Orchestration

Notes:

Blatter 1-14 The Orchestral Score

What is an orchestral score?

1. The workbench on which the piece is assembled
2. A form of communication to the conductor, effectively conveying what the piece is.
a. The conductors role[s]
i. To interpret the music for the ensemble [Balancing dynamics / timbres,
adjusting sounds, interpreting / synching articulations, etc.]
ii. To run rehearsals [spotting mistakes, isolating sections / groupings that
need to be rehearsed, coordinating the ensemble, Giving shape to the
section leaders tasks]
iii. To energize and lead the ensemble expressively in performance.
3. Communicates to the performer their individual instructions.
a. The section principles role[s]:
i. Acts as an ambassador / representative between the conductor and section
ii. Coordinates / determines bowings, breathing spots, other phrasing
elements for the section
iii. Takes solo sections when they are specified by the composer.
b. Rank-and-file players role: To blend and follow the indications in the score to a T.



























 Orchestral notation score Order

Woodwinds
Flutes
Flute [Common]
Piccolo1 [Common]
Alto Flute [Somewhat rare]
Bass Flute [Extremely rare]
Oboes
Oboe [Common]
English Horn [Somewhat common]
Oboe dAmore [Extremely rare]
Clarinets
Eb or D Piccolo Clarinet [Somewhat rare]
Bb / A Clarinet [Common]
Eb Alto Clarinet [Rare]
Basset Horn [Rare]
Bb Bass Clarinet [Somewhat common in 20th/21st Cent.]
Bb Contrabass Cl. [Extremely rare]
[Saxophones] [Not until 20th Century, and pretty rare]
Bassoons
Bassoon [Common]
Contrabassoon [Somewhat common, esp. in 20th Cent.]

Brass

French Horn [Common]
Trumpets
Piccolo Trumpet [Rare]
D Trumpet [Rare]
C Trumpet [Common, standard orchestral trpt.]
Bb Trumpet [More common in concert band]
Eb / Bb Bass Trumpet [Rare]
Bb Cornet [Rare, more common in concert band]
Bb Flugelhorn [Very rare]
Trombones
Alto trombone [Common in 19th century]
Tenor trombone [Most common, can play alto parts]
Bass trombone [Somewhat common, esp. in 20th Cent.]
Tubas [Starting around 1875 with Wagner]
Euphonium/Tenor tuba [Somewhat common, esp. in concert band]
Bb Baritone [Rare, more common in concert band rep]
F Tuba [Common, standard orchestral tuba]
CC Tuba [Somewhat common]
BBb Tuba [Somewhat common]





1 Sometimes notated under Flute, sometimes above it [especially if there is also an alto flute].
 Percussion

Non-pitched [Bold marks common-ish in 19th Cent.]
Cymbals, snare / field drum, tambourine, guiro, shakers, maracas, spring,
slapstick, castanets, woodblocks / temple blocks, tam-tam, bongos, congas, toms,
bass drum, triangle, anvil, ratchet, sleigh bells, Cowbells, etc.
Percussion
Pitched
Timpani, Xylophone, Marimba, Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Tubular Bells,
Rototoms, Almglocken, Gongs, Flexatone, Crystal glasses, Crotales, Steel Drum,

Other Instruments

Harp [Common later on]
Keyboard instruments
Piano
Organ
Celesta
Soloists [Common in concerti, orchestral songs, opera]
Choir2 [Somewhat common after Beethoven 9!]

Strings

Violin I [Standard]
Violin II [Standard]
Viola [Standard]
Cello [Standard]
Double Bass [Standard]



There are different common scores orders for chamber ensembles such as Brass Quartets/Quintets,
Woodwind quintets, Concert band, Jazz bands, mixed small ensembles.

How many staves do you use?
1. Separate staves are used for different instruments.
a. Never notate flutes and oboes on the same line, for example
2. Sometimes if there are independent enough flute 1 and flute 2 parts, we notate them on
separate staves. The key point is clarity.

There is usually a little extra space between families of the orchestra for claritys sake.

A full orchestra score should be printed on tabloid or A3 size paper [~11 * 17], and should be printed
portrait. Never print an orchestral score in landscape. Unless the orchestra is an early Classical size
orchestra, dont print it on A4 / Letter size paper.

Could grandmother read it easily? If not ITS TOO SMALL!!!1!

