Orchestral scores (training). Main types of orchestral texture Group of woodwind instruments

The bow group is the basis of the symphony orchestra. It is the most numerous (there are 24 performers in the small orchestra, and up to 70 people in the large orchestra). Includes instruments from four families, divided into 5 parts. The divisi technique (division) allows the formation of any number of parties. It has a huge range from C counter octave to G fourth octave. Possesses exceptional technical and expressive capabilities.

The most valuable quality of bowed instruments is timbre uniformity throughout the mass. This is explained same device all bowed instruments, as well as similar principles of sound production.

The wealth of expressive possibilities of strings is associated with various techniques of moving the bow along the strings - strokes. The way the bow is held has a great influence on the character, strength, timbre of the sound and phrasing. Producing sound with a bow - arco. Strokes can be divided into three groups.

First group: even, smooth movements without leaving the strings. Detache– each sound is played with a separate bow movement.

Tremolo- rapid alternation of two sounds or repetition of the same sound, creating the effect of trembling, trembling, flickering. This technique was first used by Claudio Monteverdi at the opera "The Battle of Tancred and Clorinda." Legato – a fused performance of several sounds per bow movement, creating the effect of unity, melodiousness, and breadth of breathing. Portamento - the sound is produced by lightly pushing the bow.

The second group of strokes: pushing movements of the bow, but without leaving the strings. Non legato, martele– each sound is produced by a separate, energetic movement of the bow. Staccato– several short, abrupt sounds per bow movement.

The third group of strokes are jumping strokes. Spiccato– bouncing movements of the bow for each sound.

Staccato volant– flying staccato, playing several sounds with one bow movement.

In order to noticeably change the timbre of string instruments, specific playing techniques are also used.

Reception col legno- striking a string with the shaft of a bow causes a knocking, deathly sound. Due to its extreme nature, this technique is rarely used, in special cases. It was first introduced by Berlioz in Part V of the Symphony Fantastique - “Dream on the Night of the Sabbath.” Shostakovich used it in the “invasion episode” from the Seventh Symphony.

The sound of string instruments becomes completely unrecognizable when played by plucking - pizzicato. String pizzicato sound dry and abrupt - Delibes “Pizzicato” from the ballet “Sylvia”, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony, scherzo.

To weaken or muffle the sound, use a mute ( con sordino) - a rubber, rubber, bone or wooden plate that is placed on the strings at the stand. Surdina also changes the timbre of the instruments, making it matte and warm, as in the “Death of Ose” part from Grieg’s “Peer Gynt” suite. An interesting example is also “Flight of the Bumblebee” from Act III of the opera “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” by Rimsky-Korsakov - the sound of muted violins creates the complete illusion of buzzing.

Bright coloristic technique of playing string instruments - harmonics. Harmonics have a very special timbre; they lack fullness and emotionality. In forte, harmonics are like sparks, in piano they sound fantastic, mysterious. The whistling sound of harmonics resembles the highest sounds of a flute.

In the second half of the 20th century, the search for heightened expressiveness led to the fact that they began to produce sounds on string instruments that would previously have been considered unartistic. For example, the game at the stand sul ponticello creates a harsh, whistling, cold sonority. A game above the fingerboard sul tasto – sonority is weakened and dull. Playing behind the stand, on the neck, and tapping the body of the instrument with your fingers is also used. All these techniques were first used by K. Penderecki in his composition for 52 string instruments “Lament for the Victims of Hiroshima” (1960).

On all string instruments, you can simultaneously play double notes, as well as three and four sonorous chords, which are played gracefully or arpeggiato. Such combinations are easier to perform with empty strings and are used, as a rule, in solo works.

The ancestors of bowed instruments were Arabic rebab, Persian kemancha, which came to Europe in the 8th century. Traveling musicians in medieval Europe accompanied themselves to Fidele and Rebecca. During the Renaissance, they became widespread viols, having a quiet, muffled sound. The family of viols was numerous: viola da braccio, viola da gamba, viola d amore, bass, double bass viola, bastard viola - with main and resonator strings. Viols had 6–7 strings, which were tuned in fourths and thirds.

Today I want to talk about the most common mistakes that beginning composers make when writing music/scores for a symphony orchestra. However, the errors that I want to draw your attention to are also quite common not only in symphonic music, but also in rock, pop, etc. music.

In general, the errors that a composer encounters can be divided into two groups:
The first is a lack of knowledge and experience. This is an easily corrected component.
The second is a lack of life experience, impressions and a generally unstable worldview. It's hard to explain, but this part is sometimes more important than gaining knowledge. I will talk about it below.
So, let's look at 9 mistakes that are worth paying attention to.

1. Unconscious borrowing
I already mentioned this in one of my podcasts (). Unconscious plagiarism or unconscious borrowing is a rake that almost everyone falls into. One way to combat this is to listen to as much different music as possible. Typically, if you listen to one composer or performer, he has a strong influence on you, and elements of his music permeate yours. However, if you listen to 100-200 or more different composers/groups, then you will no longer copy, but will create your own unique style. Borrowing should help you, and not turn you into another Shostakovich.

2. Lack of balance

Writing a balanced score is quite a complex process; When studying instrumentation, special attention is paid to the sonority of each group of the orchestra in comparison with others. Each multi-layered consonance requires knowledge of the dynamics of individual instruments.

It is stupid to write a chord for three trumpets and one flute, since the flute will not be heard even in the middle dynamics of three trumpets.

There are a lot of such moments.

For example, a piccolo flute can punch through an entire orchestra. Many subtleties come with experience, but knowledge plays a big role.

The choice of texture also plays an important role - adhesion, layering, overlay and framing in the presence of the same instruments, they require different dynamics. This applies not only to the orchestra.

With rich rock and pop arrangements, it is also important to take this into account rather than rely on mixing. As a rule, a good arrangement does not require intervention from the mixer (meaning the person doing the mixing).

