Scan 107
THE AMERICAN HISTORY AND ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MUSIC, 1910
10 lines. Read by computer on 15 September 2026. Printed page 81. See the scan on archive.org.
1Company; and the new instrument was brought, called the Arched Viall, where, being tuned with lute strings, and played on with keys like an organ, a piece of parchment is always kept moving; and the strings, which, by the keys, are pressed down upon it, are grated in imitation of a bow, by the parchment; and so it is intended to resemble several vialls played on with one bow, but so basely and so harshly that it will never do. But after three hours' stay it could not be fixed in tune; and so they were fain to go to some other musique of instruments."
3Although used synonymously by many writers, the words instrumentation and orchestration have a distinct meaning. The first is the science of individual instruments, and the last is the art of combining instruments harmoniously. Instrumentation regards the instruments acoustically and mechanically, but orchestration deals with the art of writing for the orchestra.
5The many instruments which compose the orchestra, with their varieties of compass and tone, offer to the writer of music opportunities as numerous as do the different pigments which fill the color-box of the artist. Indeed, it is permissible to refer to the individual qualities of tone as their color. The German word corresponding to timbre is klangfarbe, a combination of words meaning tone and color. Thus there is to be found a striking analogy between the art of orchestration and the art of painting.
7Before attempting orchestration, the composer should have a knowledge of instrumentation, and a thorough knowledge of all forms of correct writing of music. He should make a thorough study of theory and harmony, in order that he may not be tempted to trust to orchestration as a means to hide defects in form, just as an artist must master line drawing before he attempts the use of color.
9The term orchestra is very elastic, and may refer to a complete group of instruments numbering eighty or more, or to a group limited to eight or ten. The Boston Symphony Orchestra, one of the standard organizations of the country,
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