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Scan 174
Harvard Dictionary Of Music(1950), 1950
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1COLORATION
3general technique of modern orchestration, without implying any specific analogy between special colors and special instruments. In fact, any such specific coordination is of a no less subjective nature than that of color-key relationship. It is doubtful how many musicians would subscribe to the statement, made by Bosanquet in 1876, that there exists a "remarkable agreement amongst musicians regarding the 'color of instruments,' that is, black for strings and voices(!), red for brass and drums, blue for wood." There is perhaps only one such association which is likely to meet with fairly general consent, that indicated by the expression: the silvery tone of the harpsichord. It is obvious, however, that in this expression reference is made, not to the "color silver," but to the "sound silver" (dropping of a silver coin). Color associations are frequent in Oriental musical cultures, China, India, Egypt, etc. Here they are part and parcel of a cosmologic symbolism which is far removed from the subjective and psychological approach of Western music [see Lit., Wellek]. See *Color organ.
5Lit.: A. B. Klein, Colour Music — the Art of Light (1926; bibl.); O. Ortmann, Theories of Synesthesia in the Light of a Case of Color-Hearing (1933); A. W. Rimington, Colour Music (1912); T. F. Karwosli and H. S. Odbert, Color-Music (1938); F. Suarez de Mendoza, L'Audition coloré (1899; bibl.); G. Anschütz, Kurze Einführung in die Farbe-Ton-Forschung (1927); WoHN ii, 460; L. Sabaneew, in ML x, no. 3; E. Whomes, in PMA xiii; A. Wellek, in ZMW xi.
7Coloration. See *Mensural notation V.
9Coloratura [It.]. Rapid passages, runs, trills, and similar virtuoso-like material, particularly in vocal melodies of the 18th- and 19th-century operatic arias: aria di coloratura, aria di bravura, Koloraturarie. A famous example is the aria of the Queen of Night in Mozart's Magic Flute. Also used for the stereotyped ornamentation formulae of 16th-century keyboard and lute music [see *Colorists].
11COLORISTS
13Colorists [G. Koloristen]. A name introduced by A. G. Ritter [see Lit.] and widely adopted to signify a group of German organ composers of the late 16th century, including Elias Nicolaus Ammerbach (1530–97), Bernhard Schmid the older (c. 1520–90), Jacob Paix (1556–1617), B. Schmid the younger (1548–?), and others. Although the name serves as a convenient designation, it is rather misleading in its literal interpretation as well as in its implied pejorative side meaning. It is true that the musicians of this group made abundant use of stereotyped and meaningless *coloraturas, particularly in their *Intabulierungen of motets and chansons. However, this method was internationally used by organists and lutenists throughout the 16th century; it occurs in the keyboard and lute books of Attaignant (c. 1530) and in the lute books of Hans and Melchior Neusidler (1535, '75), as well as in A. Gabrieli's keyboard arrangements of French chansons (c. 1550) and in those of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book (c. 1600). The harsh judgment imposed on the "colorists" by Ritter is all the more unjust since these composers actually made outstanding contributions in another field, i.e., dance music. It should also be noted that B. Schmid the older in his publication of 1577 expressly says that he would prefer to leave the "art of the composer unchanged," and that his "modest" coloraturas are added only for the benefit of the young and inexperienced players [cf. Frotscher i, 154]. To include Johannes Woltz (tablature of 1617) in this group, as Ritter does, is not correct, since Woltz renounces the addition of coloraturas altogether. Even more misleading is the inclusion of Arnolt Schlick [cf. AdHM i, 385] who is not only much too early but also much too great a composer to be grouped with the above.
15Lit.: A. G. Ritter, Zur Geschichte des Orgelspiels (1884); G. Frotscher, Geschichte des Orgelspiels und der Orgelcomposition (1935); W. Apel, "Early German Keyboard Music" [MQ xxiii, 231]; W. Merian, †Der Tanz in den
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