instrumentation summary

instrumentation, also called orchestration, In music, the art of combining instruments based on their capabilities of producing various timbres or colours in any sort of musical composition, including such diverse elements as the numerous combinations used in chamber groups, jazz bands, and symphony orchestras. In Western music there are many traditional groups. A modern symphony orchestra often comprises the following instruments: woodwinds (three flutes, piccolo, three oboes, English horn, three clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons, and contrabassoon), brass (four trumpets, four or five horns, three trombones, and tuba), strings (two harps, first and second violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses), and percussion (four timpani, played by one player, and several other instruments shared by a group of players). The standard instrumental groups of Western chamber music include the string quartet (two violins, viola, and violoncello), the woodwind quintet (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, and bassoon), and the brass quintet (frequently two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba). In addition to these standard groups there are hundreds of other possible combinations. Other groups include those used in popular music, such as the dance band of the 1930s and ’40s, which consisted of five saxophones, four trumpets, four trombones, double bass, piano, guitar, and drums. The music of Asia is frequently performed by groups of chamber music size. In this category fall the music played by the Javanese gamelan orchestra (consisting mainly of tuned gongs and other metal instruments), Japanese gagaku music (performed on flutes, mouth organs, lutes, drums, and gongs), and Chinese music (consisting of sacred, folk, chamber, and operatic music). In general, the larger and more diverse the instrumental group, the more colouristic possibilities it presents to the composer. The smaller groups have a sound character of their own, and the composer is challenged to find interesting ways to deal with this limitation. The symphony orchestra has definite traditions in relation to orchestration. The composer of the 18th century was likely to use instruments in the following manner: the flutes doubling the same part as the first violins; the oboes doubling the second violins or the first violins in octaves; the clarinets doubling the violas; and the bassoons doubling the violoncellos and double basses. Horns were often used as harmonic “filler” and in conjunction with every section of the orchestra because of their ability to blend easily with both stringed and wind instruments. These traditional doublings were not often used in the orchestration of the 19th and 20th centuries because of the improvement in wind instruments and their consequent ability to function in a solo capacity. Wind instruments became more useful for colouring; the flutes, for instance, were noted for their bright tone quality and great technical agility and the bassoons for their special tone quality. Brass instruments had to await the development of valves, which increased the musical proficiency of their players. The string quartet is considered one of the greatest challenges to the composer because contrast is hard to achieve. The composer has to rely on different playing techniques to arrive at varying timbres. This includes pizzicato (plucking the strings), tremolo (the quick reiteration of the same tone), col legno (striking the strings with the wood of the bow), and many other techniques. Timbres of wind instruments can also be altered by playing techniques. For instance, on many, tremolos can be played on two different notes. Flutter tonguing (produced by a rapid rolling movement of the tongue) and similar techniques are also possible on most wind instruments. Muting is a device used on strings and also on brass instruments, particularly the trumpet and trombone. Percussion instruments became a favourite source of colour in the 20th century. Instruments from all over the world are now commonly available and are divided into two categories: definite pitch and indefinite pitch. The former include the xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, timpani, and chimes. Some of the more common instruments of indefinite pitch are the snare drum, tenor drum, tom-tom, bass drum, bongos, Latin American timbales, many types of cymbals, maracas, claves, triangles, gongs, and temple blocks. The keyboard instruments commonly available today are the harpsichord, celesta, organ, and piano. The colours they produce are different largely because of the manner in which the instrument produces sound: the harpsichord has quills that pluck the strings, the piano has hammers that strike the strings, the pipe organ sends air through a pipe, and the electronic organ employs electronic oscillators to produce its sound. The piano, with its wide range, ability to alter dynamics rapidly, and capacity to sustain sounds, can function as a “one-person orchestra.” In the 20th century composers explored previously ignored possibilities of the harplike inside of the grand piano. The “prepared” piano, for example, uses objects such as bolts, pennies, and erasers inserted between the strings, which