Composers who write well for instruments

[zamyrabyrd]

Bach's chorales are ingeniously interesting for inner voices as well as outer. I was always glad to sing soprano in chorus as most of the time upper parts seemed to be where the music was in many composers, instead of just filling in chords. The same with 2nd violin, that I did play in high school. Bach, though, did not discriminate and gave nice lines equally to all performers.

ZB

[Maciek]

This is just a layman's impression but I think Moniuszko (not an extremely famous composer but his example came to mind because I've been listening to a lot of his music lately) had something special for the cello and wrote pretty well for it: he always gives it prominent parts in his operas, and doesn't mind a bar or two of solo cello here and there. (OK, actually that means that only one of the cellists gets all the fun but I suppose it may also mean that he payed a lot of attention to the cello parts in general...?)

But I'm pretty sure Luke or Guido will be able to provide much better examples of orchestral cello writing.

[Greta]

Alexander Glazunov wrote well for the saxophone, his Concerto is maybe our most popular, gorgeous and lays so well on the horn.

Besides that the usual French suspects, Milhaud and Ibert especially. Solo modern stuff, there are tons, but Scelsi Tre Pezzi, Stockhausen En Freundschaft, Berio Sequenzas, very cool stuff, utilizing all the possible colors of the horn even if way hard to play.

Orchestral: Ravel (Bolero and Pictures - The Old Castle), Gershwin, Bernstein, Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances, Berg's Lulu Suite, etc. And lots of contemporary composers now use it often in orchestral pieces, which is so great.

[abidoful]

Strauss, Mendelssohn, Mozart, hm......

[snyprrr]

Xenakis=woodblocks/tom toms/trombone

DSCH=piccolo

Pettersson=snare drum

[Brahmsian]

Mozart, von Weber, Brahms, Messiaen, Henning = clarinet

[abidoful]

Henning = clarinet

Quite an accompliment 

[greg]

Berg: the Triangle

[Dana]

    Strange that this thread should start off with Tchaikovsky... Many instrumentalists I know consider his music to be somewhat ungainly. The same is true of Brahms - his quartets are a joy to play, but only if you're up to the task of scaling the considerable technical challenges. His op.51 No.2 is a staple of quartet audition repertoire for violists.

    Hindemith knew his way around a viola like no one else in history - he has a knack for writing parts that sound devilishly tricky but are typically quite simple to pull off.

[Josquin des Prez]

bach wrote well for the harpsichord

Bach wrote well for every single instrument at his disposal, but if i had to pick one instrument which to me characterizes his music the most it would have to be the organ.

[Bulldog]

Bach wrote well for every single instrument at his disposal, but if i had to pick one instrument which to me characterizes his music the most it would have to be the organ.

I agree.

[abidoful]

    Strange that this thread should start off with Tchaikovsky... Many instrumentalists I know consider his music to be somewhat ungainly.

But let's be fair here; just consider the fact he composed so much great music for so many instruments!

[snyprrr]

Coplandi wrote well for the skin flute and mouth organ!

[david johnson]

Coplandi wrote well for the skin flute and mouth organ!

keep it clean and work on those meat whistle etudes.  learn to spell 'Copland', too.   

[snyprrr]

keep it clean and work on those meat whistle etudes.  learn to spell 'Copland', too.   

Whaaat?,...Antonio Coplandi?? Never heard of him?

[quintett op.57]

Bach wrote well for every single instrument at his disposal, but if i had to pick one instrument which to me characterizes his music the most it would have to be the organ.

agree with this.
I would not have mentioned the harpsichord, as his music did not make the most of the specificities of the instrument. Look... if you play his harpsichord works on the piano, it's usually as good.

By the way, Bach is not a fantastic orchestrator. Making the most of an instrument was not his aim. His music's beauty is not to be found in this discipline.
If you're looking for baroque instrumental creativity and colourness, you'll find more in Vivaldi or other italians.

[drogulus]

      I'm fond of Berlioz. I wish the French appreciated him more. They ought to tear down the Eiffel Tower and put up a 600 foot sculpture of a piccolo in the composers honor.

[Guido]

By the way, Bach is not a fantastic orchestrator. Making the most of an instrument was not his aim. His music's beauty is not to be found in this discipline.
If you're looking for baroque instrumental creativity and colourness, you'll find more in Vivaldi or other italians.

Being a good orchestrator is not just about being the most original, it's mainly about being expressive and apt to the purpose. There are hundreds of examples of Bach doing this, though remember that "orchestration" as a separate discipline is a 19th century idea.

[quintett op.57]

do you think being expressive is only related to the fact of adapting one's music to a specific instrument.

What are we talking about?
The sound gettin out of the instruments in Bach's music is great. I mean, it's his music, he's a great composer. I'm not sure his being expressive is his best quality either, but anyway we're not talking about this, are we?

Regarding the harpsichord, a guy like Scarlatti uses it in much more various way. His music testes the possibilities of the instrument. Because of this, some of his works lose quality when it's played by a pianist.

[Kreutzer]

I haven't played with an orchestra for a long, long time.  But at one time performed  first violin in several semi-professional orchestras.

Rachmaninoff and R. Strauss parts are difficult.  Remember doing one of the Prokofiev piano concerti--his violin parts are sometimes inhumanely fast.  Rimsky-Korsakov and Berlioz parts usually lie well for violin.  Berlioz rhythms are tricky, though, particularly for a less than 100% professional orchestra.  Did the Shostakovich First once.  It was hard.  Sibelius wrote well for the violin (he was a violinist).  I think some of the passages for violin in Tschiakowsky's Ballets are more difficult than the symphonies.

Haven't played any operas since college.  We performed "Tosca" and it was a delight to play.  We also did one of the Bellilni operas, and the violin part was pretty boring.

Sometimes composers write four note chords for violin.  The concertmaster will always divide the chords (violinists can't play all four notes simultaneously).  Some of the three note chords will be treated the same.  Another thing orchestral violinists don't like is a bowed passage immediately following a pizzicato passage (You need a little time to re-acquire your bow grip).  There is a passage in Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" which is required to be played col legno (turning the bow over and hitting the strings with the wood instead of the hair).  Players don't like to abuse their expensive equipment.  I suspect professional players bring out their cheaper bows when they perform this symphony.