3. Uninteresting textures
Using monotonous textures over a long period of time is very tiring for the listener. Studying the scores of the masters, you will see that changes in the orchestra can occur every measure, which constantly introduces new colors. Very rarely is a melody played by one instrument. Duplications, changes in timbres, etc. are constantly introduced. The best way to avoid monotony is to study other people's scores and analyze in detail the techniques used.

4. Extra effort

This is the use of unusual playing techniques, those that require excessive concentration from the performers. Typically, simple techniques can be used to create a more euphonious score.

The use of rare techniques must be justified and can only be adopted if the desired emotional effect cannot be obtained in any other way. Of course, Stravinsky uses the orchestra's resources to the maximum, but this cost him his nerves. In general, the simpler the better. If you decide to compose avant-garde, first find an orchestra that is ready to play it :)

5. Lack of emotion and intellectual depth
The balance I keep talking about.

You have to live an interesting life in order for there to be emotion in your music. Almost all composers traveled and led intense social lives. It is difficult to get ideas if you are closed within four walls. The intellectual component is also important - your music should reflect your worldview.

Studying philosophy, esotericism, and related arts is not a whim, but a necessary condition for your creative development. To write great music, you must first be a great person inside.

That is, paradoxically, to write music, it is not enough to learn only this. You also need to be able to communicate with people, nature, etc.

6. Hysteria and intellectual overload
Excess feelings or cold intellectuality lead to a musical fiasco. Music must be an emotion controlled by the mind, otherwise you risk losing the very essence of musical art.

7.Template work

The use of established cliches, cliches, etc. kills the very essence of creativity.

Why then are you better than an auto arranger?

It is important to work on the uniqueness of each of your work, be it a score or an arrangement of a pop song, your Self should be felt in it. This is developed by the constant search for new techniques, crossing styles and the desire to avoid repetition. Of course, sometimes it’s good to use templates because they sound good, but as a result you lose the most valuable thing - yourself.

8. Ignorance of tools
Very often the ranges of instruments are used incorrectly, poor knowledge of techniques leads to the fact that orchestra players cannot perform your parts.

And, what’s most interesting, a well-written part sounds good even on a VST, but parts written without taking into account the characteristics of the instrument will not sound very convincing even in live performance.

Let me give you a simple example.

Since I am a guitarist, in order to determine the playability of a part, I just need to look at the notes to understand how the part fits the guitar. That is, most of the parts are physically playable, but they are either so inconvenient that there is simply no point in learning them, or they are written in such a way that, even if played on a guitar, they will sound like another instrument. To avoid this, you need to study solo works for the instruments you write for. It is advisable to learn the basic techniques of the game.

For example, I can play all the instruments of a rock band + trumpet, flute, double bass and some drums. This doesn’t mean that I can pick up and play at least a clear melody, but if necessary, I can learn it and play it at least somehow clumsily :)

The best thing is to find a soloist and show him your work, so you will very quickly learn to write playable, convenient parts. In addition, it is important that your parts are easy to sight-play or quick to shoot (if you are writing for session musicians).

9. Artificial-sounding scores
Since most authors work with VST, it is very important that your scores sound realistic with little to no correction. As I wrote above, well-written parts sound good even in regular MIDI. This applies to both rock composition and a full symphony orchestra. It is important to make sure that the listener does not think: the orchestra sounds mechanical or the drums are synthetic. Of course, with careful listening you can always distinguish a live performance from a program one, but a non-musician and 90% of musicians will not be able to do this, provided that you have done your job perfectly.

Good luck and avoid mistakes.

Instrumentation - presentation of music for performance by a classical orchestra or instrumental ensemble. Presentation of music,musical notationorchestral material is often also calledorchestration . In the past, many authors have given different meanings to the terms "instrumentation" and "orchestration". So, for example, F. Gevart defined instrumentation as the study of the technical and expressive capabilities of individual instruments, and orchestration as the art of their joint use, and F. Busoni attributed to orchestration the presentation for an orchestra of music, which from the very beginning was conceived by the author as orchestral.

Over time, these terms became almost identical. The term instrumentation, which has a more universal meaning, more fully expresses the very essence of the creative process of composing music for several performers. Therefore, it is increasingly used in the field of polyphonic choral music, especially in cases of various transcriptions.

Instrumentation is not an external “outfit” of a work, but one of the aspects of its essence, for it is impossible to imagine any music outside of its specific sound, i.e. beyond the definition of timbres and their combinations. The process of instrumentation finds its final expression in writing a score that combines the parts of all instruments and voices involved in the performance of a given work.

It took much longer for brass instruments to form an equal orchestral group. In the time of J. S. Bach, small chamber-type orchestras often included a natural trumpet. Composers increasingly began to resort to natural trumpets and horns to harmoniously fill the orchestral fabric, as well as to enhance accents. Due to their limited capabilities, brass instruments acted as an equal group only in cases where music was composed for them based on natural scales characteristic of military fanfares, hunting horns, postal horns and other special-purpose signaling instruments.

Finally, percussion instruments in orchestras of the 17th - 18th centuries. most often they were represented by two timpani, tuned to the tonic and dominant, which were usually used in combination with a brass group.

At the end of 18 - beginning. 19th centuries a “classical” orchestra was formed. The most important role in establishing its composition belongs to J. Haydn, but it took its completely completed form from L. Beethoven. It included 8-10 first violins, 4-6 second, 2-4 violas, 3-4 cellos and 2-3 double basses. This composition of strings corresponded to 1-2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns (sometimes 3 and even 4, when there was a need for horns of different tunings), 2 trumpets and 2 timpani. Such an orchestra provided sufficient opportunities to realize the ideas of composers who achieved great virtuosity in the use of muses. instruments, especially copper ones, the design of which was still very primitive. Thus, in the works of J. Haydn, W. A. ​​Mozart and especially L. Beethoven, there are often examples of brilliant overcoming the limitations of contemporary instruments and the desire to expand and improve the symphony orchestra of that time is constantly discernible.

Orchestration Basics

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV

BASICS

ORCHESTRATIONS

Editor's Preface.

The thought of an orchestration textbook repeatedly occupied N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov during his musical career. A thick notebook of 200 pages, covered in small handwriting, dating back to 1873-74, has survived. The notebook covers general issues of acoustics, provides a classification of wind instruments and, finally, a detailed description of the structure and fingering of flutes of various systems, oboe, clarinet, etc.

Our, post-Wagner time is a time of bright and picturesque color in the orchestra. M. Glinka, Fr. Liszt, R. Wagner, the newest French composers - Delibes, Bizet and other new Russian school - Borodin, Glazunov and Tchaikovsky - developed this side of art to the extreme limits of brightness, imagery and sound beauty, obscuring in this regard the previous colorists - Weber, Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn, to whom they, of course, owe their progress. In compiling my book, my main goal is to explain to the prepared reader the fundamentals of the picturesque and vibrant orchestration of our time, devoting a significant part to the study of timbres and orchestral combinations.

1) the period of striving for percussion instruments - the lowest level; in them he believes all the charm of sound and places all his hopes on them;

2) a period of love for harps, it seems necessary to him to double the sound of this instrument;

3) the next period - adoration of woodwind and fashionable wind instruments, the desire for closed sounds, and the strings are presented either with mutes on, or playing piccato;

4) the period of the highest development of taste, which always coincides with a preference for all other material of the bow group, as the richest and most expressive. These misconceptions - the 1st, 2nd and 3rd periods - should be fought against during self-education.

The best guide will always be reading scores and listening to orchestral composers holding the score in their hands. It is difficult to establish any order here. You should listen and read everything, and mainly the latest music; it alone will teach you how to orchestrate, and the old one will give “useful” examples. Weber, Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, Glinka, Wagner, Liszt and the latest composers of the French and Russian schools are the best examples.

Orchestration Basics

Chapter I.

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ORCHESTRA GROUPS

Bowed.

The composition of a bow quartet and the number of its performers in a modern opera or concert orchestra are presented as follows:

The number of first violins in large orchestras reaches 20 and 24, and other bowed instruments are multiplied accordingly. This number, however, puts a strain on the normal composition of woodwind instruments, the number of which in this case has to be doubled.

The following upper sounds, shown in the following table of bowed instrument volumes, should be used with caution, i.e. in extended notes, in slow-moving and smooth melodic patterns, scale-like sequences of moderate speed, passages with repetition of notes, avoiding jumps whenever possible.

The precious ability for a coherent sequence of sounds and vibration of clamped strings makes the bowed group a representative of melodiousness and expressiveness superior to other orchestral groups, which is facilitated by the above-mentioned qualities: warmth, softness and nobility of timbre. Nevertheless, the sounds of bowed strings, which lie beyond the limits of human voices, are somehow higher than the sounds of violins, which go beyond the limits of the high soprano:

lose expressiveness and warmth of timbre. The sounds of empty strings, which have a clear and somewhat stronger sonority compared to clamped ones, do not have expressiveness, which is why performers always prefer clamped strings for expressiveness.

Significant changes in the timbre and character of the sonority of bowed instruments are made by the use of harmonics, mutes and special exceptional positions of the bow.

Brass. Wooden.

If the composition of the bow group, in addition to the number of performers, seems to be uniform in the sense of its five main parts, which meet the requirements of any orchestral score, then the group of woodwind instruments is composed of very different compositions, both in the number of voices and in the choice of sonorities, depending on the wishes of the orchestrator . In a woodwind group, three main typical compositions can be seen: a double composition, a triple composition and a quadruple composition (see table above).

Arabic numerals indicate the number of performers of each genus or type. Roman numerals are a performing pariah. Type instruments are placed in brackets, which do not require an increase in the number of performers, but are only replaced by the same performer, temporarily, or for the whole piece, leaving the generic instrument for the specific one. Usually, performers of the first parts of the flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon do not change their instruments to specific ones in order to preserve

without changing their embouchure, since their parties are often very responsible. The parts of small and alto flute, cor anglais, small and bass clarinet and contrabassoon fall to the share of the second and third performers, who completely or temporarily replace their generic instruments with them and for this purpose accustom themselves to playing specific instruments.

Often a pair composition is used with the addition of a small flute as a permanent instrument. Occasionally one encounters the use of two small flutes, or two English horns, etc., without increasing the triple or quadruple composition taken as the basis.

If the bowed group has a certain variety of timbres corresponding to its various representatives, and a difference in registers corresponding to their different strings, then the variety and difference is of a more subtle and less noticeable property. In the woodwind group, on the contrary, the difference in timbres of its individual representatives: flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons is much more noticeable, as well as the difference in registers in each of the named representatives. In general, the woodwind group has less flexibility compared to the bowed group in terms of mobility, the ability to shade and sudden transitions from one shade to another, as a result of which it does not have the degree of expressiveness and vitality that we see in the bowed group.

In each of the woodwind instruments I distinguish the area of ​​expressive playing, i.e. one in which a given instrument turns out to be most capable of all kinds of gradual and sudden shades of strength and tension of sound, which enables the performer to give expressiveness to the game in the most precise sense of the word. Meanwhile, outside the area of ​​expressive playing, the instrument has more colorfulness (color) of sound than expressiveness. The term “area of ​​expressive playing,” perhaps introduced by me for the first time, is not applicable to representatives of the extreme top and bottom of the general orchestral scale, i.e. to the small flute and contrabassoon, which do not have this area and belong to the category of colorful instruments, not expressive ones.

