Orchestration
A classic comprehensive textbook on the subject of Orchestration written near the turn of the century yet still used today.
In this book an attempt is made first, to describe our modern orchestral instruments, where they sprang from, how they developed, and what they are today; next, to trace the types of music which have been reflected in these constructional changes and, in especial, the types most familiar since Beethoven's time. Without some knowledge on these points, the student is working in the dark. He is like a Lascar turned loose in a dynamo-house.
It is true that one may show him the button, and, if he presses it, he will get a terrific blaze of light. But what is behind the button? How were the wires laid? Why is one type of engine better than another for its own purpose? How is the shop to be run in the most economical way 1 All these questions call for answers, and, on the musical side of the analogy, the answers are not difficult to find?
These are the essentials and, if the student grasps them, he will soon be brought to see that change comes but slowly and rarely, and that, when it comes, it is more apparent than real. Edward I.'s " Roger o le Troumpour " ^ sounds very ancient in 1914, but he made exactly the same music for his sovereign at Carnarvon as the cavalry trumpeters now make for George V. at Aldershot. And, even if we leave the Long Valley for the more rarefied atmosphere of Queen's Hall, W., we can only record an additional tube or two each with a mechanical air switch. This is the point for the practical musician.
