need some orchestration advice on this piece I'm working on

Hi everyone, I have a few questions about this thing I'm trying to do in an orchestra piece, hopefully someone can help me,

I was wondering, with this chord that is being sustained over the course of this page, I'm going for a really still, immobile effect, (I think of it as like an undisturbed body of water), which is why I've specified senza vib in the string instruments, would it make sense to specify that for the wind and brass as well? I thought vibrato was more of a string thing, but perhaps in this case it would make sense to apply 'senza vib' to the winds/brass as well?

Also, should I specify senza vib for the D.B. harmonic or is it implied because it's a harmonic and can't be vibratoed?

I know brass instruments can't do a true fade in from nothing, but what I want with those hairpins is that they fade in from as quiet as possible, should I put a footnote in explaining that, or is it implied?

And lastly, is it going to be a problem with the viola and oboe joining the chord subito from the previous forte chord? I dont want them to stick out of the overall sonority at that point.

Thanks!

chamber orchestra piece 2.pdf

oh it's crotchet=63

fade to and from nothing should be marked with a bold and italic lower case n. It means niente, which means nothing. Even though some instruments really can't do that, they will fade from as little as possible. Don't use the circles

You have an asterisk in the horn part?

Harmonics can be vibrated, so write it in. I would also write it in the winds.

Oboe and Viola entrance should work.

I would be careful as to how to notate diminuendo hairpins so as they don't look like accents. Stretch them visually or make them last longer.

Hope it helps

I think the oboe and viola entrance will work. If not for the natural reverb after the ff chord, then the entrance will be masked by the soft bsn/trb/cb chord.

But about that, I've been taught that a bassoon and trombone double will result in a very poor trombone sound (because of the bsn getting drowned but really impoverishing the trb). I do not know how this (a semitone apart) will be. Maybe, because the trb playing pp, the bassoon can compensate and adjust a little, and so get heard, but I am not so sure...