Orchestration

Orchestrating a Swashbuckler - Ethel Smyth

Orchestrating a Swashbuckler: The Wreckers Overture (Ethel Smyth)

20th Century, Arranging, Composition, Concert Music, Orchestration /

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0QZ7LVWDps&t=1s&ab_channel=AnyOldMusic Ethel Smyth’s The Wreckers is an opera set on the South West coast of Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. Perhaps indicative of an incredibly cosmopolitan society during this time, despite the subject matter and Smyth being English, the opera’s initial libretto was in French. However, Smyth had difficulty securing a performance for a French-speaking audience. As […]

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Walking Distance (The Twilight zone: S1, E5) – Bernard Herrmann – Part 1: Instrumentation & Orchestration

20th Century, Composition, Film Music, Orchestration /

I have not watched many of The Twilight Zone episodes. Not for lack of wanting to, but simply a lack of paired reason and opportunity. What better way, then, to introduce myself to these highly regarded television classics than by doing so through a composer whom I hugely admire, Bernard Herrmann.  In this article, I want to

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Introduction and Allegro for Strings (Edward Elgar) – String Orchestration

20th Century, Analysis, Orchestration /

Delineating a string quartet and string orchestra in the instrumentation and engraving of Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro for Strings impacts its composition, orchestration and arrangement. The reason is that it imposes a compelling dichotomy between a string quartet (solo strings) and a string orchestra (sectional strings). Doing this allows and, undoubtedly, encourages Elgar’s exploration of the solo

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