What Is Orchestration ?
Nowadays we talk about politicians "orchestrating" this or that, or governments. But the art of writing orchestral music is where the term actually comes from. It's a complex and fascinating subject. Aspiring composers and other music students study orchestration at music schools and colleges and universities everywhere. So did I. And some important composers have written books and treatises on it, such as Hector Berlioz and Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov.
If a composer is going to write a symphony, concerto, or other orchestral work, he or she had better know how best to write for an orchestra, how to make the best use of it, and how to make that work sound as good at it can. The composer should know what each individual instrument can or can't do, and how to combine the different sections of the orchestra in the most effective way.
For example, one of the most basic things to know is what notes each instrument can or cannot play. Each instrument has its own range of notes it can play. It you write a note that is either too low or too high for an instrument to play, performance of your work will be impractical. A violin can go way up high in the stratosphere, but can only go so low. A French horn has a range of about four octaves, but can't go above a certain pitch. And high notes are always difficult for most players. They are always a risk for being missed, and using too many high notes is physically fatiguing for the lips, which can take only so much pressure.
The lowest pitches on a flute can sound atmospheric, but should not be used in loud passages , because they are just too weak to be heard.
Certain composera are famous for their brilliant and colorful orchestration, and others have not been as skilled in it. Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869 ) was the first composer to turn orchestration into something spectacular ; he used orchestras of unprecedented size and made use of instruments that had previously been little used, such as piccolo, English horn, trombones, and percussion etc. His treatise on orchestration is still a classic.
So is the one by Russian Nikolai Rimsky- Korsakov (1844 - 1908 ). In this he uses only examples from his own orchestral works, such as the famous Oriental suite "Scheherezade". He orchestrated some of the music of his brilliant but erratic composer friend Modest Mussorgsky, (1839 - 1881 ), who was almost entirely self taught and was considered lacking in technical skill as a composer. Mussorgsky wrote Pictures at an Exhibition for piano, and decades later, Maurice Ravel of Bolero fame turned it into a spectacular work for orchestra. Rimsky re-orchestrated Mussorgsky's great historical opera "Boris Godunov", and made the orchestration much slicker and morerful, but many feel that he removed the original's primitive power.
He also watered down some of the daring unconventional harmonies of the original. But he made a previously obscure operatic masterpiece famous. Nowadays, the original orchestration is usually used, with some adjustments by other composers.
Richard Strauss (1864 - 1949 ), no relation to waltz king Johann, is also famous for his dazzling orchestration. He often wrote for enormous orchestras and in his dazzlingly vivid "Alpine Symphony", (actually a tone poem), he describes a day climbing in the Bavarian alps. For the section describing a torrential storm, he calls for a thunder machine ! The enormous orchestra calls for 12 extra French horns playing offstage, as well as 8 in the orchestra, including the Wagner tubas . No wonder it isn't played that often. But it's a spectacular experience live, and there are some excellent recordings.
Robert Schumann ( 1810 - 1856 ) was a very great composer, but has often been criticized for his thick, ineffective orchestration. His four wonderful symphonies have often been subjected by many conductors to adjustments in the attempt to make them sound better. Famous symphonist and conductor Gustav Mahler ( 1860 - 1911 ) made and published an extensive re-orchestration of the four symphonies, and these have been recently recorded by the noted Italian conductor Riccardo Chailly ( 1953 -), for Decca records.
Some people ask whether classical composeras actually orchestrate their own music, rather than leaving it to professional orchestrators as broadway composers such as Richard Rogers and others have always done. This has occaisionally happened, as when a composer died before orchestrating a work, or didn't feel confident in his ability to orchestrate, but the overwhelming majority of great composers wouldn't dream of letting any one else do it. After all, you wouldn't expect great painters such as Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Monet and others to just draw the lines and have some one else fill in the colors.