(Original posted on January 23, 2009)
It is astonishing that the essence of orchestration is contained within this book of only about 120 pages. The numerous aphorisms born from author Gordon Jacob’s many years of experience are still worth listening to today.
This book keeps the content on instrumentation to a bare minimum, but its explanation of “how to orchestrate” is outstanding and easy for beginners to understand. It guides the reader step-by-step, from orchestrating for string ensemble only, to woodwind section only, their combination, and finally to a full ensemble including brass and percussion, presenting concrete criteria for judgment along the way.
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Many technique books of this kind tend to list items in a catalog-like, comprehensive manner, but personally, I find books that feature the author’s assertions and values more interesting and appealing. This book is one such distinctive volume.
As it is written for beginners in orchestration and for the general listener, it doesn’t aim for dictionary-like searchability or precision. Instead, it feels as though it has been designed to allow the reader to “enter the world of orchestration as if reading a story.”
For example, to teach traffic rules to children, there’s a method of acting out an accident in a play or a picture-story show to have them vicariously experience the event and understand. The impression this book gives is very similar. It is noteworthy that after a complete reading, it enables the reader to visualize the realistic process of orchestration.
I too gained concrete insights from this book in the past, including points on how to combine woodwinds and horns with strings. There were also many words that made me nod in agreement, thinking “that’s exactly right,” despite my limited experience.
For instance, as a very basic cautionary note, those from pop or jazz backgrounds tend to over-emphasize rhythm with rhythm instruments when orchestrating. It’s almost refreshing how sharply the author admonishes this.
Also, regarding one of the hurdles for beginners, “the mixing and contrasting of the woodwind and string sections,” the chapter on small orchestras explains it as if seeing right through the reader’s struggles, starting with a table of combination pattern frequencies, and thus serves as a launching pad for their own individual research.
While it’s natural to modify or add variations to the book’s content through one’s own future experience, I would recommend immersing oneself in a book like this first, due to the benefit of having a frame of reference within oneself.
In the sense that you “enroll and eventually graduate,” I think it is a textbook in the truest sense of the word. It’s a wonderful book that allows you to savor the “new discoveries” that come with rereading a textbook as an adult.
Table of Contents for “Orchestral Technique”
- Chapter I – Introduction
- Chapter II – The String Orchestra
- Chapter III – Wood-wind and Horns
- Chapter IV – Wood-wind and Horns (continued)
- Chapter V – The Small Orchestra
- Chapter VI – The Brass
- Chapter VII – Percussion
- Chapter VIII – Harp, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, and Celesta
- Chapter IX – The Full Orchestra – Tutti
- Chapter X – General Hints
- Index
About the Author
Gordon Jacob
Gordon Jacob was born in London on May 5, 1895. He studied composition at the Royal College of Music under Boult and Stanford, and later became a professor of composition, orchestration, and conducting at the same institution. His major works include the ballets “Jeu in the Bush” and “Uncle Remus,” premiered by London’s Vic-Wells company, as well as a Concerto for Piano and Strings (1926), a Concerto for Oboe and Strings (1933), and Variations for Orchestra (1937), among others.
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