The strings

Principles of OrchestrationNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, 1922

• A. Stringed Instruments
• Pizzicato
• Melody in stringed instruments
• Stringed instruments doubling in octaves
• Tutti pizzicato

• A. Stringed Instruments

  From the point of view of activity and flexibility the violin takes pride of place among stringed instruments, then, in order, come the viola, 'cello and double bass. In practice the notes of extreme limit in the string quartet should be fixed as follows:

• A. Stringed Instruments

  …of tone from one end of the scale to the other are qualities common to all stringed instruments, and render them essentially superior to instruments of other groups. Further, each string has a distinctive character of its own, difficult to define in words. The…

• A. Stringed Instruments

  …If there is any surplus of strength it must be on the side of the first violins, as they must be heard distinctly on account of the important part they play in the harmonic scheme. Besides this, an extra desk of first violins is usual in all orchestras, and as…

• b) Violas

  …in the alto-tenor register and a still higher compass is assigned to the violas. Cantabile melodies however are not so frequently written for violas as for violins and 'cellos, partly because the viola tone is slightly nasal in quality and better fitted for…

• Melody in double octaves

  b) | Violas | ] | 8 | or | Vns I + II | ] | 8 | or | Vns I + II + Violas | ] | 8 'Cellos D. basses | ] | 8 | Violas +'Cellos D. basses | ] | 8 | 'Cellos D. basses | ] | 8

• Soli in the strings

  …(generally the first of each group, wood-wind or brass), solos for stringed instruments, on the other hand, are extremely rare. Whilst the 1st violin and 1st 'cello are fairly frequently used in this manner, the solo viola is seldom found, and a solo on the…

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OrchestrationCecil Forsyth, 1914

• No. 24. The Double-Bass-Trombone · 1 playable example
• No. 53. The Chromatic Harp.1

• Stringed instruments

  " i.e. leg-viol, because played in cello-position. Intermediate between the Viola-da- Braccio and the Viola-da-Gamba came a Viol called Viola-da-spalla, ie. shoulder viol. l'his instrument, something like a very small Cello or a large-sized modern Viola, was…

• Stringed instruments

  …here and there in order to secure a maximum of effect may be found in the Viola melody quoted below from Bridge's Isubella.! A second excellent example is to be seen in the excerpt from Vaughan Williams's String Fantasia? In this quotation the melody is played…

• Stringed instruments

  …background used at the lowest pitch possible, lowest, that is to say, if the Violins and Violas are retained in the score. The 2nd Cellos play the bass most of the time. The effect would be slightly heavier if the Basses took this part. In that case the Cellos…

• Stringed instruments

  It is scarcely necessary to say that the Ist and 2nd Violins are occasionally united in a unison, and that, in the upper register, this unison gives the composer one of the most powerful and striking melodic effects at his command. In the bottom register the…

• No. 51. The Double-Bass.'

  are pizzicato while the 2nd division of the Cellos play col arco. The two are at one time mainly in octaves with an occasional unison necessitated by the pitch (bars 1-4), at another mainly in unison with occasional octaves (bars 5-8). In fact these few bars…

• No. 56. The Dulcimer (or Cimbalom).1

  389, 446, Ex. 235, Ex. 238, Ex. 274, Violas, Cellos, and Basses, 385. Ex. 288. And the Basset-Horn, 283; Bassoon, Violas and Cellos, 400-1, 403. 246; Cello, 434; Clarinet, 254, 250 ; Chromatic technique of the Violin, Violin unisons, 379. 313; Double-Bass,…

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• ▶ Fig. 306
  No. 24. The Double-Bass-Trombone

Treatise on InstrumentationHector Berlioz, 1905

• The Double-Bass Ophicleide

• The Violin

  Frequently the first violins are doubled one octave lower by the second violins in order to give greater power to a passage. But unless the tones are extremely high, it is much better to double them in unison; the effect is incomparably stronger and finer. The…

• The Viola

  At present the violas are frequently divided into first and second violas. In orchestras like that of the Paris Opera, where they are sufficiently numerous, this procedure is not disadvantageous. But in other orchestras which have scarcely four or five violas…

• The Violoncello

  In the orchestra the violoncellos usually take the part of the double-basses, doubling it in the higher octave or in unison. But it is frequently advisable to separate the violoncellos from the double-basses. In such cases the violoncellos may play a melody or…

• The Orchestra

  In the past the number of string instruments in opera orchestras was always in correct proportion to that of the other instruments; but for some years this has no longer been the case. A comic-opera orchestra which had only two flutes, two oboes, two…

• The Orchestra

  …an ophicleide, various percussion. instruments and sometimes six or eight harps, is equally unbalanced with 12 first violins, 11 second violins, 8 violas, 10 violoncellos and 8 double-basses. There should be at least 15 first violins, 14 second violins, 10…

• On Conducting

  …the instrumentalists will be arranged on the steps as follows: the firet violins in front on the right, the second violins on the left, the violas in the middle between the two violin groups; the flutes, oboes, clarinets, horns, and bassoons behind the first…

360 more passages in Treatise on Instrumentation →