All four generic representatives of the wooden group: flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon should generally be considered instruments of equal strength. Their species representatives should also be considered the same: small and alto flute, English horn, small and bass clarinet and contrabassoon. In each of these instruments there are four registers, called low, middle, high and high and having some differences in timbre and strength. The exact boundaries of the registers are difficult to establish, and adjacent registers merge with each other in terms of strength and timbre, passing into one another imperceptibly; but the difference in strength and timbre across the register, e.g. between low and high is already significantly noticeable.

The four generic representatives of the wooden group can generally be divided into two sections: a) instruments of a nasal timbre, as if of a dark sonority - oboes and bassoons (English horn and contrabassoon) and b) instruments of a chest timbre, as if of a light sonority - flutes and clarinets (small and alto flute and snare and bass clarinets). This too elementary and straightforward characteristic of timbres is most likely applicable to the middle and high registers of these instruments. The lower registers of oboes and bassoons, without losing their nasal timbre, acquire significant density and roughness, while the higher registers are distinguished by a relatively dry or lean timbre. The chesty and light timbre of flutes and clarinets in low registers takes on a nasal and dark tint, and in higher registers it exhibits significant sharpness.

In the table above, the highest note of each register is shown to coincide with the lowest note of the next register, since in reality the edges of the registers are very vague.

For greater clarity and ease of memorization, the border notes of registers in flutes and oboes are chosen to be notes g, and for clarinets and bassoons notes c. The higher registers are written out as notes only up to their boundaries of use; further sounds, uncommon due to difficulty taken or due to their insufficient artistic value, are left unwritten. The number of sounds in the higher registers actually possible to play is very uncertain for each instrument and often depends on the quality of the instrument itself or on the characteristics of the player's embouchure.

The area of ​​expressive play is marked by a line at the bottom of generic instruments; this line corresponds to the same area for each of the species instruments.

Instruments with a light, chesty timbre: the flute and clarinet are essentially the most mobile; Of these, the first place in this sense is occupied by the flute; in terms of richness and flexibility of shades and ability to express, the primacy undoubtedly belongs to the clarinet, capable of bringing sound to complete fading and disappearance. Nasal instruments: oboe and bassoon, for reasons related to the way they produce sound through a double reed, have comparatively less mobility and flexibility in shades. Often intended, along with flutes and clarinets, to perform all sorts of fast scales and fast passages, these instruments are still primarily melodic in the broad sense of the word, i.e. more calmly melodious; passages and phrases of a significantly mobile nature are entrusted to them more often in cases where they double flutes, clarinets or bowed instruments, while fluent phrases and passages of flutes and clarinets often appear independently.

All four generic instruments, as well as their types, have the same ability for legato and staccato, for a diverse grouping of these techniques; but the staccato of oboes and bassoons, very sharp and distinct, is especially preferable, while the smooth and long legato is the advantage of flutes and clarinets; in oboes and bassoons, mixed and staccato phrases are preferable; in flutes and clarinets, mixed and legatto phrases are preferred. The general description made now should not, however, prevent the orchestrator from using the indicated techniques in the opposite sense.

When comparing the technical features of woodwind instruments, it is necessary to point out the following significant differences:

A) Rapid repetition of the same note with simple strokes is common to everyone. woodwind; even more frequent repetition through double blows (tu-ku-tu-ku) is only possible on flutes, as instruments that do not have a reed.

b) The clarinet, due to its special structure, is less suitable for the fast octave leaps characteristic of flutes, oboes and bassoons.

V) Arpeggiated chords and oscillating legato double notes are beautiful only on flutes and clarinets, but not on oboes and bassoons.

Due to the need for breathing, wind instruments cannot be assigned to hold out notes for too long, or to play without interruption with at least short pauses, which, on the contrary, is quite applicable in the bowed group.

Trying to characterize the timbres of the four generic representatives of the wooden group from the psychological point of view, I take the liberty of making the following general, approximate definitions for two registers - middle and high:

A) Flute. - The timbre is cold, most suitable for graceful melodies of a frivolous nature in major, and with a touch of superficial sadness in minor.

b) Oboe.-The timbre is simple-minded and cheerful in major melodies and touchingly sad in minor melodies.

V) Clarinet.-Flexible and expressive timbre for dreamily joyful or brilliantly cheerful melodies in major and for dreamily sad or passionately dramatic melodies in minor.

G) Bassoon. - The timbre is senile and mocking in major and painfully sad in minor.

In the extreme registers, low and high, the timbre of these same instruments seems to me as follows:

Regarding the character, timbre and meaning of specific instruments, I will say the following:

The significance of the small flute and small clarinet consists mainly in extending upward the scale of their generic representatives - the large flute and clarinet. At the same time, the characteristic features of the higher registers of generic instruments appear, as it were, in a somewhat exaggerated form in specific instruments. Thus, the whistling timbre of the higher register of the small flute reaches amazing strength and brightness, while being incapable of more moderate shades. The higher register of a small clarinet is sharper than the higher register of an ordinary clarinet. The lower and middle registers of both small instruments are more corresponding to the registers of the ordinary flute and clarinet and therefore play almost no role in the matter of orchestration.

The value of the contrabassoon lies in the downward extension of the scale of the ordinary bassoon, whereby the characteristic features of the lower register of the bassoon appear with greater brightness in the corresponding register of the contrabassoon, and the middle and upper registers of the latter lose their significance compared to the generic instrument. The lower register of the contrabassoon is distinguished by the density of its menacing timbre with significant strength in the piano.

