I'm discussing with another composer the advisability of combining multiple instruments on a single orchestral part, and thought I'd pose this question to the group. My contention is that a) orchestral wind players dislike multiple instruments on a single part (I'm talking about, say, Oboe 1 & 2,
We're currently preparing the Saint-Saens A minor Cello Concerto. ALL of the wind parts are combined, 1st and 2nd on the same part, on two separate staves, except for unison passages that are one or more lines long. I don't know why, nor do I know how orchestral players feel about such parts. The one advantage is that if the 1st player happens to be missing at a rehearsal, but 2nd player can fill in the necessary solos. But it does mean that there are more pages in the set of parts (2 copies of each wind part), which raises the cost of the sets.
b) such parts are generally harder to read;
They shouldn't be, nor are any of these parts.
c) such parts are almost always on multiple staves, producing more page turns;
Which is not a problem if the page layout allows for rests during the page turns.
and d) the vast majority of orchestral literature is published one on a part (other than the combination Cello/Bass part common before around 1850).
Well, that seems to be your thesis, rather than the result of a comprehensive study of parts. Certainly I always--ALWAYS!--lay out separate parts for each instrument, not because of any rule I'm aware of, but because it just makes sense to me.
Of course other specialties have other traditional expectations: Broadway charts (violins A & B, equivalent to 1st & 2nd, each with divisi that may be on one staff or split to two); or Lawrence Welk-style dance band charts (violins A, B & C all on a single part).
I have considerable experience in orchestral music as a conductor, composer, instrumentalist, and librarian, but I did a limited reality check on the 10 or so parts sets I happen to have nearby at the moment. Sure enough, one piece had combined Horns 1/2 and 3/4 (Barber's Overture to the School for Scandal). Not only that, both parts were notated on a single staff.
That is absolutely standard for concert band literature, especially for horn parts. The problem left to decide is whether to combine the more traditional horn 1/2 and 3/4 (high horn and low horn on each part), or horn 1/3 and 2/4 (two high horns together with more unison, two low horns together ditto). Most of my band scoring is for our community band, and the number of horns on any given day is a variable, so I often compensate by writing two horn parts rather than four, and in that case I would not combine them even if there were a lot of unison.
I did a little research and found that combining instruments on a single part is not generally considered unacceptable, which surprised me. My memory may not be 100%, but I don't recall seeing combined wind parts for any orchestral music before the 20th century, and after that seems mostly confined to a subset of French publishers.
Not the case with our Saint-Saens piece.
Personally, the only parts I ever combine in my own music are percussion, for obvious logistical reasons. Any thoughts on this issue?
Actually this is a problem and forces decisions. And once again, the problem is that while an orchestral composer/arranger can specify the number of percussionists, and the orchestra manage will produce them, there is little standarization in the concert band world. Our percussionists do their own assignments, depending on who is present that day, so any combination of instruments on a single part may or may not work on a given day. For the summer park gigs, it's good to have a part that combines snare, bass, and crash cymbals, and can be played on drum set.
Now admittedly this is not an ongoing problem for most college bands and the few professional bands that may still exist, with fixed rosters or with access to additional players when needed, so in part, it depends on what your target market is.
"Is," as the King would say, "a puzzlement!"
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
