University of Virginia Library

General remarks.

In accompanying the voice orchestral scoring should be light
enough for the singer to make free use of all the dynamic shades
of expression without hardness of tone. In overflowing lyrical
moments, where full voice is required, the singer should be well
supported by the orchestra.

Opera singing may be divided into two general classes, lyric
singing and declamation or recitative. The full, round, legato aria
affords greater facility for tone production than florid music or
recitative, and the more movement and rhythmic detail contained
in the vocal part, the greater freedom and liberty must there be
given to the voice. In such a case the latter should not be
doubled by the orchestra, neither should rhythmical figures be written
for any instrument corresponding with those in the vocal part. In
accompanying the voice the composer should bear these points in
mind before turning his attention to the choice of orchestral colour.
A confused, heavy accompaniment will overpower the singer; an
accompaniment which is too simple in character will lack interest,
and one which is too weak will not sustain the voice sufficiently.

In modern opera it is rare that orchestral writing is confined
to accompaniment pure and simple. It frequently happens that the
principal musical idea, often complex in character, is contained
in the orchestra. The voice may then be said to form the accompaniment,
exchanging musical for literary interest. It becomes

subordinate to the orchestra, as though it were an extra part,
subsequently added as an after-thought. But it is evident that great
care must be taken with orchestral writing in such cases. The
scoring must not be so heavy or complicated as to drown the
voice and prevent the words from being heard, thereby breaking
the thread of the text, and leaving the musical imagery unexplained
. Certain moments may require great volume of orchestral tone, so
great that a voice of even phenomenal power is incapable of
being heard. Even if the singer is audible, such unequal struggles
between voice and orchestra are most inartistic, and the composer
should reserve his orchestral outbursts for the intervals during
which the voice is silent, distributing the singer's phrases and
pauses in a free and natural manner, according to the sense of
the words. If a prolonged forte occurs in the orchestra
it may be used concurrently with action on the stage. All artificial
reduction of tone contrary to the true feeling of a passage, the sole
object being to allow the voice to come through, should be strictly
avoided, as it deprives orchestral writing of its distinctive brilliance.
It must also be remembered that too great a disparity in volume
of tone between purely orchestral passages and those which
accompany the voice create an inartistic comparison. Therefore,
when the orchestra is strengthened by the use of wood-wind in
three's or four's, and brass in large numbers, the division of tone
and colour must be manipulated skillfully and with the greatest care.

In previous sections I have frequently stated that the structure
of the orchestra is closely related to the music itself. The scoring
of a vocal work proves this relationship in a striking manner, and,
indeed, it may be stipulated that only that which is well written
can be well orchestrated.