The English horn or alto oboe, similar in the nature of sonority to its generic representative, has, however, greater tenderness of its lazy-dreamy timbre; however, his low register remains significantly sharp. The bass clarinet, for all its similarities with an ordinary clarinet, is darker and gloomier in timbre in the low register than the latter, and in the high register it does not have its silveriness and is somehow not very suitable for joyful or cheerful moods. As for the alto flute, this instrument, still quite rare at present, retains in general the character of an ordinary flute, and has an even colder and somewhat glassy timbre in its middle and high register. All these three types of instruments, on the one hand, serve to extend down the scales of the corresponding generic representatives of the wooden group; moreover, they have a colorful sound and are often used as solo instruments.
Recently, mutes have begun to be applied to the woodwind group, consisting of a soft cork inserted into the bell, or sometimes replaced with a scarf rolled into a ball. Muffling the sonority of oboes, cor anglais and bassoons, mutes bring it to the level of the greatest piano, impossible to perform without their assistance. The use of mutes for clarinets has no purpose, since even without them, full pianissimo is achievable on these instruments. It is still not possible to apply a mute to flutes, although such as such would be very desirable, especially for the small flute. The mutes take away the ability to play the lowest note of the instrument:

Copper.

The composition of the brass group, like the composition of the woodwind group, does not represent complete uniformity, but is very different in accordance with the requirements of the score. In the copper group, however, it is currently possible to discern three typical compositions, corresponding to the three compositions of wood-pair, ternary and quadruple. I propose the following table:

All three compositions shown can obviously be modified according to the orchestrator's wishes. In both operatic and symphonic music there are numerous pages and movements without the participation of the tuba, trombones or trumpets, or any of the instruments appears only temporarily as an additional instrument. In the table above, I tried to show the compositions that are the most typical and most commonly used at present.

1 . Pipes. Clear and somewhat harsh, evoking sonority in the fort; The piano has thick, silvery high sounds and somewhat compressed, as if fatal, low sounds.
2 . Alto trumpet. Tool,
invented and introduced by me for the first time in the score of the opera-ballet “Mlada”. The purpose of its use is to obtain low tones of relatively greater density, clarity and charm. Three-voice combinations of two ordinary trumpets and a third
alto sound smoother than with three trumpets
unified system. Convinced of the beauty and benefits
alto trumpet, I continued to use it in
many of my subsequent operas with a three-piece wooden cast.
3 . Small pipe, invented
and was used for the first time by me also in the score
"Mlada" with the aim of getting quite freely
emitted high tones of a trumpet timbre. Tool
similar in structure and scale to the small cornet of military bands.

b) Cornet. The timbre is close to that of a trumpet, but somewhat weaker and softer. An excellent instrument, relatively rarely used in modern opera or concert orchestras. Good performers know how to imitate the timbre of cornets on trumpets, and the character of trumpets on cornets.

V) French horn or horn. Considerably dark in the lower region and light, as if round and full, in the upper, poetically beautiful and soft timbre. In its middle notes, this instrument turns out to be very suitable and matches the timbre of the bassoon, which is why it serves as a transition or connection between the copper and wooden groups. In general, despite the mechanism of the pistons, the instrument is not very mobile and seems somewhat lazy in terms of sound production.

G) Trombone. The timbre is dark and menacing in the low tones and solemnly light in the upper ones. Thick and heavy piano, loud and powerful forte. Trombones with a piston mechanism have greater mobility compared to rocker trombones, however, in terms of smoothness and nobility of sound, the latter are undoubtedly preferable to the former, especially since cases of using the sonority of trombones by their nature require little mobility.

d) Bass or double bass tuba. A thick, harsh timbre, less characteristic than the trombone, but precious due to its beautiful low tones. Like the double bass and contrabassoon, it is important mainly as doubling the bass voice of its group an octave lower. The mechanism of the pistons has sufficient mobility.

The copper group, having a relatively greater evenness of sonority in each of its representatives, compared to the wooden group, shows less ability for expressive playing in the exact sense of the word. Nevertheless, the area of ​​expressive playing can be traced to some extent in this group, in the middle of its scales. Like the small flute and contrabassoon, the concept of expressive playing is almost inapplicable to the small trumpet and double bass tuba.

Short-voiced.

Plucked.

An orchestral quartet in its usual composition, playing without the help of a bow, but through touching the strings with the ends of the fingers, I cannot consider otherwise than a new independent group with a timbre exclusively belonging to it, which, together with the harp, which produces sounds in the same way, I call a group of plucked instruments or a plucked group.

Possessing a full range of dynamic shades from ff to pp, Pizzicato

In general, from the entire scale of this instrument:
They almost always use only the major, minor, first and second octaves, leaving the extreme lower and upper regions for special cases and octave doublings.
The harp is essentially a diatonic instrument, since the chromaticism in it is obtained from the action of the pedals; for the same reason, fast modulation is not characteristic of this instrument, and the orchestrator must always keep this in mind. The use of two harps playing alternately can obviously eliminate difficulties in this regard.
A very special technical technique of the game is the glissando. Assuming that the reader knows the details of restructuring the harp through its double pedals into seventh chords of various types, as well as into major and minor diatonic scales of all tunings, I will only note that with scale-like glissandos, due to the known duration of sounding of each string, a cacophonous mixture of sounds is obtained; therefore, the use of such as a purely musical effect requires only the upper octaves of the harp scale under the condition of a full piano, and the sound of the strings is short-lasting and quite distinct; the use of glissando scales in forte with the participation of the lower and middle strings can only be allowed as a musical and decorative effect.
Glissando on enharmonically tuned seventh and non-chords is more common and does not require the fulfillment of the above conditions and allows for all sorts of dynamic shades.
Of the harmonic sounds in the harp, only octave ones are used. Rapid movement of harmonics is difficult. Of the harmonic chords, only three-voice chords are possible, in a close arrangement, with two notes for the left hand and one for the right.
The delicately poetic timbre of the harp is capable of all sorts of dynamic nuances, but does not have significant power, and therefore requires very careful handling from the orchestrator, and only with three or four harps in unison can it struggle with some forte of the entire orchestra. With a glissando, a significantly greater power of sonority is obtained, depending on the speed of its execution. The harmonic sounds of a charming, magically gentle timbre have a very weak sonority and can only be used on the piano. In general, like the picatto, the harp is not an expressive instrument, but it is colorful.

