THE STUDY OF ORCHESTRATION.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 43, 24 October 1891, Page 505

THE STUDY OF ORCHESTRATION.

WHATEVER may be claimed for the merits of orchestration of the modern school of music, it must be said that much of the simplicity (and, therefore, beauty) of the orchestral work of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart has been lost to music, so to speak. The manner in which the brass is used, for instance, in a score of the old masters and in a score of one of the more modern masters differs greatly. Simplicity is one of the most difficult things to obtain in art, and simplicity in orchestration is something very much to be souglit after as maintaining one of the truest principles of musical art. It is true that a master of orchestral writing is given a poetic license, or rather assumes that license to introduce effects which the critic may decide as being beyond the bounds of true art. Berlioz may be said to have used bizarre effects which have at times over-coloured what, without the redundancy of instrumentation, was beautiful art work. The orchestral instruments are capable of a very extensive and what might be called flexible use in music. The combinations which may be made with them in a score are almost innumerable. After the composer has become familiar with the technical uses of the various instruments, their combination in a score for artistic purposes becomes largely a matter of ;esthetic taste ; a taste which is likely to be practically exercised according to the quality and extent of his natural endow - raents. Every eminent orchestral composer exhibits a style peculiarly his own, and may be recognised by that style, as a rule, just as the worker in literature may be recognised in his production by his style. The tendency to overcrowd, or in other words to over colour, his score is one of the most marked faults of the young composer, because to secure a rare effect with scant means is one of the tests of musical genius ; or, for that matter, of'genius of any description. The student of music may diligently acquire a practical knowledge of counterpoint and orchestration ; but to use this knowledge in practical musical composition is quite another thing, and demands of him the exercise of innate poetic conception, if he has any. The student may be gifted to acquire a knowledge of the analytical side of music, for which he will possess a large portion of the actual technical Knowledge of the composer ; but the synthetical side of the art requires a different set of faculties or gifts, going to prove the generally accepted fact that an individual may acquire a theoretical and practical knowledge of music without being at all gifted as a composer. The faculty, therefore, of artistic orchestration is a natural as well as an acquired gift in the musician.

The more the student studies, the more he will become convinced that the innovations introduced in orchestral writing by many modern composers are of questionable value to musical art, and are the best examples of the idiosyncrasies of musical genius rather than their rules, if genius may be said to be bound by rules. The scores of Wagner are the last which should be taken as models by the young student of orchestral composition. Not that they do not exhibit great musical genius and a strongly marked intellectuality, but because they are to a great extent the unique productions of a colossal individuality which was a ‘ law unto itself.’ Few can doubt Wagner’s genius as a musician; but, at least to the young student, his musical fancies, while they are the work of genius (as all genius is given to more or less fancy) are not likely toserve as a model in pure, exact, and delicate orchestration. We, of course, set no limit to the study of Wagner’s scores on the part of the advanced musician ; but the young student had better leave them for his most advanced studies.

The study of orchestration presupposes a knowledge on the part of the student of harmony, counterpoint, canon, and fugue. His first exercises after he has learnt the compass and qualities of the instruments should be in writing for the strings alone, then for the family of wood wind instruments, and lastly for the brass. After he has become familiar with these three groups of instruments separately, he must learn to combine them. Then he is fairly launched on the practical study of orchestration, with its many difficulties, contradictions, and discouragements. He will find it by no means easy work, but diligent and systematic study will vanquish many of the difficulties. It will be best for him to confine himself strictly to rules, and not to attempt early in his career any colouring or combination of instruments which is not governed by the plain, simple rules of orchestration. He needs to be particular not to employ the brasses too freely, as they are likely to destroy the effect of the strings and reed instruments. It is also necessary to avoid the mistake which young orchestral writers are likely to fall into, of writing outside of the possible compass of the instruments. He will, of course, learn by means of his mistakes, and he will be liable to make many mistakes before he acquires a fair amount of knowledge of practical orchestration.