-sustaining when unsupported
by any wind-instruments. The lover of orchestral music should give
especial attention to Beethoven’s scores. Here he will find the
perfection of the classical style of writing, which employed almost
exclusively a four-part scheme and kept each instrument in its normal
place except when used as a solo voice. With the romantic movement
scoring for strings began its search after unusual tone-tints, and
composers began to learn that they could obtain these in two or three
ways--by increasing the number of voices in their harmony, by taking
advantage of the large registers of violas and ’cellos and sometimes
carrying them above the violins, and by employing solo instruments
among the orchestral mass. The beautiful effect of divided string parts
in a simple form is heard in the opening measures of Mendelssohn’s
“Midsummer Night’s Dream” overture, but if the reader desires to find
the extreme modern style of writing for numerous voices in the strings
he must go to Wagner. He, indeed, is guilty of occasional abuses of the
practice. In the accompaniment to _Brangäne’s_ song of warning in the
second act of “Tristan und Isolde” he divides the strings into fifteen
parts, but I am quite sure that no human ear can hear all of them. It
is seldom that more than eight real parts can be made advantageous, and
then chiefly in slow movements.
It all depends upon what the composer wishes to accomplish. If he
desires brilliancy in an animated movement, he will use his first
violins in unison and above the middle of their register. If he wishes
to get more brilliancy, he will write them still higher and double
them with the second violins in the octave below. If he writes them
in the middle register and doubles them with the second violins, he
will get more sonority, but less brilliancy. On the other hand, if he
desires richness of harmony coupled with mystery, or ethereal effects,
let him divide his strings into several parts. After that it is a mere
matter of register. If he writes high, he will get aërial delicacy and
tenderness; if he writes low, he will get pathos as well as tenderness.
No better examples can be offered than these from “Lohengrin” and “Die
Walküre:”
[Music]
[Music]
But, after all, these effects are special, and the fundamental
principles of sound writing for the strings are best exemplified by the
writings of the classical composers. The chief question for the student
of music is: Which of the classical writers is the best model? This is
a question not easily answered. Haydn’s earlier works are not at all to
be commended, while his later compositions are full of sound scoring.
His quartets are not excelled as examples of clear, well-balanced
writing for strings, but his symphonies do not reveal fully the value
of the viola.
Specific instrumental coloring began with Mozart, and yet he is the
finest example of continence and sobriety in orchestration. His string
parts are generally substantial and well planned, but, nevertheless,
I should hardly advise a beginner to study them. The older composers
are like ancient history; one must have sufficient information to know
what to accept and what to reject in order to read them with advantage.
It will not profit any beginner in instrumentation to go farther back
than Beethoven. The great symphonist’s string plan is always notable
for its breadth, solidity, and flexibility, and there is nothing in the
fundamental work of string writing which cannot be learned from him.
But there is another composer whose works are neglected by professors
and masters, and yet whose orchestration excels all other in the
classic school in buoyancy, clarity, suavity, and polish, and to the
constant study of his scores I heartily commend all who desire to
master the basis of modern instrumentation. I mean Felix Mendelssohn
Bartholdy. His “Midsummer Night’s Dream” is in itself an epitome of the
science of instrumentation, and students and amateurs would do well to
give many days and nights to its study.
I advise the student of orchestral effects to examine particularly
the overture. For lightness and transparency nothing in the way of
writing for the strings excels the opening measures for first and
second violins in four parts, with the addition at bar 24 of a most
effective pizzicato passage for viola. On page 5 (Litolff score)
the first violins, doubled an octave below by the second, carry the
melody against a tutti in which the string plan is notable for its
simplicity and solidity. On page 9 there is a model passage for strings
with violas divided, which is worthy of attention. A concert-goer
should seek out such passages in scores and mark them. Then at a
performance of the work note the effect. By following out such a plan
the music-lover will soon come to perceive the differences between the
conservative scoring of the early classical writers and the venturesome
and brilliant achievements of the moderns. From such a clear and simple
plan of dividing strings as that of Mendelssohn in the overture quoted
grew the amazing contrivances of modern writers, such as the passage
in Liszt’s “Mazeppa” for first violins in three parts, the third
playing pizzicato against shakes by the other two, second violins in
three parts, violas and ’celli in two each; or the thunder-storm in
Wagner’s “Das Rheingold,” where the strings play a broken chord in
twenty different ways, or the superbly effective passage from Nicode’s
“Das Meer,” which is constructed on this scheme of divided strings with
contrary motions:
[Music]
[Music]
The effect of this remarkable passage is one of the things which go to
show what can be done in the way of tone-coloring with strings alone.
The vital points for the reader to bear in mind are those which have
been brought out as to the distribution of the harmony in the strings
and the necessity of writing for them so that they are independent. To
follow the development of skill in this among the successive composers
is one of the most fascinating branches of musical study.
NOTE.--The tremolo and pizzicato of bowed instruments
were invented by Monteverde (1568-1643). The
striking of chords on such instruments was
introduced into orchestral music by Haydn. Mutes
were first used in the orchestra by Gluck in his
“Armide.” The oldest and most familiar example of
the contrast between muted and unmuted strings is
found in the “Creation” at the words, “And God said
‘Let there be light.’” The mutes are taken off at
“And there was light.” The oldest known use of
harmonics is that in Philidor’s opera “Tom Jones”
(1765). The division of violins into more than
two parts was first employed by Weber. Beethoven
introduced divided violas in the last movement of
the Ninth Symphony.
VIII
The Wood-Wind
Whence originated the custom of calling the collection of wooden
wind-instruments used in the modern orchestra “the wood-wind,” I am
quite sure I do not know. It is still more common among musicians to
speak of them simply as “the wood,” notwithstanding that the stringed
instruments played with a bow are also made of wood. It is a convenient
term, and its meaning being pretty generally understood, only a purist
in language would object to its employment. The “wood,” then, in the
modern orchestra consists of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons.
Of these instruments the flute is the oldest, and was the first to be
used in those indiscriminate assemblies of instruments corresponding to
orchestras in the early days of the art. The flute was used in ancient
Egypt, and, for the matter of that, so was the oboe, which found its
way into the orchestra at least as far back as Beaujoyeux’s “Ballet
Comique de la Reine” (1581). Everyone knows a flute when he sees it,
and is acquainted with its tone, but I have learned by experience that
very few persons know anything about the other wood instruments.
Yet their importance in the modern orchestra cannot be overestimated.
Half the tone-coloring of our symphonic works and operatic scores
depends upon skilful combinations of the tone-tints of wooden
wind-instruments either with one another or with other members of the
band. It is almost wholly in the direction of variety of combination
that the art of writing for wood-wind has developed. In the early days,
before a system of enriched instrumentation had been developed, it
was the custom to treat the wood-wind parts without any design that
affected the display of their coloring qualities. Sebastian Bach’s
scores, for instance, show a complete absorption of the polyphonic
style. He regarded his instruments as so many voices, and he treated
them as such. Each part was written in a manner essentially melodious,
and related to the other parts strictly in contrapuntal style. The
conception of purely orchestral effect did not find birth in the mind
of Bach. He was too entirely occupied with the development of the
polyphonic subject to discover the possibilities of mixed tone-tints.
Furthermore, he was not sufficiently imbued with a feeling for the
harmonic style--the style in which a leading melody is supported by a
subsidiary accompaniment founded on chords, as in our songs. This is
the style on which our symphony rests, but it was foreign to Bach’s
genius, which was fundamentally fugal.