14 recordings from 8 composers are referred to in this bookmark list

You may have be called on to transcribe an accompaniment from piano to strings. The most important consideration is realizing the composer's intent without introducing any distortion of it. (...) The overriding consideration is realizing that orchestration must serve the structure of a work. It must clarify the form and support the tonal flow by what it can uniquely contribute: the element of color.

Adler. 2009. The Study of Orchestration, Third Edition. pp.159-162

This list of pieces in presented in chronological order.
The Envelope of each Piece contains 3 important types of Teacher Documents.

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1. REDUCTION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
> from simple to more complex.

2. ORCHESTRATION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
‍> from simple to complex for different instrumentations.

All Reduction and Orchestration exercises in pdf are ready to print and used.
You may copy them (from the Embedded Envelope: right-click, then "Open in Finder"), rename them and distribute them to students.

3. Published Piano versions such as "Brahms_Symph4_Piano2Hands_Singer.pdf"

16 recordings from 4 composers are referred to in this bookmark list

You may have be called on to transcribe an accompaniment from piano to strings. The most important consideration is realizing the composer's intent without introducing any distortion of it. (...) The overriding consideration is realizing that orchestration must serve the structure of a work. It must clarify the form and support the tonal flow by what it can uniquely contribute: the element of color.

Adler. 2009. The Study of Orchestration, Third Edition. pp.159-162

This list of pieces in presented in chronological order.
The Envelope of each Piece contains 3 important types of Teacher Documents.

‍

1. REDUCTION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
> from simple to more complex.

2. ORCHESTRATION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
‍> from simple to complex for different instrumentations.

All Reduction and Orchestration exercises in pdf are ready to print and used.
You may copy them (from the Embedded Envelope: right-click, then "Open in Finder"), rename them and distribute them to students.

3. Published Piano versions such as "Brahms_Symph4_Piano2Hands_Singer.pdf"

This bookmark list refers to 121 recordings from 23 composers
as well as to 64 embedded teacher documents

‍

This list of pieces in presented in chronological order.
The Envelope of each Piece contains 3 important types of Teacher Documents.

‍

1. REDUCTION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
> from simple to more complex.

2. ORCHESTRATION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
‍> from simple to complex for different instrumentations.

All Reduction and Orchestration exercises in pdf are ready to print and used.
You may copy them (from the Embedded Envelope: right-click, then "Open in Finder"), rename them and distribute them to students.

3. Published Piano versions such as "Brahms_Symph4_Piano2Hands_Singer.pdf"

This bookmark list refers to 62 recordings from 23 composers
as well as to 130 embedded teacher documents

‍

This list of pieces in presented in chronological order.
The Envelope of each Piece contains 3 important types of Teacher Documents.

‍

1. REDUCTION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
> from simple to more complex.

2. ORCHESTRATION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
‍> from simple to complex for different instrumentations.

All Reduction and Orchestration exercises in pdf are ready to print and used.
You may copy them (from the Embedded Envelope: right-click, then "Open in Finder"), rename them and distribute them to students.

3. Published Piano versions such as "Brahms_Symph4_Piano2Hands_Singer.pdf"

This bookmark list refers to 26 recordings from 18 composers
as well as to 56 embedded teacher documents

‍

This list of pieces in presented in chronological order.
The Envelope of each Piece contains 3 important types of Teacher Documents.

‍

1. REDUCTION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
> from simple to more complex.

2. ORCHESTRATION EXERCISEs (with CORRECTIONS provided)
‍> from simple to complex for different instrumentations.

All Reduction and Orchestration exercises in pdf are ready to print and used.
You may copy them (from the Embedded Envelope: right-click, then "Open in Finder"), rename them and distribute them to students.

3. Published Piano versions such as "Brahms_Symph4_Piano2Hands_Singer.pdf"

361 recordings from 102 composers are referred to in this bookmark list

We searched for an all-encompassing term that could include all the ways a performer shapes a musical part and brings it to life. We could consider the “Instrumental Modes of Play” as a set of means of interpretation, sometimes precisely prescribed by the composer, sometimes implied in the historical practice of interpretation or deduced and adapted by the interpreter.

We are dealing with phrasing (how a line, a motive, a pattern is built over time), with articulation (types of attacks, sustains, decays, etc.), timbral qualities (dynamics, tone color, granulation, etc.) and more generally with all techniques used to produce a sound (playing techniques, “modes de jeu”, extended techniques, etc.)

Like the Taxonomy of Orchestration Techniques, the proposed Taxonomy of Instrumental Playing Modes cannot claim to be purely logical nor scientifically and semantically perfectly “pure”. It will inevitably merge several aspects of musical practice.

But this merging of elements has the advantage of simplifying the classification, the analysis and the Marking as well as allowing a direct comparison between instrumental families.

The list currently available (close to 70 items) is limited mostly to “standard” Modes of Playing in orchestral music. As OrchPlay’s repertoire expands to include more contemporary pieces, it will develop accordingly.

The following Bookmark List is divided in 68 categories; each category is itself presented in chronological order (date of composition of the piece containing the Bookmark). One can thus in many cases follow the use of a specific MoP through the repertoire.

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Denys Bouliane

53 recordings from 48 composers are referred to in this bookmark list

67 recordings from 6 composers are referred to in this bookmark list

With the Classical period came the new notion that emotions were not steady states, but were constantly changing and sometimes contradictory responses to one's experiences and thoughts, made obsolete the Baroque approach of conveying a single feeling in a movement or section.
Instead, composers began to introduce contrasting moods in the various parts of a movement or even within the themes themselves. The possibilities for contrasts were heightened by the nature of the new music, with its many short phrases and its dependence on differences in the material to articulate the form.

Burkholder, Grout, Palisca. 2009. A History of Western Music, Eight Edition. p.482

The term 'classical' commonly used to describe much orchestral music has in European musicology quite specific meaning, referring to the period between about 1750 and1820. By the end of the 18th Century, the instrumental line-up of the orchestra had become standardized as follows: 2 Fls, 2 Obs, 2 Clars, 2 Bsns, 2-4 Horn, 2 Tpts, Timp, Strings.
The continuo favoured by Baroque orchestras was abandoned and keyboard instruments disappeared. String sections would vary in size but the minimum numbers were reckoned to be 6 first violins, 6 seconds, 4 violas, 4 cellos and 3 double basses. Amongst the woodwinds, the comparative weakness of sound meant there was often duplication of parts. Additional 'exotic' instruments (sometimes known as 'Turkish' instruments) were brought into the orchestra for specific pieces, often in opera. These included piccolo, trombones, harp and some percussion (e.g. triangle, tambourine, cymbals).
The classical orchestra became one of the major vehicles for the increased interest in formal clarity and development during this period. The new approach to composition also allowed for the development of some strong orchestral effects. These first appear in the works of Johann Stamitz, and the rest of the Mannheim school of composers, with their 'sky rockets' (an upward leaping arpeggio) and 'sighs' (a falling phrase). The three major figures of the Classical period, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, developed orchestral composition to the point where the orchestra became the grandest and most powerful tool of musical expression. Haydn experimented with several additions to the standard line-up, including trombones and contrabassoon. Mozart tended to work with the standard orchestra, concentrating on refining its musical possibilities. Beethoven was greatly influenced by the technological innovation of the pianoforte and the dramatic qualities of that instrument were often reflected in the way he handled the orchestra.From his Fifth Symphony onwards, trombones were established as regular orchestral members.

Hugill, Andrew. The Orchestra, A User’s Manual

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132 recordings from 33 composers are referred to in this bookmark list

The wide expansion and development of artistic expression that characterizes the Romantic era is reflected in the orchestra. However, it is important to bear in mind that technological advances were crucial to enabling this growth. String instruments were redesigned to a different bow pattern (Tourte) and with greater string tension. Theobald Boehm redesigned the flute, oboe and clarinet to a system that is still in common usage today. Brass instruments acquired valves, giving them chromatic capabilities. All these developments enabled a more powerful sound and more lyrical expression.
It was opera often that drove the development. Wagner included many of the new instruments, including bass tubas, bass clarinets, English horns (which made a comeback in the 19th century) and an expanded percussion section. On occasion he was obliged to invent his own instruments such as the Wagner Tuba. Meanwhile, Verdi also explored new instruments, and included cornets for the first time in the brass section. Harps appeared, often in pairs or even more, in many pieces.
The overall effect of all these developments was to produce a bigger, richer sound, with greater timbral variety. Composers exploited these possibilities and in doing so yet further developed the orchestra. In a period when creating an original sound was an important artistic goal, the orchestra provided perhaps the greatest possibility of so doing.

Hugill, Andrew. The Orchestra, A User’s Manual

111 recordings from 29 composers are referred to in this bookmark list

The 20th century orchestra has been enormously varied in line-up, constitution and purpose. Many large ensembles, representing all kinds of musical styles and aesthetics, have adopted the name 'orchestra' as opposed to 'band' or 'ensemble'. The 'classical' orchestra, with its large body of strings, remains probably the defining configuration, but even this has been altered and expanded in ways unimaginable in the 19th century with considerable autonomy given to Woodwinds and Brasses. Many new instruments entered the stage (among them the saxophone, the heckelphone or the contrabass clarinet). Keyboard instruments such as celesta and piano became regular members of the orchestra, and various electronic instruments (e.g. ondes martenot, synthesizers) were added.
Probably the most dramatic development has been in the percussion section. Thus, Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring (1913) included timpani, triangle, tambourine, guiro, 2antique cymbals, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam (as well as quadruple woodwind, including two bass clarinets, and a large brass section) and by 1926, Edgard Varèse included 39 tuned and untuned percussion instruments in his massive orchestra for Arcana.
However, there was also a reaction against the use of such large forces, which were seen as being associated with 'overblown' Romantic music. Stravinsky himself was one of the leaders of this reaction, often turning to non-standard orchestral line-ups to explore new musical possibilities.
The focus upon timbres and their successful blend is very characteristic of 20th Century orchestration. The orchestra as a body steadily became a 'sounding object' or a large-scale timbral palette, and many composers explored different and individual facets of this in their work.

Hugill, Andrew. The Orchestra, A User’s Manual