Instrumentation (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Instrumentation

The paucity of books in our language on the subject of Instrumentation has always appeared to the present writer a matter of surprise. On the Continent many excellent treatises have been published, such as those of Berlioz and Gevaert in French, and of Lobe and Marx in German; but with the exception of the translations of Berlioz, and of Czerny's "School of Practical Composition" (the third volume of which treats, it must be confessed rather superficially, of orchestration), we have scarcely anything in English beyond such elementary details as may be found in Musical Catechisms. The present Primer is an imperfect attempt to supply the deficiency.

In writing: this book the author has more than once had occasion to remark that under no circumstances can Instrumentation be taught from an instruction-book; and in completing his work he feels this even more keenly than in commencing it. It is by no means with unqualified satisfaction that he looks at the result of his labors. The subject is so rich in details, and there is so much that ought to be said which it has been impossible to say within the limits of a primer, that the author feels that many parts of his subject (especially those discussed in Chapters VI, VII, and VIII) have been dealt with in a manner so summary as to be inadequate to their importance. Want of space must be the excuse - it is hoped not altogether an insufficient one.

An apology appears needful for the very fragmentary nature of the quotations given from the scores of the great masters. In many cases these do not exceed three or four measures; it would have been impossible to render them more complete without greatly enlarging the size of the work.

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