2 Choir is sometimes notated between the violas and cellos in some old scores.
Enough space must be left between staves within orchestral families to comfortably write all of the
dynamics / articulations / phrase markings / expressions without it being too crowded, or having all
the markings janked around in a disorderly fashion.

All dynamics should appear as if on an invisible straight line beneath the parts.

YOU MUST MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR THE CONDUCTOR / PERFORMERS TO UNDERSTAND HOW
MANY AND WHICH PLAYERS ARE PLAYING EVERY DAMN NOTE!

If Flutes 1 & 2 are sharing a staff, here are the following ways of letting us know:

1. Stem direction [when there are two layers of material occurring simultaneously]
a. Stems up = player 1
b. Stems down = player 2
2. Active part on 1 layer, rests on another layer
a. Stem direction rule still applies
b. Not usually used for extended periods of time
3. Technical marking:
a. Player 1 only?
i. 1., 1er, 1, solo [if it is foreground material]
b. Player 2 only?
i. 2., 2e, 2
c. Both players? All three players? All 4?
i. a 2, both, 2, zu 2
ii. a 3, three players, 3, zu 3
d. All players?
i. Tutti
4. If you write nothing, the default assumption will be that both [or all the players notated on
the staff] are playing in unison.
a. Keep in mind that intonation issues are much more noticeable in the woodwind /
brass instruments. This might be on reason why you want to mark a passage 1.
5. It is CRUCIAL to indicate how many players are playing lines for the winds and brass players
at every entrance, or after every change of allocation [i.e., when you go from unison to divisi,
then back to unison in a single passage, or over different passages]
a. The Conductor / players need to know who is playing when!
b. This is more crucial to do for wind and brass instruments. The default for strings is
that the entire section is playing the line, except in the following situations:
i. Divisi
ii. Solo or duo
iii. Chamber ensemble within the section[s]
iv. Desk-wise divisions / Partial sections are required

Good Resources:

http://www.music.indiana.edu/departments/academic/composition/style-guide/

Gould, Elaine. Behind Bars: The Definitive Guide to Music Notation. (London: Faber Music Ltd., 2016)








What is a Classical Orchestra?

This is a somewhat tricky question. As the Classical period went on, the orchestra became
more standardized.
o Earlier Haydn, Moxart, Beethoven Symphonies could vary greatly
o Generally speaking it is a chamber orchestra, suited for performance in a small hall
o Most Classical era orchestras are dominated by strings, winds and brass were
considered outdoor ensembles, and because of their relative dynamic level
compared to solo string instruments, appear in much smaller numbers in the
orchestra compared to strings.
It is better to think of a size / general number of players:
o Double winds
2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons
o Brass [Not completely standardized until later in Beethovens life]
2-4 French horns
2 Trumpets
2 Trombones [Standard around ~Beethoven 9]
1-2 Tubas [Starting with Wagner ]
o Percussion [The least common, standardized]
Timpani [2-5 drums]
Sometimes: Cymbals, Snare, Triangle [the Turkish band]
o Strings
Violin I [8 14 players]
Violin II [8 14 players, equiv to V1]
Viola [6-10 players, ~75% as large as a Violin section]
Cellos [6-10 players, roughly equiv to violas]
Basses [4-8 players, ~75% as large as cello section]

The Cellos and Double Basses often perform the same part in a Classical orchestral score. Only later
on do the basses get material that is separate from the cellos. Furthermore, they are both often
doubling the bassoon line [or v.v.]

As time went on several changes are made to the orchestra heading deeper into the Romantic period
and Twentieth Century:

1. The size increases from double winds triple, quadruple, and even quintuple winds / brass
a. This brought a relative increase in the number of string instruments in the orchestra
2. New instruments became standard [including tuba, trumpets, harps, and greater numbers of
percussion instruments, choirs, vocal soloists, etc.]
3. More common use of extension instruments like alto flute, bass clarinet, contrabassoon,
etc.
4. More complicated / intricate doubling distribution / patterns
5. More flexibility of textural treatment of material ranging from solo full orchestral textures
with all grades of chamber textures in between [greater use of divisi, desk-wise division, half
/quarter-section writing]










 INFO THAT NEEDS TO BE ON A SCORE

Cover Page:
1. Title of composition
2. Name of composer, orchestrator, arranger, etc.
3. General instrumentation [i.e., for Orchestra, for String Quartet, etc.]

