Anatomy of the Orchestra [Hardcover]

Norman Del Mar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1981

Before his death in 1994, Norman Del Mar was acknowledged as one of the world's foremost authorities on the orchestra. Anatomy of the Orchestra is written not only for fellow conductors, players, students, and professional musicians, but also for everyone interested in the performance of orchestral music.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Norman Del Mar (1919-1994) was a distinguished British conductor, musicologist and biographer. He was recognised as a leading authority on Richard Strauss, and his major three-volume work on his life and music remains a classic. He is also remembered for his recordings of British music, in particular Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Delius and Britten. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (December 15, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520045009
• ISBN-13: 978-0520045002
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,347,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyone Buy it!, January 4, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Anatomy of the Orchestra (Paperback)

Anyone with a more than passing interest in Orchestral music should try this one. Especially good for young players in school or civic orchestras. It desecribes what everyone's job is, how they play different effects, hangups, foibles, etc...

Tells you why Horns don't like sitting in front of percussion. Why the tympanist won't play other percussion, but the the rest of the kitchen dept is running around playing 3 and four different instruments.

It talks a lot about keys, notes, and has many copies of the score for illustration, but if you don't read music don't despair... your enjoyment should not be diminished.

When to disagree with the conductor...

And describes the curious relations amongst all those infighting violins.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Musicians Must, January 24, 2002

By 

Hermes Camacho "MusicianHermes" (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anatomy of the Orchestra (Paperback)

This is a well-written and thought-out text about the modern day symphony orchestra. It provides and analysis of every instrument in the orchestra, it's purposes, the sound it produces, and the possibilities. Norman Del Mar's book is a must for music students and professionals alike.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful book that is NOT an orchestration textbook., November 5, 2009

By 

Roland Hutchinson (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Anatomy of the Orchestra (Paperback)

The thing to understand about this brilliant and indispensable handbook is that it is NOT an orchestration textbook. Orchestration textbooks look at the instruments of the orchestra purely from the viewpoint of what composers or arrangers need to know. This book, on the other hand, dissects the orchestra with a view to explaining what a conductor needs to know, and it is also useful for players who want to understand more about the other sections of the orchestra (or about their own!) and for serious listeners and musicians of all kinds who want to understand the workings and the resources of a modern symphony orchestra.

Naturally there is some overlap between the information presented here and what would be found in an orchestration textbook, but this would be a (very valuable) supplement rather than the main textbook for a student of orchestration. (Likewise, in the opposite direction, conducting students will of course benefit from an in-depth study of orchestration as a crucial supplement to what this book will teach them!)

There are other guides to the orchestra and its instruments for youngsters and laypersons, written at a more elementary level -- but for the professional or aspiring professional musician, this book is both unique and uniquely valuable.