Drums and ringing with a certain sound and keyboards.

Timpani.

Of all the percussion and ringing instruments, the timpani occupy the first place, as a necessary member of any
opera or symphony orchestra. A pair of timpani, tuned to the tonic and dominant of the main structure of the play, has long been an indispensable asset of the orchestral composition up to and including Beethoven's time; from the middle of the last century, both in Zalada and in the scores of the Russian school, demands for three and even four timpani sounds appeared more and more often during the same piece or musical section. Nowadays, if, due to their high cost, timpani with a lever for instant adjustment are relatively rare, then 3 screw timpani can be found in any decent orchestra. The orchestrator can also count on the fact that an experienced performer, having 3 screw timpani at his disposal, will always find it possible to tune one of the timpani to any note during fairly long pauses.

at the present time, it is difficult to say anything definite about the upper limit of the timpani scale, since it completely depends on the size and quality of the small timpani, the sizes of which vary. I believe that the orchestrator should limit itself to:

The timpani is an instrument that gives all possible shades of power, from the greatest thunderous fortissimo to the barely audible pianissimo, and in the tremolo it is capable of transmitting the most gradual crescendos, diminuendos and morendos.

Piano and celesta.

The use of piano timbre in orchestral works (I exclude piano concertos with accompanied by an orchestra) is found almost exclusively in the works of the Russian school. This application plays a dual role: the timbre of the piano, pure or together with the harp, serves to reproduce the folk instrument the gusel, following the example of Glinka; or the piano is used as a kind of set of bells or bells with a very gentle sonority. As a member of an orchestra rather than a solo instrument, the piano is preferable to a concert grand piano.

Bells, bells and xylophone.

A set of bells or metallophone can be simple or keyboard. Probably due to insufficiency improvements, the latter is usually paler than the first in sonority. The use is significantly similar to celesta, but the timbre is undoubtedly brighter, more sonorous and sharper.

A set of sounding pieces of wood that are struck with two hammers is called a xylophone. The timbre is a ringing click, the sonority is quite sharp and strong.

Drumming and ringing without a specific sound.

A group of percussion and ringing without a specific sound: 1) triangle, 2) castanets, 3) bells, 4) tambourine, 5) rods, 6) snare drum, 7) cymbals, bass drum and 9) tom-tom, as incapable of participating in melody or harmony, and being applicable only rhythmically, can be classified as decorative instruments. Having no significant musical significance, these instruments will be considered by me only incidentally in this book; here I will only point out that of the listed decorating instruments 1, 2 and 3 can be considered as instruments of heights, 4, 5, 6 and 7 - as instruments of medium scale, 8 and 9 - as instruments of low scale, implying their ability to be combined with the corresponding areas of the orchestral scale in instruments with sounds of a certain pitch.

Comparison of the sonority strength of orchestral groups and the combination of timbres.

Comparing the sonority strength of each of the long-voiced groups with each other, one can come to the following, albeit approximate, conclusions:

Of the representatives of the most powerful in terms of sonority of the brass group, trumpets, trombones and tubas have the greatest strength. (In forte the horns are two weaker)
Woodwinds in the fort are generally half as strong as horns.
In the piano, all woodwinds and brass instruments can be considered equal.
Comparing the strength of wind instruments with bowed instruments is difficult, since it depends on the number of performers of the latter; however, based on the average composition of a bowed quartet, we can say that in a piano, each bowed part (for example, the first violin, the second, etc.) should be considered equal to one woodwind, for example. one flute, one oboe, clarinet or bassoon; in the fort - each of the stringed parts should be considered equal to two woodwinds, for example. two flutes or clarinet and oboe etc. etc.
Comparing the strength of short-voiced instruments with the strength of long-voiced instruments is even more difficult due to the fact that the methods of taking and producing sound and its nature in both categories of verse differ from each other. The combined forces of the long-voiced groups easily drown out the plucked group with their sonority, especially the gentle sounds of the piano, celesta and col legno. As for bells, bells and xylophones, the different sounds of the latter easily penetrate even the combined forces of long-sounding groups. The same should be said about the ringing, noisy, rustling, crackling and thundering timbres of timpani and all other decorative instruments.
The influence of the timbres of one group on another is reflected in the doubling of the representatives of one by the representatives of the other as follows: the timbres of the woodwind group closely merge, on the one hand, with the timbre of the bowed group, and on the other hand, with the timbre of the brass group. Strengthening and

others, they listen to the timbre of bowed instruments and count the timbre of brass instruments. The timbre of bowed instruments is less able to merge with the timbre of brass instruments; when they are combined, one and the other timbre is heard somewhat separately. The combination of all three timbres in unison gives a condensed, soft and cohesive sonority.

The timbre of a bowed instrument, added to the unison of a wooden instrument, gives the latter only greater coherence and softness, while the predominance of timbre remains with the wind instruments.

imparts only greater density to the bowed unison, and the overall impression is obtained as from bowed unison.

Orchestration Basics

Lectures

Section 3. Regularities of instrumentation and arrangement.

