The Evolution of Modern OrchestrationCoerne, Louis Adolphe
History
The Evolution of Modern Orchestration
Coerne, Louis Adolphe
Instrumentation and orchestration
The representatives of classical romanticism are Raff, Rubinstein,
Goldmark, Brahms, Bruch, Rheinberger. The influence that Raff and
Brahms had upon orchestration requires especial consideration.
Rubinstein will be referred to again in connection with Russian
composers. And a brief analysis will be sufficient to discover the
respective characteristics that distinguish Goldmark's highly colored
orchestration, that of Bruch in accompaniment to noble choral works,
and Rheinberger's conservative yet finished instrumentation for
sacred composition.
I.
RAFF (1822-1882). To begin with Raff, it is by no means easy
to determine the precise value of his compositions. Masterpieces
must be arraigned side by side with works of decided inferiority. He
adapted Beethoven's calorific polyphony together with the charmingly
picturesque style of Weber, but did not approach his eminent
contemporary, Brahms, either in depth of thought or in originality
of ideas. He was, however, superior to Brahms as an orchestral
colorist. Encouraged by the sympathy and practical help of such men
as Mendelssohn, Liszt, von Bülow, he became in his younger days a
sturdy advocate of the modern German tendencies, and even wrote a
pamphlet entitled "Die Wagnerfrage"; but in spite of his affiliation
with the Weimar coterie, Raff eventually developed into a composer
more especially of chamber music and symphonies. "Im Walde" and
"Lenore" are the best known of the orchestral works,--indeed, the
first named is without doubt his most important production. Raff
was essentially a romanticist; what is more, he went so far as to
write descriptive program music. Nevertheless, his style bears but
little relation to that of Wagner or Liszt; it displays, in fact, a
decided reserve in that he employed traditional forms and Beethoven's
symphonic orchestra. Notwithstanding Raff's descriptive faculties,
his works betray unquestionable lyric tendencies. Occasional approach
to the _salon_ style is also in evidence, nor do the larger works
reveal that breadth of style and invariable loftiness of purpose that
signalize those of Beethoven and Brahms. He possessed great facility,
but this very attribute endangered the quality of his conceptions
and was conducive to carelessness and loss of fine feeling.
Striking insignia of absolutely original scoring are not conspicuous,
although the entire character of the orchestration gives evidence
of fertile imagination and sound judgment. Some of Wagner's full
and rich effects found their way also into Raff's symphonic pages.
The latter was particularly happy in the use of horns, wrote almost
exclusively for valve-horns and valve-trumpets, and established a
precedent by selecting those in F for regular practice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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