LESSON ONE (Continued):
SCORING WITH HORNS
Now comes into play an issue we will have to carefully consider in all our future orchestration endeavours: balance.
We know that two of a single instrument are not twice as loud as one of that instrument. And we are also now aware that instruments have stronger registers and weaker ones. It therefore should come as no surprise that as we expand the colour palette of our orchestra we should encounter instruments that carry more weight throughout their range.
The horn is usually considered “midway between the woodwinds and the brass”. There have been innumerable discussions on this topic over the years. Suffice it to say we will accept this as a given without expanding on any theoretical or accoustical reason for this.
The horns blend rather well with the woodwinds, thus explaining their inclusion in woodwind quintets. They also blend well with other brass instruments, though they have more difficulty holding their own against the slightly more powerful trumpets and trombones. One of the reasons the horns blend so well is because of the mellow nature of their timbre.
While you have access to four horns in a traditional orchestral setting, you are not obligated to use the four horns at all times. Apart from the moments where you will assign a particular melodic solo to a single horn, you may require only two horns to give more weight to, or round out the timbre of, a particular orchestral passage.
When writing for a full woodwind complement (two of each), in any dynamic other than soft, four horns can readily overpower the entire sonority. This is why we have spent so much time considering the use of unison and octave doublings, and the construction of blended timbres using the different woodwind.
You will find that you can use your horns as a “harmonic backbone” (much as classical-era composers did) over which you can assign melodic material to composite timbres of mixed woodwinds and/or strings.
Things to try:
create a simple repeated 2-part harmonic rhythmic motif that can be passed back and forth between pairs of horns
create a sustained harmonic background with four horns
create a rhythmic ostinato pedal tone with the four horns
