Chapter I: Front Matter

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[Transcriber's Notes: This eBook was prepared from a 1964 reprint published by Dover Publications, Inc., New York, which in turn was prepared from the two-volume 1922 English translation published by Édition Russe de Musique, Paris.

Volume I contains the text of the work; Volume II contains the musical examples referred to in Volume I. This plaintext version of the eBook contains only Volume I and the front matter of Volume II. To see and hear the musical examples in Volume II, see the HTML version.

The original uses boxed numbers to refer to sections of musical scores. They are represented here in double square brackets, e.g., [[27]], [[B]]. See the footnote at the beginning of Chapter II for the editor's explanation of the musical examples and the boxed rehearsal numbers. The use of asterisks is explained in the Editor's Preface.

Obvious printer errors have been corrected without note. Other apparent errors are noted with a [Transcriber's Note].

The original contains a number of tables of instrument distribution. Those occurring in the middle of a line are rendered in a single line, using forward slashes to indicate line breaks. For example, where the following occurs in the middle of a line, in the original,

Vns I ] Vns II ] Vns III] 8

it is rendered in this eBook as

Vns I/Vns II/Vns III] 8.

This eBook uses the octave numbering system to describe the single-note music examples. Under this system, for example, middle C is C4, and the scale following would be D4, E4, etc.; the C below middle C is rendered as C3, and the scale following would be D3, E3, etc.; the C above middle C is rendered as C5, and the scale following would be D5, E5, etc.

Sharp, flat, and natural symbols are rendered as [sharp], [flat], and [natural], respectively. Other musical symbols are rendered as [symbol: name].

Italics are surrounded by _underscores_. Boldface text is surrounded by =equal signs=.]

NIKOLAY RIMSKY-KORSAKOV

_Principles of Orchestration_

_with musical examples drawn from his own works_

Edited by MAXIMILIAN STEINBERG

English translation by EDWARD AGATE

[VOLUME I]

[Édition Russe de Musique, Paris, 1922]

CONTENTS

page

Editor's Preface VII--XII Extract from the Author's preface (1891) 1 Extract from the Preface to the last edition 5

Chapter I.--General review of orchestral groups

A. Stringed instruments 6
B. Wind instruments:
Wood-wind 12
Brass 21
C. Instruments of little sustaining power:
Plucked strings 26
Pizzicato 27
Harp 27
Percussion instruments producing determinate sounds, keyed
instruments
Kettle-drums 29
Piano and Celesta 30
_Glockenspiel_, Bells, Xylophone 32
Percussion instruments producing indefinite sounds 32
Comparison of resonance in orchestral groups, and combination
of different tone qualities 33