Matthew C. Saunders
Review of
Berlioz’s Orchestration Treatise: A Translation and Commentary by
Hugh MacDonald
As appeared in Music
Educators Journal 90 (January 2004), online members only
supplement
All Rights Reserved
Hector Berlioz’s Grand
traitè d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes, published in 1844, has
long been recognized as a landmark work created by a first-rate composer.
However, the changes in instrument design and performance practice over the
last 150 years have been extraordinary, and the modern reader now requires a
“critical edition” of this classic work to fully appreciate the author’s
intent. Berlioz scholar Hugh MacDonald, editor of the New
Berlioz Edition, has essentially provided this in his new translation with extensive
commentary, giving the reader a glimpse into a lost world—that of symphonic
and operatic music in mid-nineteenth century Paris.
MacDonald has approached the
difficult task of clarifying Berlioz’s often obscure, wide-ranging, and even
at times inaccurate text by adding copious commentary on performance
practice, sources for musical examples, and Berlioz’s adherence to his own
rules and guidelines in musical works. In this task the editor has succeeded
most admirably, providing background sufficient to enjoy the original text in
the natural way for the modern reader to view it—as a snapshot taken midway
through the adolescence of the modern orchestra. Berlioz wrote during the
transition from natural to valved brass instruments, in the midst of
improvements to the woodwind family by Boehm, Sax, and others, and at a time
when the percussion family was beginning to become an integral part of the
orchestra. At the same time, once-common instruments such as the ophicleide,
serpent, tenoroon, and viola d’amore were passing from the scene.
In addition, Berlioz was an
early proponent of a canon of classical music, as the reader will see from
his selection of musical examples. Even though Berlioz included many excerpts
from his own works, he relied heavily on the music of Beethoven, Mozart, and
Weber (along with Gluck, Spontini, and Meyerbeer) to illustrate his points,
implying that these composers were worthy of study and imitation, and thus
must be performed and appreciated regardless of passing fashions. One
weakness of this edition is that the editor has chosen to exclude examples
taken from the works of Beethoven and Mozart, as he appears to assume that
the serious reader will have easy access to these scores—perhaps true in the
academic setting, but not in the field.
The reader is treated throughout
not merely to a dry description of instruments and their ranges but also to
MacDonald’s lucid translation of Berlioz’s vivid descriptions of instruments
in poetic terms, his soapbox sermons on any number of topics, and his dreams
and visions for the future of instrumental music, many of which have proved
prophetic. Berlioz’s foibles—his obsession with transposing instruments, his
misconceptions about the harp, piano, and organ, his habit of eliminating the
alto voices in choral music—remain here for all of history to see, as do his
brilliant intellect, his stinging wit, and his vast personal experience. This
critical edition will be a pleasure to read for any instrumentalist with an
interest in the development of the modern symphony orchestra.
