The Evolution of Modern Orchestration

by Louis Adolphe Coerne

I.

Berlioz[51] (1803-1869). The contributions of Berlioz to the development of "program" music and to modern science of orchestration loom up in gigantic proportions. He was practically the first representative of the New Movement, but contrary to the natural course of evolution, he was not only its founder but at once its most radical exponent as well. Liszt in his younger days heard some of Berlioz's compositions in Paris, and it was thus that the new seed was transplanted into Germany where it was cultivated in concert music by Liszt himself, who thereby in turn influenced Wagner's music dramas. The difference in objective between the principles laid down by Schumann and Berlioz was that the former aimed to portray a single independent thought or image, whereas Berlioz's music was connected with a series of events or ideas. His objective was to make the music symbolic of images and conceptions that should be capable of being expressed in words, and his pseudo-symphonies were accompanied by an elaborate word exposition as a running commentary on the music. As the result of his activity, the dawn of a new era in concert music appeared in France. As the chief representative of her romantic musical art, he combined dramatic and symphonic effects. As an opera composer he was not successful, but he seized upon the orchestral experiments of the contemporary operatic composers, and endeavored to express theatrical ideas by means of the orchestra alone. Henceforth the power of description was to be entrusted to music itself and not to the accessories of the stage.

Berlioz represents the ultra-realistic school of instrumental music. His works are the reflection of his own temperament and individuality. His somewhat eccentric genius displayed itself in grandiose, weird and picturesque effects, in exaggeration, morbidness, vivid portrayal, and in extravagant orchestral demands. The primary object was tone-color in its own right, an object that was foreign to the more æsthetic ideals of the classicists. He was the most daring orchestral writer that has ever lived, but his originality was confined to the scoring rather than to the musical substance of his works. When transcribed for pianoforte they lose their fascination. He was a veritable poet in sound, and he sought in every possible way to intensify characteristic expression.

To enlarge upon the details of Berlioz's instrumentation would be futile, for his standard treatise is a familiar book of reference to all music lovers. It is therefore permissible to make mention of only the most important of his innovations. Moreover, in order to realize the magnitude of Berlioz's achievements, one should keep clearly in mind the exact extent to which orchestral evolution had advanced before his day; for many effects that were then strikingly new are now the property of all and excite no comment. The distinctive features of his orchestration are power of musical description; new combinations, new effects, new treatment; insight into the characteristics of the instruments whereby their possibilities both individual and collective are demonstrated; excessive polyphony and complicated rhythm. He removed many prejudices even though many of his experiments are impracticable.

The "Symphonie fantastique—An Episode in the Life of an Artist" offers the best illustrations for studying his programmatic methods. The dimensions of the orchestra are kept within bounds, being augmented by but a few additional instruments such as two opheicleides and two pair of kettle-drums.[52] No more poetic duet or instrumental dialogue can be found than that between the oboe and English horn in the third movement—"In the Fields"[53]—where they represent two lovers in the guise of a shepherd and shepherdess. The March to Execution,[54] and the Witches' Revel are fine examples of dramatic intensity and accentuated volume of sound. "Lélio," a symphonic poem with vocal music, which was intended as a sequel to the "Symphonie fantastique," contains parts for four clarinets. This was consistent with Berlioz's tendency to employ homogeneous tone-color in full four-part harmony. The pianoforte is also introduced into the Finale of the same work. The huge dimensions of the Requiem or "Messe des Morts" are exceptional and should not be cited as being typical of Berlioz's usual methods of scoring. Tremendous combinations are brought into use for the Sanctus, the Tuba mirum, and the Agnus Dei. They include twelve horns, sixteen trombones, and eight pair of kettle-drums. Of uttermost impressiveness is the Tuba mirum with its four separate orchestras of brass instruments stationed at the four corners of the stage or of the auditorium itself. The various types of instruments of percussion received the most careful consideration even to minuteness of detail. The Requiem presents one of the earliest examples of employing three flutes. Berlioz selected the viola as the central figure for his symphony "Harold en Italie."[55] Its functions are to impersonate Childe Harold himself, to portray his impressions and emotions, to supply the rôle, so to speak, of a vocal interpreter. The ravishing effects elicited from the harmonics of divided violins combined with those of the harp will be recalled in the Queen Mab scherzo of "Roméo et Juliette." The score of the Biblical trilogy "L'Enfance du Christ" contains some curious passages of interwoven viola and 'cello parts. The charming ballet is performed by three flutes and a harp. Berlioz's greatest work is unquestionably the dramatic legend "La Damnation de Faust." Nothing can be daintier than the Dance of the Sylphs; nothing sadder than the portrayal of Marguerite's remorse by an English horn; nothing more brutal than the Chorus of Students, accompanied by viola, double-bass, bassoon, horn and tuba—all in unison.

