Understanding Orchestration, The Orchestra & its Instruments

The study of orchestration is an integral part of every musician’s education – the composer, conductor, performer, teacher or advanced student.  Numerous treatises have been written on the subject and on instruments of the Western orchestra.  Yet this volume takes on a practical, comprehensive approach by presenting useful information essential for the effective mastery of score-reading and analytical skills. Structured in two parts, it introduces the world of instrumental sounds and gradually unravels the art of instrumentation in canonic works.

Part I, Orchestral Instruments, provides useful information about each instrument from the different orchestral groups – the strings, woodwinds, brasses and percussion. The range, mechanism, timbre and idiomatic features are discussed, with playing techniques, sound effects and limitations clearly explained. Melodic extracts illustrate these characteristics, along with dynamics and articulation.

Part II, Understanding Orchestration illustrates how sounds are combined and scores are laid out. From the 17th to the 21st century, the various representative composers’ works reveal a diversity of styles and orchestration techniques. An extensive selection of annotated scores presents the spectrum of instrumental combinations, including those with voices, soloists and unsual ensembles.

Most interestingly, Josephine Koh completes her approach to the art of instrumentation with coverage on:

Period Instruments 
Orchestral Transcription
Gestures of the Conductor
Foreign names and Abbreviations
Glossary of Performance Directions