Principles of Orchestration Part 33

_Examples:_

No. 296. _Ivan the Terrible_, Act II [[37]].

* _Sadko_ [[17]], [[20]].

* _Legend of Kitesh_ [[61]] (cf. Ex. 198).

_Note._ It must also be remembered that a _ff_ pa.s.sage on an enlarged orchestra, comprising wood-wind in fours, and numerous bra.s.s (sometimes in three's), is capable of overpowering a large mixed chorus.

A chorus in the wings requires as light an accompaniment as that employed for a solo singer on the stage.

_Examples:_

* _Ivan the Terrible_, Act I [[25-26]], [[90]]; Act III [[13-14]].

* _The May Night_, Act I, before [[X]]; Act III [[Bbb-Ccc]].

* No. 297. _Sadko_ [[102]].

* _Legend of Kitesh_ [[54-56]] (cf. Ex. 196 and 197).

Solo voice with chorus.

When an _aria_ or recitative is coupled with the chorus great care must be taken in the choral writing. A woman's solo voice stands out well against a male voice chorus, likewise a solo male voice against a women's chorus, for in both cases, the timbre of the solo voice differs from the rest. But the combination of solo voice and chorus, of the same timbre, or mixed chorus, creates a certain amount of difficulty. In such cases the soloist should sing in a higher register than the chorus, the former _a piena voce_, the latter _piano_. The soloist should stand as near to the footlights as possible; the chorus up-stage. The orchestration should be adapted to the soloist, not to the chorus.

_Examples:_

No. 298. _Snegourotchka_ [[143]].

_Ivan the Terrible._ Act II [[37]] (cf. Ex. 296).

When the chorus sings in the wings the soloist is always heard distinctly.

_Examples:_

_Ivan the Terrible_, Act I [[25-26]].

* _The May Night_, Act III [[Ccc]].

* _Sadko_ [[102]], [[111]].

Instruments on the stage and in the wings.

The use of instruments on the stage or in the wings dates from distant times (Mozart, _Don Giovanni_, string orchestra in Act I, _finale_).

In the middle of last century orchestras of bra.s.s instruments, or bra.s.s and wood-wind combined, made their appearance on the stage (Glinka, Meyerbeer, Gounod and others). More modern composers have abandoned this clumsy practice, not only unfortunate from the spectators' point of view, but also detrimental to the mediaeval or legendary setting of the majority of operas. Only those stage instruments are now used which suit the scene and surroundings in which the opera is laid. As regards instruments in the wings, invisible to the audience, the question is simple. Nevertheless, for the musician of today the choice of these instruments must be regulated by aesthetic considerations of greater importance than those governing the selection of a military band. The instruments are played in the wings, those visible on the stage are only for ornament.

Sometimes stage-instruments may be replicas of those common to the period which the opera represents, (the sacred horns in _Mlada_, for example). The orchestral accompaniment must vary in power according to the characteristics of the instruments played in the wings. It is impossible to ill.u.s.trate the use of all the instruments mentioned below, and to outline suitable accompaniments. I can only give a few examples and refer the reader once again to the pa.s.sages in the full scores.

a) Trumpets:

_Servilia_ [[12]], [[25]].

* _Legend of Kitesh_ [[53]], [[55]], [[60]].

* _Tsar Saltan_ [[139]] and further on.

b) Horns, in the form of hunting horns:

_Pan Voyevoda_ [[38-39]].

c) Trombones, leaving the orchestra to go on the stage:

_Pan Voyevoda_ [[191]].

d) Cornets:

_Ivan the Terrible_, Act III [[3]], [[7]].

e) Sacred horns (natural bra.s.s instruments in various keys):

_Mlada_, Act II, pp. 179 onwards.

f) Small clarinets and piccolos:

No. 299-300. _Mlada_, Act III [[37]], [[39]].

g) Pipes of Pan: instruments, specially made, with many holes which are pa.s.sed over the lips. These particular pipes produce a special enharmonic scale (_B_ flat, _C_, _D_ flat, _E_ flat, _E_, _F_ sharp, _G_, _A_), which has the effect of a glissando:

_Mlada_, Act III [[39]], [[43]] (cf. Ex. 300).

h) Harp, reproducing the effect of an aeolian harp:

_Kashtche the Immortal_ [[32]] and further on (cf. Ex. 268, 269).

i) Lyres. Instruments specially made and tuned so as to be able to perform a glissando chord of the diminished seventh:

_Mlada_, Act III [[39]], [[43]] (cf. Ex. 300).

k) Pianoforte, grand or upright: