Orchestral Combinations: The Science and Art of Instrumental Tone-Color [Hardcover]

Gardner Read (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004

This resource seeks to demonstrate what specific instrumental combinations have intrigued composers of the past and present and to suggest other groupings that may prove to be of equal validity and tonal interest. The book is designed to be a thesaurus of orchestral combinations, a lexicon of the science and art of fusing timbre and sonority in symphonic scoring. Few standard manuals devote such attention to this fascinating question as it directly relates to the imaginative deployment of the orchestral instruments.

It indicates to the curious composer-orchestrator what instrumental combinations are both feasible and tonally viable. This is accomplished by the cataloging of hundreds of couplings-each is considered first as related to each individual choir of the orchestra and then as to the various possibilities between the component orchestral sections. While not every instrumental combination is considered, nearly all of the practical couplings between instruments have been included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...the author fulfills the need for a book that is concerned solely with the question of timbre as it relates to the disribution of the orchestral instruments...includes a useful bibliography and an index of instrumental techniques. This book should prove to be a valuable reference to the composer or orchestrator who wants to further investigate the hundreds of instrumental combinations presented in the text. It may also help the musician seeking to understand how a composer creates a certain sound or tone color. (Music Educators Journal )

About the Author

Gardner Read has enjoyed a prolific and varied career as composer, conductor, teacher, and author. He was appointed composer-in-residence and professor of composition at the School of Music, Boston University, retiring as Professor Emeritus in 1978. He is the recipient of many awards for composition and performance. This is his ninth book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scarecrow Press (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810848147
• ISBN-13: 978-0810848146
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,563,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book but deceptive title, June 10, 2006

By 

Anna Kuklosis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Orchestral Combinations: The Science and Art of Instrumental Tone-Color (Hardcover)

NB: from an unqualified amateur cf. professional orchestrator etc

I loaned a copy of this from the British library on the strength of the title, however, the content of the book is not at all represented by this title - emphasis on the word Science might logically lead one to think that the book contains a significant content in the areas of musical acoustics or perceptual psychology etc. related to instrument combinations. However, as the author himself states (paraphrase) the book is nothing more than a compendium/reference of instrument combinations (usually doublings) from the 'classical repertoire'. eg. Instrument X is octave doubled with Instrument Y in the work Z. Hundreds of such combinations are cited but in many cases the accompanying comments are no more than a couple of qualitative descriptive sentences. In many cases then to really appreciate the character of the cited combination it becomes essential to access a recording/score - this makes the book's utility then to a significant degree exclusively for those with access to a major university library etc. (although you could listen to samples on Amazon I suppose) If you read the book from cover to cover and made notes some general principles of instrument combination could be constructed from these, however, the main function of the book would seem to be as a reference of illustrative/quintessential example works for 'professional'(ie. those with the time to both seek out and listen to all these) composers and orchestrators and concert programmers etc.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A needed compendium, March 2, 2008

By 

Sergio Cervetti "Double Magnum" (Bucks County PA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Orchestral Combinations: The Science and Art of Instrumental Tone-Color (Hardcover)

This is a much needed compendium of instrumental combinations that composers should have in mind when writing for orchestra. The only thing missing here -for teaching purposes that is- is a CD with the aural illustration of the examples given in the book. I truly value this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another great reference book from Dr. Read, April 25, 2005

By 

Russell Nadel "composer and music educator" (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Orchestral Combinations: The Science and Art of Instrumental Tone-Color (Hardcover)

This book seems to be the latest complementary text to this amazing and prolific author's encyclopedic output of musical reference materials. It sets out in detailed and clear sections examples of important classical (up through the late 20th century) repertoire featuring two-or-more-instrument "orchestral combinations" of interest - i.e., anything from violin and viola to cello and contrabassoon. The most useful examples that Read provides, I feel, are the ones with his comments and insights, which are right on the mark; otherwise, this text is a very valuable cross-referencing resource for the aspiring orchestrator. The only (very slight) disappointment I had regarding this book was that it only deals with orchestral doublings at the unison and at the octave (or multiple-octave), although I suppose that trying to do even more would have required an immensely larger text. In any case, well worth the investment for someone who spends a lot of time writing or analyzing orchestral music.