DaveW

I am amazed at the lack of information on Orchestral Voice-Leading. I have searched everywhere for answers to this question but have never ever found any. Students are rigorously taught all the rules of chorale writing, and then thrown off a cliff when it comes to the orchestra. I read Adler and Piston cover to cover, and only found one Adler reference (in 640 pages) to voice leading, and it is for a for a Hayden String Quartet which hardly needs explanation. Piston maintains that orchestral writing (from Hayden to Brahms, and even Wagner) is generally governed by the same "common practice" guidelines, and that timbral considerations are subordinate to textural considerations (i.e., voice-leading). But then he confuses us again by adding ... textural complexities are due to doubling, tone weight, octave placement, and idiomatic instrument writing. Also, If voice leading rules are to be generally observed, are the guidelines to be followed by an individual instrument, instrument choir, or the entire orchestra ??? Are there no teachers who have taken the time to codify some of the basic principles of Orchestral Voice-Leading, or if there even is such a thing, and even if just for triads ??? And if there are such guidelines, it should be possible to explain them without confusing the issue with other factors like timbre, doublings for color, strength, blend, etc. If one can break any rule for any reason, there really are no guidelines ... it all comes down to individual color, strength etc. preferences !!! And I can easily live with that, but I'm not sure the "authorities" can. Everybody (especially on the internet) has their favorite random examples (often duplicated) that do not follow voice leading guidelines, but no one ever says whether they are exceptions, or common examples of not needing to follow voice-leading guidelines. Being told to review scores would take more years than learning Chorale Voice-Leading, and would certainly be hit-or-miss. Further if this would solve the problem of setting guidelines for normal practice (by period if necessary), why has no one documented their findings. Can anyone recommend any resources to better explain this subject ? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, David Webster

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