produce many different sounds. The piano strings can also be plucked or played with percussion mallets and can produce harmonics in the manner of non-keyboard stringed instruments. Electric instruments gained popularity in the mid-20th century. They either produce sound by means of electronic oscillators or are amplified acoustic instruments. The timbres produced by electronics are unusual for a number of reasons. The electric guitar, for example, has such devices as reverberation controls, “wa-wa” pedals, and filters that enable the performer to change timbre radically in the middle of a performance. The choir is an instrument capable of great subtleties of colour, even though singers are usually not capable of singing notes that are far apart in range. Attention must be paid to the vocal qualities of vowel sounds as well as to the way in which the consonants are treated. The development of the art of using instruments for their individual properties did not really begin in Western music until about 1600. The known history of musical instruments goes back 40,000 years, but nothing is known about the music they produced. The Greeks left only a small amount of extant music, the Romans used instruments in military bands, and the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance was primarily vocal. In the 16th century Giovanni Gabrieli, organist of St. Mark’s in Venice, was the first composer to designate specific instruments for each part in a composition, as in his Sacrae symphoniae (1597). When Claudio Monteverdi’s opera Orfeo was performed in 1607, a composer for the first time specified exactly which instruments were to be used in order to heighten certain dramatic moments. In the 18th century Jean-Philippe Rameau was probably the first composer to treat each instrument of the orchestra as a separate entity, and he introduced unexpected passages for flutes, oboes, and bassoons. The orchestra was standardized during the Classical era. It came to consist of strings (first and second violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses), two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two or four horns, two trumpets, and two timpani. Joseph Haydn introduced clarinets as part of the woodwind section, as well as the following innovations: trumpets were used independently instead of doubling the horns, cellos were separated from the double basses, and woodwind instruments were often given the main melodic line. In Symphony No. 100 in G Major (Military) Haydn introduced percussion instruments not normally used—namely, triangle, hand cymbals, and bass drum. Beethoven augmented the orchestra with a piccolo, contrabassoon, and third and fourth horn. The Ninth Symphony has one passage calling for triangle, cymbals, and bass drum. The Romantic era was characterized by great strides in the art of instrumentation, and the use of instrumental colour became one of the most salient features of this music. During this time the piano came into its own as a source of interesting sonorities, the orchestra expanded in size and scope, new instruments were added, and old instruments were improved and made more versatile. Hector Berlioz made use of colour to depict or suggest events in his music, which was frequently programmatic in character. The colouristic ideas in Berlioz’s music reached a culmination in the music of Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler. The composers of the late 19th century attempted to describe scenes and evoke moods by the use of rich harmonies and a wide palette of timbre. Claude Debussy, for example, used orchestral instruments to create light and shadow. Many 20th-century composers brought about radical changes in the use of the orchestra. A good example of some of these changes is in The Rite of Spring (1913), by Igor Stravinsky. The strings frequently do not assume a dominant role but are subservient to the brass or woodwinds. Edgard Varèse composed Ionisation (1931) for 13 percussion players, a landmark in the emergence of percussion instruments as equal partners in music. By the 1960s many composers were writing works for electronic sounds and instruments. Electronic sounds are capable of incredibly subtle changes of timbre, pitch, and mode of attack. When combined with traditional instruments, they add a rich new spectrum of colour. Another 20th-century trend was away from large orchestras and toward chamber ensembles, often of nontraditional combinations. A practice that was much employed in the same century was the writing of arrangements and transcriptions. A transcription is essentially the adaptation of a composition for an instrument or instruments other than those for which it was originally written. An arrangement is a similar procedure, although the arranger often takes liberties with elements of the original score. In the 18th and 19th centuries chamber and orchestral music was transcribed for the piano for the purpose of study and for the pleasure of playing at home. This practice continued into the 21st century. Much of Asian music has entirely different aesthetic aims. The concept of contrast created through the various “choirs” of the Western orchestra is not a primary concern. In Indian music, for example, a specific timbre is established for an entire composition.