Instrumentation Page:
1. Contains detailed instrumentation list
a. Including # of players for wind and brass, and general # of string players needed
b. Detailed list of percussion instruments needed, best to include information about
hitters if you have made particular choices about these.
c. Transpositions of instruments needed [Bb or A Clarinet?]
d. Do the brass or string players need mutes? If so which kind?
2. Often the performance duration is listed
3. Often there is an indication of whether or not the score is a C score or if it is notated in
transposition. The traditional format is a transposed score, but C scores are also fairly
common now.
a. Parts are ALWAYS in transposition.

Program notes and / or text translation:
1. If there is a text [a soloist or choral ensemble singing] then it is common to copy the text
(with attribution of its author), and a translation if necessary.

Performance notes:
1. A discussion of any special / non-standard notation strategies that are used, how to interpret
them, how to execute them on the instruments [if they are extended instrumental
techniques, and what the expected sounding results will be.
a. Extended instrumental techniques are not at all common in the 18th and 19th
centuries. You will likely not have to discuss any in the first semester.
2. A full percussion key
a. This is a legend that clearly labels each line / space on the form of staff notation you
are using for percussion instruments. You will also usually label the part in the parts
as well for maximal clarity.
3. It is common in contemporary scores for the performance notes to appear in translation in
the most common Anglo-European languages: English, French, German, and Italian. This is
not required though.

First Page of the music:
1. Title appears centered at the top of the page. Composers name upper right hand corner.
Orchestrators name underneath in an inferior size font. Lyricist is often listed in the top Left
corner of the score in commercial music publications, above the tempo marking, on the same
level as the composer. In classical music publications this is often just listed on the text page.
2. The first page of the music should be a Right-hand page [a recto rather than a verso]
3. All of the instruments staves will be included, even if the score is a condensed cut-out
score on subsequent pages.
4. List all clefs, key-signatures [with the exception of the French horn, which traditionally does
not receive a key signature], time signatures on each staff [or stretched across families].
5. If an instrument is doubling at any point in the score, list that on the first page:

Flute 2 [dbl. picc.]

 6. Copyright indication at the bottom of the first page: 2017 by James Bunch3


Brackets [ Are used to connect families of instruments together in the score.
[flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons]

Braces { Are used to connect instruments of the same kind together
{ Violin I, Violin II} {Soprano I, Soprano II}

In modern scores it is common to repeat the tempo marking above every family of the orchestra.

First page is indented to make room for the instrument labels. Instrument names on first page must
be written out entirely, not abbreviated.

Subsequent pages

Are not indented, instrument names appear in abbreviation.

Clefs, Key signatures, brackets and braces are placed at the head of every page [and restated
whenever there is a change]

Time signatures, tempos, indications of distribution of players, certain technical instructions [arco,
pizzicato, etc.] are only indicated on subsequent pages when there is a change.

Other things to keep in mind:

Vertical alignment of rhythm is VITAL!

The only exception is whole measure rests which can be centered in the measure or completely
omitted.

Rehearsal Letters

All scores and parts for orchestral and large ensemble music must contain rehearsal letters! They
facilitate coordination during rehearsals and are mandatory.

How to pick where:
1. Important formal spots
a. They are helpful for players with long areas of rests to find their entrance [this is
why they should be aligned, where possible, with phrase structures]
2. Especially difficult passages
3. Every 20 measures or so

Other points:
1. Dont arbitrarily assign rehearsal letters
2. Make sure they correspond in every part to exactly the same spot they are assigned in the
score.
3. Dont place them in the middle of measures, and dont place them in the middle of multi-
measure rests in a players part.

3 You can register your copyright with the Library of Congress in the US, or some similar agency here in India, if you anticipate the possibility of
seeking litigation over intellectual property theft, but you are legally protected as long as you can prove authorship of your work / the date it
was written.
In a C Score, the instruments that transpose by octaves [piccolo, double bass, guitar, xylophone,
glockenspiel, contrabassoon, etc.] are notated as is, dont transpose the parts for the player to the real
pitch.

Some basic terms:

Doubling

Texture

Family

Transposition

Divisi

Unison

Voicing

Dovetailing

Antiphony

Tutti