In conclusion, Berlioz must be accredited with having anticipated many effects that were subsequently elaborated upon by Wagner. Unfortunately the potency of Berlioz's music depends almost entirely upon orchestral tone-color; on the other hand, the unadorned substance of Wagner's music will withstand the closest scrutiny. Berlioz frequently assigned to the orchestra and specially to the strings a large number of independent parts which were further enhanced by simultaneously contrasted rhythm. This contrast was, moreover, applied to instruments of the same group, such as first and second violins. The violins are divided at times into as many as six and eight parts, the 'cellos into four, whereas in "Cinq mai" he wrote five actual parts for the double-basses. He appreciated the true value of the viola, and was the first to introduce the harp into the symphonic orchestra. The wind-instruments are often split up into what might be called separate little orchestras. Families of affiliated tone-color are represented by three and frequently four members. It was Berlioz that discovered the richness of pianissimo brass effects, and the substitution of the tuba for the opheicleide is due largely to him. He made divers experiments with many varieties of instruments of percussion apart from those with kettle-drums. In the Te Deum for three choirs, orchestra and organ, no less than five pair of cymbals are required. His occasional demands for an enormous apparatus were certainly extravagant; nevertheless he rarely used the full force of their combined strength excepting in isolated cases.

II.

Liszt (1811-1886). It is not proposed to analyze Liszt's rich and heavy orchestration, for the importance of his orchestral works consists rather of the bearing they have upon the unfettered form, the freedom of tonality and the novelty of treatment that characterize the New German School. The scoring of his symphonic poems is masterful, highly colored and ingenious. But although it bears the unmistakable stamp of his own personality, the orchestration embodies nothing conspicuously new. Beethoven and the early romanticists, Berlioz, and above all Wagner were his models in instrumentation. Favored by the opportunities afforded him in consequence of his precocious genius when but a mere child, Liszt's impressionable temperament seized upon the progressive tendencies of the times, thereby strengthening the already half-formed conviction that music should be descriptive, representative, reproductive, realistic. After hearing Berlioz's "Episode de la vie d'un artiste" he proceeded to develop his own talent along similar though individual lines, and thus became the champion of German "program" music. As has been previously stated, these doctrines of Berlioz and of Liszt were destined to be reflected in Wagner's works, for though the latter at first condemned such doctrines in no uncertain terms, his opinions subsequently underwent a radical change. In his monograph on Liszt's symphonic poems he says:—"Program-music does not aim to override speech or the plastic arts and represent things accessible to them only, but rather forms a special kind of union of two independent factors: poetry and music."

Now although Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony, Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave" and Raff's "Lenore" were all in the direct evolutionary line of descriptive music, Liszt soon perceived that classic forms were indeed the ideal vehicle for abstract and purely æsthetic music, but could not be successfully applied to portray a series of emotions, events or ideas. This discovery led him to modify the cyclic form of the symphony which became transformed into the symphonic poem with its continuity of music, monothematic principle and absence of conventional formulas. He retained all the symphonic expedients of thematic development, but form was now subjective to the program. His methods were simpler and can be more readily grasped than those of Berlioz. The range of subject was cosmopolitan, and the introduction of national traits, such as the Hungarian element, resulted in what Dickinson calls "shaping and coloring the work through imagined correspondences." Liszt's symphonic poem "Les Préludes" affords the best illustration of his aims and ideals. "Eine Faust Symphonie" embodies the suggestion of personal qualities by means of music. The oratorios "Christus" and "Die Legende der heiligen Elizabeth" display novel treatment as well as a departure from traditional forms.