General Observations. Balance and correct distribution of tone is much more important in dealing with long sustained chords or those of rhythmic design; in the case of short, disconnected chords resonance is a minor consideration, but one which should not be entirely neglected.
I have endeavoured to outline the general principles to be followed, but I do not profess to deal with all the countless cases which may arise in the course of orchestration. I have given a few examples of well-sounding chords; for further information I advise the reader to study full scores with care, as this is the only method to acquire perfect knowledge of the distribution and doubling of various instruments.
Chapter IV.
COMPOSITION OF THE ORCHESTRA.
Different ways of orchestrating the same music.
There are times when the general tone, character and atmosphere of a passage, or a given moment in an orchestral work point to one, and only one particular manner of scoring. The following simple example will serve for explanation. Take a short phrase where a flourish or fanfare call is given out above a tremolando accompaniment, with or without change in harmony. There is no doubt that any orchestrator would assign the tremolo to the strings and the fanfare to a trumpet, never vice versa. But taking this for granted, the composer or orchestrator may still be left in doubt. Is the fanfare flourish suitable to the range of a trumpet? Should it be written for two or three trumpets in unison, or doubled by other instruments? Can any of these methods be employed without damaging the musical meaning? These are questions which I shall endeavour to answer.
If the phrase is too low in register for the trumpets it should be given to the horns (instruments allied to the trumpet); if the phrase is too high it may be entrusted to the oboes and clarinets in unison, this combination possessing the closest resemblance to the trumpet tone both in character and power. The question whether one trumpet or two should be employed must be decided by the degree of power to be vested in the given passage. If a big sonorous effect is required the instruments may be doubled, tripled, or even multiplied by four; in the opposite case one solo brass instrument, or two of the wood-wind will suffice (1 Ob. + 1 Cl.). The question whether the tremolo in the strings should be supported by sustained harmony in the wood-wind depends upon the purpose in view. A composer realises his intentions beforehand, others who orchestrate his music can only proceed by conjecture. Should the composer desire to establish a strongly-marked difference between the harmonic basis and the melodic outline it is better not to employ wood-wind harmony, but to obtain proper balance of tone by carefully distributing his dynamic marks of expression, pp, p, f and ff. If, on the contrary, the composer desires a full round tone as harmonic basis and less show of brilliance in the harmonic parts, the use of harmony in the wood-wind is to be recommended. The following may serve as a guide to the scoring of wood-wind chords: the harmonic basis should differ from the melody not only in fullness and intensity of tone, but also in colour. If the fanfare figure is allotted to the brass (trumpets or horns) the harmony should be given to the wood-wind; if the phrase is given to the wood-wind (oboes and clarinets) the harmony should be entrusted to the horns. To solve all these questions successfully a composer must have full knowledge of the purpose he has in view, and those who orchestrate his work should be permeated with his intentions. Here the question arises, what should those intentions be? This is a more difficult subject.