Principles of Orchestration: The Age of Brilliance and Imaginative Quality

I suppose it would be redundant for me to praise the work of Rimsky-Korsakov like so many have before, and besides it seems above me to judge such an authoritative book. I do wish, however, that Rimsky-Korsakov would have used examples that were not only from his own works. The format of this book is difficult since all of the musical examples are located in the back--rebinding it into two volumes would be advisable. Anyone who studies this book should be familiar with the works of Rimsky-Korsakov, as all of the examples come from his orchestral works. It is also advisable to have at least rudimentary skills in sight-reading scores and/or to have recordings readily available so you can listen to the examples he cites. You will benefit most from this book if you are able to devote a significant amount of time to listening to the examples given for each concept and composing practice sketches based on the principles Rimsky-Korsakov outlines. The writing is rather dense and requires time to understand; therefore I would not recommend it to someone for whom composition or arranging is simply a hobby.

I own some of the great books of orchestration, say, those by Pistons, Adler and Forsyth, but this book certainly is the best of the best. This is not a book about instrumentation (general information as range, articulations, characteristics, notation), rather it concentrates aspects such as resonance, register, doublings, combination of instrumental colors, as well as information about the chorus. These are the points that need to be considered in the course of orchestration. A well-organized book, with many orchestral excerpts drawn from Korsakov's own works. It is very useful for any orchestrators to understand the principles the author said.

Rimsky-Korsakov worked upon this work for over 30 years.The examples are from his own works.He originally planned to include examples from Glinka,Tschaikovsky, Borodin,and Glazounov.He did not to avoid notational and stylistic peculiarities.This is not primarily a notational work.It deals more with subjects such as resonance,timbre,register,and instrumental combinations and their various effects.He died before the work was published and many of the examples were chosen from his works by the editor Max Steinberg.The Principles,however,listed prior to example,remain untouched...and still do barring instrumental developments.These Principles could have just as easily been exemplified by the above four or many others.This book is a classic on "Principles Of Orchestration" and most certainly not obsessed with "Examples Of Orchestration".The laws are laid out in the former case.To any serious composer that is as it ought be!

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov might have written some cheesy tone poems, meandering symphonies and mostly forgotten operas (at least outside Russia), but he also could play an orchestra like your Uncle Billy could play a wazoo. Along with Mahler, Wagner, Debussy and Ravel, he is one of the finest orchestrators who ever lived. When his ideas work fully, he has no equal in producing in thrilling, balanced sound. He also taught Stravinsky a thing or two as well, so he wasn't a bad teacher either. This book will show you that as well. Rimsky's ideas might be old-fashioned and perhaps using his own music as examples, is a little arrogant, but when you're good enough, how can you argue?

One of the few Orchestration books that not only discusses the technique of the art, but also the emotional and psychological effect of instrumentation. The translation of the original text is well done. I always keep this book close by.