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Scan 158
Musical instruments, 1925
18 lines. Read by computer on 21 September 2026. Printed page 144. See the scan on archive.org.
1rebound, producing a group of reiterated notes. One of the most effective examples may be found in the closing theme of the first section of the opening movement of Tchaïkovsky's Pathetic Symphony.
3N°36. Pathetic Symphony
4Moderato mosso
5Flute
6Bassoon
7Vls I & II
8Vla
9pizz.
11PIZZICATO
13An old-time actor once told me of reciting a poem accompanied by the "picked staccato" of the Violins. This expression, although technically inaccurate, is strikingly suggestive, for when the strings of any instrument of the Violin family are played pizzicato, they are picked, and the result is staccato.* What is this picking or plucking but a going back to first principles, and setting the strings into vibration without the aid of the bow? (See Chapter III, page 62.)
15The usual simple process is so familiar to all that illustration is unnecessary, however, in the works of Rimsky-Korsakoff, the brilliant orchestrator, we find certain remarkable experiments. In his Capric-
17*The abbreviation pizz. is used when the strings are to be plucked, after which the word arco indicates a resumption of the bow.
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