THE ART OF ARRANGING Shirley M Rider Aron Copland once said ha music is in a coninual sae of becoming This is rue Ibelieve because of he unrelening crescendo wih which he symphony of life wih melodic progression hasens o is finale The largos and allegros of life move ever onward compell- ing men o adjus in wha ever way hey may o is demands This realiy may be found in many areas of life bu i is my inenion o explore i in relaion o music in he paricular area of choral arranging I have included a cerain amoun of maerial in he field of insrumenal arranging bu only o he exen ha i is perinen o he subjec a hand and furher helps o elucidae he given maerial I have included choral arrangemens o bear ou poins under discussidn and have included appropriae insrumenal arrangemens o give freshness and appeal o well known composiions These arrangemens are my own original effors and are placed on he saff in accordance wih he rules of engraving approved by he naional music organizaion in The Unied Saes Of America These arrangemens are no o be considered as an end in hemselves bu raher as a spring-board leading o furher applicaion of he -15-
principles involved They are also designed o be a direc eaching aid in my presen posiion This maerial is prepared according o he following premise and seeks o make ha premise a vial realiy in he life of he auhor and all who may find use for his sudy "Arrangemen and adopion are he musical counerpars of lierary ranslaion Voices or insrumens are as languages by which he hough or emoions of composers are made known o he world; and he objec of arrangemen is o make ha which was wrien in one musical language inelligible in anoher " i The purpose for which an arrangemen will be used will decide he ype of arrangemen o be made The wo kinds of arrangemens chiefly made are for sudy purposes and for public performance An arrangemen made for sudy purposes will be sric I may be deraced from bu no added o Piano arrangemens of operas symphonies and quares are of his ype However arrangemens for public performance are simple ranscripions in which he musical subsance remains he same bu is ransformed o a new medium In many cases his echnique may be carried o he poin of reworking he enire piece wih changes Once an arrangemen is under way care mus be given o many differen facors if a saisfacory resul is o be achieved Range voice leading insrumens involved coloring desired and oher facors ener ino a choice of chord or harmonic doubling Many imes juxaposiion and inerlocking mehods areused In he juxaposiion mehod pairs of insrumens are simply pu side by side in he 1 Groves Dicionary of Music and Musicians MacMillian and Company L T D New york S Marins Press 1954-16 --
THE ART OF ARRANGING normal order of regiser In he inerlocking mehod however colors are mixed so a more homogeneous blend resuls For example g e and c g In any even balance and blend are always done wih he greaes of care The line of music raher han individual noes is very carefully guarded Pracical raher han exreme regisers are used for boh voices and insrumens especially for non-professional groups Tone color mus be as carefully followed for voices as for insrumens in he way of imbre essiura vocal line and dynamic balance beween secions Dramaic expression mus also be wached for voices and insrumens alike To maser each of hese fields and have a sure insinc and feel for each facor involved one mus have had a goodly amoun of experience wih performing groups However as i akes ime o gain such experience many imes one is only saved by a hrough knowledge of he field of choral and insrumenal arranging A good basic knowledge of harmony counerpoin and he ranges and problems conneced wih he various insrumens as well as a hrough knowledge of orchesraion is necessary in order for one o be able o make sound decisions in he field of arranging The basic erminology necessary for scoring and general undersanding is also a prerequisie in doing a compeen piece of work In order o make a successf1 arrangemen he principles of par wriing mus be carefully followed The hrough knowledge of and sric adherence o he pracical voice ranges has more o do wih he successful performance of a composiion han is generally supposed I is unwise o ask even a professional group o sing beyond hese ranges for more han a very shor passage as prolonged singing in hese regisers will over-ax he voices For his reason such wriing -17-
