Principles of Orchestration, with Musical Examples Drawn from His Own Works
Transcriber’s Notes
About this eBook: This eBook was prepared from a 1964 reprint published by Dover Publications, Inc., New York, which in turn was prepared from the two-volume 1922 English translation published by Édition Russe de Musique, Paris.
Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note. Other apparent errors are underlined in red with a popup Transcriber's Note.
All MP3 files were created by the Transcriber using Finale with Garritan Personal Orchestra, which employs sound samples of actual musical instruments, except for vocal solos. The MusicXML files were created automatically in Finale and have not been edited further. They reflect primarily the sound of the music, not its appearance. Some workarounds were employed to address minor limitations and bugs in Finale and Garritan that affected the sound (e.g., empty measures at the beginning and/or end of a piece to avoid abrupt cut-offs; changes in dynamics; expansion of shared staves where instruments are doubled; instrument substitutions; etc.). Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note; other questionable items are noted in the MusicXML file.
In his Memoirs of my musical life (1st edition, p. 120) the following passage occurs: I had planned to devote all my energies to the compilation of a full treatise on orchestration. To this end I made several rough copies, jotting down explanatory notes detailing the technique of different instruments. What I intended to present to the world on this subject, was to include everything . The writing of this treatise, or, to be more exact, the sketch for it took up most of my time in the years 1873 and 1874. After reading the works of Tyndall and Helmholtz, I framed an introduction to my work, in which I endeavoured to expound the laws of acoustics as applied to the principles governing the construction of musical instruments. My manual was to begin with a detailed list of instruments, classified in groups and tabulated, including a description of the various systems in use at the present day. I had not yet thought of the second part of the book which was to be devoted to instruments in combination. But I soon realised that I had gone too far. With wind instruments in particular, the different systems were innumerable, and each manufacturer favoured his own pet theory. By the addition of a certain key the maker endowed his instrument with the possibility of a new trill, and made some difficult passages more playable than on an instrument of another kind.
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
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NIKOLAY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV
Text
Musical Examples
A. Stringed Instruments.
B. Wind instruments.
Wood-wind.
Table B. Wind group.
Brass.
C. Instruments of little sustaining power.
Plucked strings.
Pizzicato.
Harp.
Kettle-drums.
Pizzicato.
Piano and Celesta.
Glockenspiel, Bells, Xylophone.
Percussion instruments producing indefinite sounds.
Melody in stringed instruments.
a) Violins.
b) Violas.
c) Violoncellos.
d) Double basses.
Grouping in unison.
Stringed instruments doubling in octaves.
Melody in double octaves.
Doubling in three and four octaves.
Melody in thirds and sixths.
Melody in the wood-wind.
Combination in unison.
Combination in octaves.
Doubling in two, three and four octaves.
Melody in thirds and sixths.
Thirds and sixths together.
Melody in the brass.
Brass in unison, in octaves, thirds and sixths.
Melody in different groups of instruments combined together.
A. Combination of wind and brass in unison.
B. Combination of wind and brass in octaves.
Examples of doubling in octaves:
C. Combination of strings and wind.
D. Combination of strings and brass.
E. Combination of the three groups.
General observations.
Number of harmonic parts—Duplication.
Distribution of notes in chords.
String harmony.
Wood-wind harmony.
Four-part and three-part harmony.
Harmony in several parts.
Duplication of timbres.
Remarks.
Harmony in the brass.
Four-part writing.
Three-part writing.
Writing in several parts.
Duplication in the brass.
Harmony in combined groups.
A. Combination of wind and brass.
B. Combination of strings and wind.
C. Combination of the three groups.
Different ways of orchestrating the same music.
Limits of orchestral range.
Transference of passages and phrases.
Chords of different tone quality used alternately.
Amplification and elimination of tone qualities.
Repetition of phrases, imitation, echo.
Method of emphasising certain notes and chords.
Diverging and converging progressions.
Tone quality as a harmonic force.
Harmonic basis.
Artificial effects.
Use of percussion instruments for rhythm and colour.
Economy in orchestral colour.
Orchestral accompaniment of solo voices.
General remarks.
Transparence of accompaniment. Harmony.
Doubling voices in the orchestra.
Recitative and declamation.
Orchestral accompaniment of the chorus.
Solo voice with chorus.
Instruments on the stage and in the wings.
Technical Terms.
Soloists.
Range and register.
Vocalisation.
Vowels.
Flexibility.
Colour and character of voices.
Voices in combination.
Duet.
Trios, quartets etc.
Chorus.
Range and register.
Melody.
A. Mixed chorus.
Chorus in unison.
Progression in octaves.
B. Men’s chorus and women’s chorus.
FOOTNOTES
P. JURGENSON, publisher, Moscow.
M.P. BELAIEFF, publisher, Leipzig.