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Question
I am sure there is a simple answer to this question but I don't know it and cannot find it.
Recently I have been listening to Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Beethoven compositions and greatly enjoying them. But they are so complex that I started to wonder how they got orchestrated. Did these composers do their own orchestration after presumably working out the composition at a piano?
I am not a music student or musician so I really don't know how it's done.
Dear Jay,
In fact there is no "simple" answer to your question, but I'll do what I can....
Many (most?) composers learned about orchestration as part of their musical education. Mozart and others also played orchestral instruments as well (Mozart would play viola or the 2nd violin part in string quartets so he could hear all four parts clearly) and presumably learned by performing with and listening to the others in the ensembles. These days most composers take courses specifically in orchestration. I, for example, play violin a little (my main instruments are guitar, mandolin, and piano), but I've learned to write for any instruments in virtually any number and combination.
Listening to instruments, asking players how they get certain sounds, learning to play instruments (even a little), and getting formal instruction in how to write orchestrally all come into play to varying degrees.
I hope this helps.
Steven
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Answers by Expert:
Steven L. Rosenhaus
Expertise
Areas of interest: Classical composition, writing musical theater (including music, lyrics, libretti), songwriting (pop, rock, blues, folk, etc.); music theory; orchestration; arranging. Also: music publishing and related topics.
Experience
Composer/arranger with over 100 original works and arrangements in currently in print; publishers include E.F. Kalmus, Masters Music, Music-Print Productions, Theodore Presser, etc. Works have been performed throughout the U.S. and Europe by the United States Navy Band, the U.S. Naval Academy Band, violinist Florian Meyer, the Dresden Sinfonietta conducted by Milko Kersten, pianist Laura Leon, the Meridian String Quartet, the New Hudson Saxophone Quartet, clarinetist Guido Arbonelli, etc. Off-Broadway musical "Critic" (1988) ran 41 performances to good reviews. Co-author, with Allen Cohen, "Writing Musical Theater" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Also performing singer/songwriter: was in the Don't Quit Your Day Job Players, 1997-2000 (CD:"Blues Spoken Here" available at CDBaby); solo performer since 2000 (CD:"A Man Like Me" available at CDBaby, iTunes, etc.). Classical works and songs recorded on the Capstone, Richarson, Music for a G'Day, and MPP labels; available through CDBaby and/or iTunes, Rhapsody, etc.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Composition at New York University; have taught composition and other subjects at NYU since 1992, including "Introduction to Music Publishing and Printing" (which I created for NYU's Music Business program). Also Adjunct Assistant Professor at Nassau Community College, teaching songwriting, folk music, history of rock, and other subjects. Currently creating a series of performance etudes for the U.S. Navy School of Music, coordinating them with the School's music theory, ear training, and performance instruction programs.
Organizations
ASCAP, MENC, NARAS, Music Theory Society, College Music Society, plus several others in music education, composition, and theory.
Publications
"Writing Musical Theater" by Allen Cohen and Steven L. Rosenhaus (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006). Article in Strings Magazine, May 2007, on my string quartet "Strange Loops."
Education/Credentials
Ph.D.- New York University
M.A. - Queens College (CUNY)
B.A. - Queens College (CUNY)
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