should be reserved for a climax or for special effecs Anoher fac someimes even more unrecognized is ha he previous saemen is also rue for insrumens Alhough i may be more emphaically rue in he case of he wind insrumens i also may be said o be rue of all of he insrumens o varying degrees No amoun of pracice or effor on he par of he group or he conducor will compleely compensae for a basic disregard of insrumenal and vocal ranges Also i is necessary o noe ha given ranges mus be furher reduced when dealing wih primary or early junior high voices giving due consideraion o he unchanged voice For example where he pracical range of he maure soprano voice is from he C below he reble saff o he G above he saff he proper pracical range for childrens voices is from E on he saff o F In shor he voice is kep on he saff in order no o srain he voice eiher upward or downward Alhough a horough expose of he field of he unchanged or oherwise immaure voice is beyond he scope of his paper a similar reducion of he pracical ranges for each par ha may be considered appropriae for a paricular age group will be sufficien o avoid harming hese delicae voices I is common professional knowledge ha a voice which is pushed o soon ino ranges or dynamics beyond ha which i is capable of will never reach is full capabiliy and will reach an unimely end This has been found o be only oo rue in he case of ariss who sough roles beyond hose which hey were capable of a ha paricular ime and finally awoke o find hey were a he end of wha migh have been a promising career If his is rue of an aris who should know more abou he use of he voice and should have far more raining in using i safely how much more careful mus we be in he -18-
THE ART OF ARRANGING handling of young or oherwise immaure voices We mus realize ha he same hing is rue of he insrumens We ignore his fac a our own peril I is a basic par of he professional inegriy of he conducor of choral and insrumenal music o ac responsibly wih regard o hese vial areas which affec each member of a group for beer or for worse Chars showing he pracical and professional ranges of he voices and of he insrumens generally used in every-day siuaions are shown in an appendix a he end of his sudy for convenien reference Once he range of he voices has been decided upon care mus be given o make each par move melodically and wih smoohness Insrumens accompanying he voices may no disregard his principle hough hey may have more freedom of choice in some insances There are various facors which will be helpful in achieving his goal bu diaonic movemen and leaps of a hird may always be safely usefully used If a larger leap mus be made afer i he melody should change direcion However i may coninue on if i says wihin he same chord There are excepions o hese rules bu in general i is wiser o say wihin his framework Alhough almos any inerval may be masered afer consan pracice i is wiser o avoid cerain inervals especially for inexperienced groups The mos difficul inervals may be considered o be diminished fifhs in a downward direcion augmened fourhs in an upward direcion and augmened seconds eiher up or down Alhough here are ways o overcome hese siuaions i is far wiser o avoid hem from he beginning Anoher problem o be considered is ha of voicing; wheher open or close voicing will be used Open voicing implies ha he upper -19-
hree voices span more han an ocave while close voicing implies ha he hree upper voices will be conained wihin an ocave Using boh of hese syles freely will resul in ineresing composiions The only ime when a change should be avoided is when a seady one color effec is desired In any case here should never be more han an ocave separaing any wo adjacen vocal pars The only excepion o his migh be for a shor ime when necessary for smooh voice leading Usually i is more common for here o be a greaer inerval beween he enor and bass han beween he oher hree pars Due consideraion should be given o he fac ha he imbre of male and female voices is quie differen when considering voicing and spacing A good rule o remember is ha he same pich sung by a male voice will sound higher han if i is sung by a female voice This facor may be used o good advanage when rying o emphasize a solo in he bass or enor par The relaive inensiy in hemale voice is caused by he fac haa male voice may be near he op of his range when a female voice may be i n a very comforable par of her range Thus when all pars are in heir middle range hey will blend wih equa! inensiy The same is rue for insruinens o a degree Once he problems ofvoicing and spacing are in hand care mus be given o he maer of doubling Basically he firs fourh and fifh seps of he scale So in he I IV and V riads he roo is doubled in roo posiion while eiher he roo or fifh may be doubled in inversions The hird can be doubled especially in he firs inversion wih he hird in he bass However in he II III and VI riads he hird is he bes one o double The roo may also be doubled and in inversion$ he fifh may also be doubled - 20 -
THE ART OF ARRANG!NG These rules apply for/ he mos par o boh major and minor riads There is one chord which does no reac in his way however The II chord in minor keys is diminished and hus mus be invered I is bes o double he hird or he roo in his case In V7 chords in he roo posiion he roo may be doubled and he fifh omied However i is beer o add all he pars if possible When he V7 chord is invered all ones mus be included The rules for he doubling of he V7 chord also apply o diminished chords secofidary sevenhs and augmened VI chords When a V9 chord is used in he roo posiion he fifh is omied When he chord ig invered he roo mus be lef ou All of he rules for doubling are in force as long as he bass is he real bass line In oher ypes of wriing hese rules need no be followed By reaining a one common in wo consecuive chords uniy of composiion may be achieved I should be remembered ha he fourh one of a scale wans o move downward o mi and he sevenh one wans o move upward o do I may move down o sol bu his mus be accomplished in an inner voice and usually in close voice wriing Parallel fifhs and ocaves mus be avoided and fourhs should be avoided also Whenever possible conrary moion should be used Ocaves may be used in he bass by leaping o avoid a saic sense I is also possible o cross he alo and enor pars when he par is homophonic alhough i is generally advisable b avoid crossing oher pars However when he wriing syle is cqnrapunal pars may be freely crossed wih aenion being given o he independen melodic line of each par When addressing oneself o any and all of he above problems he arranger mus always keep in mind ha a group mus be able o -21-
hear he pars i is abou o sing This is rue for insrumens also if hey are really o play in une bu is an even greaer problem for he choral arranger Because of his fac i is beer o avoid chromaic and dissonan passages If hey mus be employed he empo should be reduced o he poin ha here is sufficien ime o hear he inervals If he empo can be relaxed hen he passage should be done in unison Careful approach o hese passages will be helpful Alhough here may be no end o he echniques o be considered in good par wriing careful applicaion of he above rules will provide a sound basic echnique which will grow and deepen wih experience in wriing hearing and performance Of course due care mus be accorded o principles of musicianship such as merical pulse syle consciousness and he daily conac wih various composers o inculcae an informed ase for auheniciy Alhough i is quie possible o become compleely fascinaed wih he possibiliies of harmonic wriing one of he mos powerful and beauiful forms of par wriing is he simple unison I is easy o learn and is adapable o almos any circumsance I may be used alone or in combinaion wih par wriing as in Handels Messiah The only imes when i is wiser no o use unison is when he harmony is oo complicaed or here is modulaion wihin he harmony making i very difficul o hear and feel he acual characer of he music I may be said ha unison wriing is like a camera bringing ino sharp focus rhyhmic flowing srong vial music and providing a charming freshness and conras o harmonic wrlmg "Tradiional wo-par wriing usually employs only unisons hirds fifhs sixhs ocaves and enhs"i -22-
THE ART OF ARRANGING Three par wriing is anoher echnique used o give variey o four par wriing and o provide for he cases in which only hree voices may be available A grea variey of color may be achieved according o he combinaion of voices used The principles of good voice wriing carefully followed will insure he desired resul provided care is aken o fill ou he harmonic srucure in he accompanimen Alhough conrary moion of pars is sressed increasing use of parallel moion is being recognized o give fanfare-like qualiy buoyancy and movemen of pars in a raher sriking manner In unaccompanied wriing care mus be aken o give he complee harmonic srucure as closely as possible and o include he bass line of he harmony in he vocal pars The use of conrapunal wriing will be useful in insuring clariy in any given par This effec may be enhanced and given deepened color by he careful addiion of insrumens o he par or pars involved Four par wriing is a wonderfully workable medium in which o express a full range of musical ideas in complex harmony bu much care mus be aken o insure a empo slow enough for his harmony o be properly heard and digesed If his isn possible hen a more simple ype of arrangemen mus be seleced Even so his syle mus be empered o give he buoyancy and movemen someimes wished The general rules for four par wriing apply o all forms of four par wriing bu sill here are special consideraions for all male or all female arrangemens However any consideraion of hese groupings should be prefaced wih a well grounded knowledge of mixed four par wriing echnique As a complee harmony may be achiei Choral Arranging -Hawley Ades Shawnee Press Inc Delaware Waer Gap Pa 1966-23-
ved wihin he vocal pars he work may be unaccompanied unless he accompanimen is necessary o he rhyhmic suppor Special aenion o hymn wriing will give an abundance of examples of srong four par wriing Communiy song books offer a similar ype of sudy The basic rules already laid down for par wriing spacing doubling ec mus be followed Also due care mus be given o smoohness of voice leading A free inerchange of close and open voicing may be used in he freedom of four par wriing A hrough sudy of Bach Chorales will be an unending source of sudy and informaion in his syle of wriing The conrary moion caused by conrasing open and closed voicing is an impressive and effecive characerisic of four par wriing Harmonic conen may be enriched by using he following combinaions wih care no o over use hem The sixh may be added o he one and four chords The sevenh may be added o he one and four chords The sevenh be added o he five and wo chords Passing ones in he form of diminished chords and added ninhs also willserve o give variey Alhough a hrough sudy of accompanimen is beyond he scope of his paper in acual pracice his all-imporan par of choral arranging can be ignored For his reason a cursory sudy is ae- Mped here I is all oo rue ha a good arrangemen may be ruined or a leas made difficul o perform byreason of he accompanimen In order o enhance he arrangemen a number Of facors mus be observed The arranger mus be clear as o wha purpose he accompanimen is o fulfill I will no doub have a combinaion of- purposes including emphasizing he ex and music in poin of emoion and inellec srenghening he melodic line and compleing he harmonic srucure making he rhyhmic conen and forward may -24-
THE ART OF ARRANGING moion more impressive giving a more conrapunal feeling giving added color and conras hrough accompanimen figures and oher kinds of embellishmen and making he composiion-a more comprehensive believable musical whole In any case he accompanimen mus never become more imporan han wha i accompanies unless his is he express wish of he arranger for a special effec There are many kinds of accompanimens bu he main ones o be considered and praciced by he would be arranger include hose designed o simply srenghen he pars hrough heir duplicaion provide rhyhm srenghen he melody give a susained or puncuaed effec give variey and movemen hrough arpeggios or special figures conrapunal or oher special effecs and piano or oher insrumenal solo accompanimens and he grea variey of effecs o be realized hrough he combinaion of oher insrumens following hese guide lines Judicious use of he principles included here will make possible arrangemens in all syles and periods which he arranger may encouner Alhough here are special effecs and more accompanimen possibiliies when muliple par wriing is used he arranger will do well o refrain unil an exper -25-
CONCLUSION Perhaps he mos profound conclusion o be reached hrough his sudy is ha here is indeed no conclusion which may be readily reached or propounded Each area of sudy wihin he enire whole is a sudy wihin iself wih seemingly infinie possibiliies of applicaion and enlargemen Each new facor inroduced in urn opens up a whole new area of exploraion which is furher enlarged by new ases and new demands on he arranger I may be his very sense of possibiliy hindered only by lack of imaginaion and knowledge on he par of he arranger which pushes him or her on and on o new endeavor much as one panning for gold compleely unconcerned by he number of failures and only remembering he incomparable hrill of even one gold nugge of successful arrangemen In his sense his sudy is no o be inerpreed as somehing complee in iself bu raher as a se of guide rules which if masered and followed faihfully will insure a leas a measure of success o he budding arranger and give he necessary know-how o spur him or her on o greaer effors Diligen sudy of exising musical examples and courageous effors on he par of he arranger plus aendan experience in working wih acual groups in performing he arrangemens will provide he necessary laboraory for self evaluaion and he necessary improvemens whieh may be subsequenly made I will be more han happy if his sudy is referred o in his spiri Music only becomes melody o gladden he hears of men when i is heard in a language which is compleely inelligible o hem This is he purpose of he arranger which his sudy is designed o implimen and make a realiy -26-
- THEART OFARRANGING qlerdoe&eslirg PEACE OF 7ehe RIVER vro la wood SjowlLywihExphessibndyqFhbJShiFleL>MRideh: Pea :eglaem5kffclfgolll5ellze"ceiasf}oeepea;&? " " peace/paee7oyivleirpeacerwepeace4 JCLivese--)`?he-lycaresv7lcxEuse ;pmp PaMo ------ P 7 777 ) i ` LIL;or}h7"hherkIZS"ilih}ki 9i: nda"f1:7g - V JLsif"ffjliAil"ao ;-e- Sl`3l} l!:{fh9eelh;` drv-aael fo1--lowl 1!l---p c- 5eOn"iOl7"2eeil if7 7 o -27-
> > > ) PeaceJasKofhee7o/v-e7;Peaee/1&ace/Rhace f Peacei Peace o yiv-er1peacg Peace P 7 7 7 i - -28-
- ; - THE ART OF ARRANGING SAB 57ef7 rano Aro =clvisi (Sere1/io>uAeMov)rrai7N;ÅëlleenSfhizuvagik Srr;7L2 plnhe acc Cre ell i7`e7ltke hevi-rs1]he-er rae illls ahcl gvbl/ahrl g m feil TonL77oa}"Tainie"efAehillsahd ` z vioi?;cgle711o>llkeh?oln-lalnicneriaeal/sa}ui g vlea 7 Celc 7 7 7 aasslp"zzi f}7 li 7 R/aMoV`l 7 7 7 7 -- 29 -
Cksis77 ; ėv-i ao eli u`lheycise-oze;iitohtae - vey)uwfeetell ;>: e)vrheinevn-tainhlu&sv5cliriffissr > 2 vv "whe*eteliok"17le2roin7aiv)"je-5as)) ieibes#v-ye sns V;dlN v f 7p! Ceo 77 7 RisS;zz- 7 Pako7 7 7 iz oav /he Mo"caain- 8p- -30-
A)esglsi<g-- THE ART OF ARRANGING G-oTelh o7l khe Moecr/aioampTigrrTXE@>) ejrssalch-ih7eserpsi-fenl/hccshy boyn bornujh1ie 7 b H )) boyhbeyhvleihj H ) ViOi"7 7 7 cello- 7 P7 7 Bass E zz 7 7 ps = > S)n - -31-
i 1 ao Tell T> on (hemeecoj(ai7l nl;arbeaoudirevi7a3v`ljibfeheablensherrg5raddielaho-(lfl;----741;esalrr"e - M-es1Ji( V;ofV7 -- 7 Z eeana7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 ji`n! L 7 P SaEike -32-
THE ART OFARRANGING SATB CriSPIy wirs TRAMPiN l shqireybmi( RTdevL Jiina-aine-1";ed)v-rSlrvinreinaKehaNLehini ; atz4r6r7?nohakehslfnin3 L Piahe f "b Fr;l5 @ Ae)nei"aFle/acPil}ll>nalirainp-1)Jr)eAbp-)LbyfhlTe)nal(ehaveh"uiLp)e hoe>bn6e 14aih71re)7aKeh Benb}enhe ho2e FineEb6 L e -33-
@ 1:frazapiN lieihsmakeheavemayhoixe7 it JITI)eh ;eseeeio4sgjxihiif{beieehllvaito2nageabcaehinjeaoejue/aade c PiS l SkgggaprAerehrejuyedwnA3edry7))5ha\ehav-enaekokee LS ffs6b7be i f 1 rcvskqraieheav-el)jko)7ezina- -34-
/TenbhLcad Babi7(one Bass NycJIU ÅÄ THE ART OF ARRANGING Mv Wrld rlrsh /rnbi Rose J-ishreese7 /1--N ` arhbjshihlcymrideh eip --N foepa3 savaev-ya- LgiLveebvTnonecahcabhR2)fev7iL)iaWill2;1-)"iiihRaSe ; bij4 MY u7ldjlf-"yvislro;;5:iifx7xe rzeucay-esf!x bl $-andspine - dawlorin S)LKeshe)haJ/e jue fakeae6looimfro))yvuiiu11--)"isa#4-z RoseJ - TN:-- ` 7AesaeeTPes717flawN LAar :NJ- -35-
bsrigah9ydegcktheaali4ybo sid k"12i`ihvaliiirdeh on L{4e`khJ"e2a!//`lhllgngbfkIi]iFscl;Llaia-Iala-lalaia Pia)p:f e 7 )7 77 >L3l3}IQIigla) : - Falala1laiala13[Qlf7- = ; (zd[bnaeivwavrbearpat?1 FaialalalalaaIQla ----> jufr r- 77 v7rp- -36-
THE ARTOF ARRANGING u eqf" FafalaaBla Iala lalalala ffolhebh-cieh7 yvse-"jec6y`ol]falaiala-ibia l6liaiel 7"f7 7 :! 7 7 7 BIBLIOeRAPHY BIom Eric Groves Dicionary of Music arid Musicians London: Macmillan and Co Ld New York: S Marins Press 1954 Baines Anhony ed Musical Insrumens Through he Ages Balimore: Penguin Books Inc 1961 Hal] Inc 1970 Ades Hawley Choral Arranging Delaware Waer Gap Pa: Shawnee Press Inc 1966 Kennan Ken The Technique of orchesraion 2nd Ed NeW Jersey: Prenice- -37-
Insrumen Append;x Wrien Range Acual Sound Woodwinds?-;l;-1"-1 Piccolo 8ve higher bs gl Flue as wrlen rrfiaa=---- Oboe as wrlen ebv-" LS-- English Horn perfec 5h lower Clarine in A Bassoon BRASS Horn in F vt i == vt bhe -- bii e major 2nd as wrlen perfec lower 5h lower Trumpe in Bb bae major 2nd lower k$i; hs-- Tenor Trombone s as wrlen (e Tuba r": e" a- as wrlen -- 38 -
Insrumen Wrien Range Acual Sound PERCUSSION Timpani as wrlen ` (Yer) (;)v fill Marimba s Glocken-spiel 2 8ves higher (#)e Bells (Chimes) 8ve higher Celesa 8ve higher j esg -39-
Insr"men Wrien Range Acual SouAd va2 = Harp as wrlen bis; dsw plano as wrlen STRINGS Violin g-?- Sl L; as wrlen V-" T Å}# Viola as wrlen TV Cello Double Bass Giar Mandolin v) i `s "- --! e -40- as wrlen 8ve lower 8ve lower as wrlen
i Insrumen Wrien Range Acual Sound Manuals depends v Pedals Organ regisraion p -# e- Harpsi-chord -g)l-- E as wrien =5-: The ranges for each insrumen are given in open noes for he exreme possible range and in black noes for he pracical or commonly used range I am indebed o Ken Wheeler Kennans "The Technique of Orchesraion" for he informaion used in he char and for his very useable forma ACCEPTABLE VOCAL RANGES FOR THE VARIOUS VOICE PARTS (CHART) Sopranol Soprano ll Alol Alo ll :-! `--7V --p iv (sounds TenorI 8va lower) Tenor II Bass I (Barione) Bass II a -" ae T-e The vocal ranges given in he above char are given in black noes for he professional range and in open noes for he pracical ranges I am indebed o Hawley Ades "Choral Arranging" for hese ranges given in his forma -41-