This terminology best describes a technique applied by Anton von Webern in orchestration. If a given line maintains a tone color only briefly and kaleidoscopically changes from one timbre to another, a horizontally applied total mixture is effected. This is a rarely used technique, rich in possibility. In the Columbia recording of Webern’s complete works there is an example of this technique in his orchestration of a Bach fugue — listen to this recording. The ordinary orchestrator would have shown a tendency to follow through with the same tone color throughout a given segment of melody, but Webern changes the melodic timbre frequently and rapidly. The result is a sound that possibly violates the sturdy spirit of the music of Bach, but no one can deny the richness and tonal interest of this variegation, or fail to note that it is of “frontier” significance.
In a much more expansive way Concerto for Orchestra by Bartók sets out to ensure that all the instruments of the orchestra will be heard in turn as melodic voices. Over a very large span, this achieves a similar total mixture.
from MILHAUD: Les Choéphores (Copyright by Heugel, 1926-1947, Heugel, Editeur, Paris) — PLATE XL. FULL AND SUBTLE USE OF PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS [Plate withheld from the public edition: the excerpt is still in copyright.]
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