Orchestration Principles (Dover Books on Music: Analysis)

From the Publisher: Music Theory & Technique Books by Famous Composers

Many great composers, in addition to their own compositions, took the time to write method and technique books that provided an interior look into their harmonic and orchestration approaches to their music, as well as critiques of other composers' works.

Tchaikovsky: Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony This volume, written during Tchaikovsky's years as a professor at the renowned Moscow Conservatory, presents a clear and thorough introduction to the study of harmony from one of the great masters. It features numerous examples and exercises. (0486442721)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Principles of Orchestration The only book on classical orchestration written by a major composer, this work provides the reader with the fundamental principles of modern orchestration from the standpoint of brilliance and imagination, devoting considerable space to the study of tonal resonance and orchestral combination. Rimsky-Korsakov demonstrates such things as how to produce a good-sounding chord of certain tone-quality, uniformly distributed; how to detach a melody from its harmonic setting; correct progression of parts; and other similar problems. (0486212661)

Schumann on Music Schumann's genius as a composer is well known, but perhaps less well known is the fact that he was also a gifted music critic who wrote hundreds of perceptive essays, articles, and reviews for the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, the influential music journal he founded in 1834. This work contains 61 of the most important critical pieces Schumann wrote for Neue Zeitschrift between 1834 and 1844. (0486257487)

Rameau: Treatise on Harmony Written while Rameau was still a relatively obscure organist and music master at Clermont-Ferrand, this Treatise was immediately recognized as a profound advance in musical theory, and it established Rameau's reputation as a theorist. His book was the first to codify those principles of tonality that were to dominate the music of the West for almost two centuries. Even today, the theories of Rameau remain the basis for the study of harmony. (0486224619)

Wagner on Conducting Wagner wrote eloquently on his theories of conducting and musical interpretation, and in 1869 he published the famous essay reprinted in this volume, a work that abundantly reveals both the wellsprings of his musical genius and the qualities that made him a figure of controversy. (0486259323)

Reger: Modulation In addition to his international renown as a teacher, conductor, and pianist, Max Reger wrote more than 1,000 works in virtually every musical genre. His study of Modulation — the change from one key to another — is a subject of critical importance to performers and composers in their study of harmony. (048645732X)

Berlioz/Strauss: Treatise on Instrumentation This is the most influential work of its kind ever written, appraising the musical qualities and potential of over 60 commonly used stringed, wind and percussion instruments. With 150 illustrative full-score musical examples from works by Berlioz, Mozart, Beethoven, Gluck, Weber, Wagner, and others, and numerous smaller musical examples, it is complete with Berlioz' chapters on the orchestra and on conducting. (0486269035)

product information: