In order to stress or emphasise a certain note or chord, besides the marks of expression
and sf, chords of 2, 3, and 4 notes can be inserted into the melodic progression by the instruments of the string quartet, each playing a single note; short notes in the wood-wind may also be used as well as a chain of three or four grace notes, in the form of a scale, either in strings or wood-wind. These unstressed notes (anacrusis), generally written very small, form a kind of upward glide, the downward direction being less common. As a rule they are connected to the main note by a slur. In the strings they should not lead up to chords of three or four notes, as this would be awkward for the bow.
Examples:
[No. 254.] The Tsar's Bride 142—Anacrusis in the strings.
* [No. 255.] Shéhérazade, 2nd movement C—Short pizz. chords.
* """ P—Short wind chords (cf. [Ex. 19]).
Crescendo and diminuendo.
Short crescendi and diminuendi are generally produced by natural dynamic means; when prolonged, they are obtained by this method combined with other orchestral devices. After the strings, the brass is the group most facile in producing dynamic shades of expression, glorifying crescendo chords into the most brilliant sforzando climaxes. Clarinets specialise in diminuendo effects and are capable of decreasing their tone to a breath (morendo). Prolonged orchestral crescendi are obtained by the gradual addition of other instruments in the following order: strings, wood-wind, brass. Diminuendo effects are accomplished by the elimination of the instruments in the reverse order (brass, wood-wind, strings). The scope of this work does not lend itself to the quotation of prolonged crescendo and diminuendo passages. The reader is referred, therefore, to the full scores:
* Shéhérazade, pp. 5-7, 92-96, 192-200.