An Invitation to Orchestration |
Coursework |
This course is an exploration of timbre. For some of you it will be an introduction; for others, it will deepen and sharpen an awareness you already have. In the music theory courses you have studied thus far, a study of timbre and texture has generally had to take a back seat to the complex considerations of pitch, rhythm, and formal relationships. No longer! Timbre is an important organizational consideration for composers, many of whom conceive their themes with particular instruments in mind.
In this course, we will study how music is structured via tone quality by examining the timbral families of the modern symphony orchestra (and, as time permits, the modern concert band as well). Thus, while voice leading and harmonic analysis may prove useful to you in this course, our primary concerns will have to do with the following considerations:
|
In-class activities will consist primarily of guided listening to a variety of orchestral textures; large- or small-group discussion; practice in scoring for various timbral choirs; working in groups or individually on challenging musical passages; understanding and relating what we learned in orchestration to what you already know about music's history, theory, performance, etc.; possibly occasional short lectures; and (I hope) live instrument demonstrations.
Out-of-class activities will consist primarily of reading, quizzes over that reading, practice assignments, Twitter essays, and private exploration of musical textures in preparation for class activities. Additionally, during exam week, your final assignment will be due—a culminating orchestration project—and I will schedule a one-on-one interview with each student about what you have learned this semester. |