The orchestra and orchestral music

Name: The orchestra and orchestral music
Author: W. J. Henderson

By W. J. Henderson

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About This Book

This work serves as a practical guide for music lovers, surveying the modern orchestra by describing each instrument family—strings, woodwind, brass, and percussion—their tonal characters, typical parts, and solo versus ensemble roles. It explains scoring and orchestration principles, illustrates instruments and quoted passages to aid identification, and examines the conductor's emergence, responsibilities, and techniques. It also discusses requisites of good orchestral playing and traces the orchestra's historical development and the growth of orchestral repertoire from early Baroque through the Romantic era. Chapters balance technical description with accessible historical and practical commentary.

About the Author

W. J. Henderson

W. J. Henderson was an influential musicologist and critic known for his insightful writings on the development of music and its cultural significance. His notable works include "How Music Developed," which offers a critical examination of the evolution of modern music, and "Richard Wagner: His Life and His Dramas," a biographical study that delves into the life and contributions of the renowned composer. Henderson's scholarship also extends to the realms of opera and orchestral music, as seen in titles like "Some Forerunners of Italian Opera" and "The Orchestra and Orchestral Music." Through his writings, he has contributed significantly to the understanding of music's historical context and its artistic expressions.