1.1. Orchestral texture. Instrumentation or orchestration is the presentation of a musical work for a certain composition of the orchestra - symphony, wind, folk instruments, accordion orchestra or for various ensembles. This is a creative process, since the concept of the composition, its ideological and emotional content determines the choice of instruments, the alternation of their timbres, the nature of the comparison of individual groups of the orchestra, etc. Quite often one has to turn to piano or accordion pieces, the musical text of which, from the point of view of orchestral texture , has an unfinished appearance. This is explained by the specific presentation of these instruments. To create an orchestral fabric, it is necessary to thoroughly rework the piano or button accordion texture: make changes in the tessitura arrangement of voices, supplement missing voices in harmonic accompaniment, check voice guidance, add pedal sounds, contrapuntal melodies, and supporting voices. In the process of instrumentation, one should take into account such a feature of the orchestral score as duplication of individual textural elements (melody, harmonic accompaniment). Doubling individual voices in different registers. Each voice of the orchestral score, representing a part of the overall sound, performs a specific function. The components of the orchestral texture in the instrumentation for an orchestra of Russian folk instruments are usually called functions. These include: melody, bass, figuration, harmonic pedal, counterpoint. It is necessary to distinguish functions of orchestral texture and harmonic functions.

Unlike the latter, the functions of orchestral texture are determined by the characteristics of one or another type of musical material: monodic, harmonic or polyphonic.

The orchestral texture is:

 a set of means of musical presentation;

 the structure of the musical fabric with its technical structure and composition of musical sonority.

Types of invoice:

1) monodic - one melody, unaccompanied, in unison or in an octave;

(P. Tchaikovsky. Romeo and Juliet. Introduction-2 cl .+2 fag .

2) homophonic-harmonic - a polyphonic type of music, in which one of the voices (usually the upper one) is most important, the rest accompany, accompany; (J. Haydn. Symphony No. 84 Allegro. p. 5-theme v - ni 1-beginning)

(J.Haydn. Symphony No. 84 Allegro. pp. 5-8-12 tutti orchestra)

4) polyphonic - simultaneous sounding of several equal voices;

J.Bach. Brandenburg concerts. Concert F No. 1st.

5) mixed - homophonic-polyphonic, chord-polyphonic, etc.

P. Tchaikovsky. Romeo and Juliet.pp.30-31 chordal, -polyphonic; pp26-27 chord, chord-polyphonic)

Functions of orchestral texture.

Orchestral functions are components of orchestral presentation (orchestral texture).

The orchestral functions include: melody, bass, orchestral pedal, harmonic figuration and counterpoint (backing voice).

The interaction of orchestral functions can be different; it is dictated by the nature of the work and the features of its texture. You need to have a clear understanding of the specifics of each of the orchestral functions and the forms of their interaction.

The melody, in which, first of all, the theme is embodied as a relief memorable material, is the main function of the orchestral texture. Of all the elements of musical fabric, it is the most accessible to perception. The presentation of other components of the texture largely depends on the nature of the melody, the range in which it is located, and the dynamic pattern.

When instrumenting, it is necessary to highlight the main melodic line and strive to ensure that the presentation is not overloaded with secondary voices. Isolation of melody is achieved by a number of techniques:

a) doubling the melody in unison;

b) doubling by an octave or several octaves;

P. Tchaikovsky. Romeo and Juliet. rise

c) carrying out the melody in a contrasting timbre that is different from the other functions; d) holding the melody at a certain distance from the harmonic voices, promoting its isolation.

(J. Haydn. Symphony No. 84 Allegro. p. 5)

Often, over a significant period of time in any work, only one melody without any accompaniment. Sometimes the melody diverges into several voices, forming echoes characteristic of Russian folk songs.

The melody can also be highlighted timbre. A very common technique is to present a melody in a different, contrasting timbre compared to the presentation of other orchestral functions.

When doubling a melody, isolated in an orchestral texture into an independent function, a combination of different timbres in unison sound is often used (for example, alto domras tremolo + button accordion legato, small domras staccato + button accordion staccato, etc.)

(altos legato+ with l. legato, v-ni- staccato+fl.- staccato).

(J. Haydn. Symphony No. 84 Allegro. p. 6 v-ni+fl.)

One of the characteristic techniques is to lead the melody with double notes and chords. ( v - ni 1+2; cor - ni 1,2,3)

(J. Haydn. Symphony No. 84 Allegro. p. 6 A)

In the orchestra of Russian folk instruments, playing the melody with double notes is very common, since double notes are the main technique of playing the balalaika prime. The consistently sustained second voice is usually a harmonic appendage, a kind of “companion” of the melodic line.

Bassis the lowest pitched voice. It defines the harmonic structure of a chord. The isolation of bass into one independent function is due to the fact that its role in the orchestral texture is very significant. In tutti, the bass line can be strengthened by doubling an octave or in unison v - la + vc - lo, vc - lo + c - lo + bason ) -possibly with different strokes ( vc - lo -legato+ c - lo - pizz.)

It is also necessary to mention figured bass. The simplest example of a figured bass is a bass consisting of two alternating sounds: the main one, which determines a given harmony. Located, as a rule, on the stronger beat of the bar, and auxiliary. Most often, the auxiliary bass is the neutral sound of a triad - a fifth if the main sound is a prima, or a prima if the main sound is a third.

P. Tchaikovsky. Concerto for piano and orchestra. page 118. figure 50)

Sometimes there is a more complex figured bass, moving mainly along chord sounds.

Orchestral pedal In an orchestra, sustained harmonic sounds are called.

The pedal is essential. Works without a pedal sound dry, insufficiently rich, and lack the necessary density of orchestral texture.

Most often used for pedals cor-ni, fag., celo, timp . In terms of pitch position, the pedal is most often located below the melody. P. Tchaikovsky. Concerto for piano and orchestra. p. 141 double bass pedal., 65 digits)

The issue of using a pedal in practical instrumentation must always be approached creatively. In works that are transparent in texture, it is advisable to limit even a full harmonic pedal to two or three harmonic sounds in a wide arrangement. (P. Tchaikovsky. Concerto for piano and orchestra. p. 116 bassoons 1,2)

On the contrary, in works with dense harmonic development, and especially in tutti, it is advisable to place the pedal in the entire range of the orchestral sound, taking into account only the laws of the overtone structure of the chord (wide arrangement of the chord in the lower range of the orchestral sound and close in the middle and high).

A special case of the orchestral pedal is a sustained sound that is also a harmonic organ point. P. Tchaikovsky. Concerto for piano and orchestra. page 118. number 50)- timp.

Pedal sound can be sustained not only in the bass. Quite often there are cases when it is maintained in the upper voice.

Harmonic figuration as one of the functions of orchestral texture is based on the repetition, alternation or movement of harmony sounds in various rhythmic combinations.

Harmonic figuration helps to reveal greater independence of harmony. In an orchestra of Russian folk instruments, harmonic figuration is usually assigned to balalaikas second and viola, sometimes with the addition of balalaikas prime or bass balalaikas. Cases of performing harmonic figuration with domras and button accordions are much less common and mainly in combination with figuration with balalaikas.

The simplest harmonic figuration is repeated chords.

A more striking form of harmonic figuration is movement along the sounds of a chord: alternating two sounds, a short slow arpeggio, broken arpeggio, etc. Most often, movement along the sounds of a chord occurs simultaneously in three voices.

Sometimes harmonic figuration combines movement along chord sounds with the use of non-chord sounds. This figuration approaches counterpoint in function.

When presenting harmonic figuration (for example, accompanying figures), orchestrators often resort to changing the direction of movement, introducing the opposite (toward each other) direction of the accompaniment figures, and “placing” a sustained sound (pedal) under the moving voices (see page 35) or a whole group (chord) of sustained sounds. This enriches the sonority, giving it greater richness and compactness. (See examples 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 27, 31, 33).

Harmonic figuration can be performed simultaneously by different groups of instruments, be very complex and varied, and occasionally acquire leading significance.

Counterpoint.This term in an instrumentation course refers to the melody that accompanies the main melodic voice. In this case, counterpoint should stand out in timbre among other orchestral functions. An important consequence of the use of counterpoint is timbre contrast. The degree of timbre contrast of both individual instruments and entire groups of the orchestra is directly dependent on the degree of independence of counterpoint.

Counterpoint in an orchestra can be:

A) canonical imitation of the theme, J. Bach. Brandenburg concerts. Concert F No. 1, page 19, number 23 v - ni picc .+ ob 1.)

B) a secondary theme sounding simultaneously with the main one,

C) a specially composed, independent melodic sequence that differs from the theme in rhythm, direction of movement, character, etc.

Counterpoint, as an orchestral function, is similar to melody, and its development is characterized by the same qualities: isolation by leading into an octave and several octaves, doubling in unison with related timbres and by merging timbres; leading with double notes, chords. When instrumenting counterpoint, it is important to take into account the nature of the development of the theme, on the one hand, and counterpoint, on the other. If counterpoint differs significantly from the theme in rhythmic pattern and register sound, completely homogeneous timbres can be used. If counterpoint and theme have a homogeneous melodic line and are located in the same register, you should, if possible, use different timbre colors for theme and counterpoint.

Interaction of functions in an orchestra. Orchestral functions are used in instrumentation in accordance with certain rules established in orchestral practice.

First of all, the introduction of a particular function in an orchestra occurs at the beginning of a musical phrase (period, sentence, part), and its switching off occurs at the end of the phrase (period, sentence, part).

In addition, the composition of the instruments involved in performing a certain function also, for the most part, does not change from the beginning to the end of the phrase. The only exceptions are those cases when the introduction or switching off of part of the instruments is associated with a crescendo, diminuendo or sforzando of the entire orchestra.

The simplest and most typical presentation in an orchestra of Russian folk instruments consists of three functions: melody, harmonic figuration and bass.

The pedal is added for greater density and compactness of texture in cases where the melody is presented in unison sound, and not in double notes or chords. In order for the orchestral functions to be clearly audible and not merge with each other, each of them must be presented clearly and clearly.

Often several functions are combined without disturbing the harmony of the entire texture. So, for example, a melody played in the bass naturally also performs the function of the bass.

Bass laid out l egato, in the absence of a special pedal in the orchestral texture, takes on the function of a pedal. The bass can be a harmonic figure at the same time.

In cases where harmonic figuration or harmonic pedal have an independent melodic meaning, they are also counterpoint.

When orchestrating, it is very important to take into account the sonority of each instrument or the entire group. It is very difficult to give a comparative table of the power of various instruments, because each of the instruments (especially wind instruments) has a different sound power in one register or another throughout its range.

It is clear even to an inexperienced orchestrator that, for example, a brass group in forte will sound stronger than a woodwind group. But in both forte and piano it is possible to achieve the same strength of sonority in both groups. It would seem that a separate group of strings (for example, 1st violin), due to their numerical superiority, should sound stronger than one woodwind (for example, oboe, flute). But thanks to the bright difference in timbres, an oboe or flute will be clearly audible even when one timbre is superimposed on another, not to mention a solo presentation of a wind part with the accompaniment of a string quintet.

Balancing the strength of sonority can be achieved in various ways, such as doubling:
For example:
1 oboe
2 flutes (low register)
2 horns
1 pipe
violas + clarinet
cello + bassoon
2 horns + 2 bassoons
2 trumpets + 2 oboes
etc.
and in a wide variety of ways, using the character of timbres, dynamic shades, etc.

In addition to the types of presentation listed above, there are a huge number of different orchestral techniques, both well-known and commonly used in different eras by different composers, and especially favorite ones, sometimes invented by certain authors. Each orchestral composer develops his own orchestration techniques that meet his creative and stylistic goals. Each orchestrator approaches the orchestra in his own way, but nevertheless always strictly takes into account the capabilities of the instruments and the specifics of each group.

After the teacher demonstrates various types of orchestral texture using samples from Western and Russian composers, followed by listening to them in a recording, students begin to analyze the score. Throughout an entire part of a familiar piece, students find different types of orchestral texture, analyze the relationship between groups, their combination, etc.