9 Decoding and Marking Orchestral Parts • 9.23 Divisi: “Which Part Should I Play?” 493 Part 9 Decoding and Marking Orchestral Parts A Manual of Orchestral Notation and Performance Practice 9.23 “Which Part Should I Play?” • Strategies for Dividing the Violins Tables 11.4a and 11.5: solo passages for various positions • • In Strauss’s, Aus Italien/iii, Zarathustra, or Salome, each of the Wulfhorst 2013, Ch. 15: foreign terms and abbreviations • two violin sections is subdivided into groups A (usually the Del Mar 1983, 36–44 four front stands) and B (the four back stands). Some issues regarding the division of the violins in an orchestra • In the Pifa from Handel’s Messiah, Wagner’s Siegfried I/3, concern primarily concertmasters, principals, and conductors. Strauss’s Josephslegende and Elektra, Shostakovich’s Symphony But all players should read this downloadable chapter in its entirety 5/iii, and Britten’s Dream III the two violin sections are tem- so that they understand the principles, know how to mark their porarily or permanently divided into three equal groups. Bar- parts, and can ask appropriate questions. tók’s Music has four violin parts. Section size • Note that it takes ten players to double the • Fauré’s Requiem, Stravinsky’s Capriccio, Weill’s Mahagonny loudness of one ( Beament 1997, 154). The main benefit of a and Symphony 1, Schoeck’s Horn Concerto, and a few other larger section is a smoother, more homogeneous sound quality; pieces feature only a single violin part. the main drawback, however, is the difficulty of achieving perfect • Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, J. C. Bach’s Double Symphonies, rhythmic precision and clear articulation. and some works by Bantock, Martin, Tippett, and Vaughan Today the the second-violin section is generally the same size Williams use two full string orchestras, situated against each as the first-violin section, minus one stand (or, more rarely, minus other. one player). In medium to large halls and opera houses, seating • In numerous 20th-century pieces, each stand or player per- audiences between 800 and 2000, the common ratio between first forms from a separate part. Strauss’s Metamorphoses, for in- and second violins is as follows: stance, require ten solo violins. • 18/16 (18 firsts and 16 seconds) for Bruckner and Mahler • There are even a few notorious pieces without any vio- • 16/14 for most symphonic repertoire of the 19th and 20th lins: Brahms’s Serenade no. 2, Hindemith’s Schwanendreher, centuries, as well as for the operas of Wagner and Strauss Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Honegger’s Roi David, Du- • 14/12 for 19th- and 20th-century concerto accompaniments, tilleux’s Timbres. for most 19th-century operas, and for oratorios with large For any non-standard division, the principal players, together choirs with the conductor, must develop strategies for the assignment • 12/10 or 10/8 for Classical symphonies, Classical concerto ac- of parts and, if necessary, for seating; these must be based on the companiments, Classical operas, bel canto operas, and orato- way the individual groups are used in the score, the strengths of rios with small or medium-sized choirs. the players, and the acoustics of the hall (Ch. 8.12). For instance, Common chamber-orchestra ratios are: 8/7, 8/6, 7/6, 6/5, 5/4, for the works or passages with with three violin parts listed above, 4/3 and 3/3. the parts should be assigned so that the musicians playing the same part are sitting closely together: Some repertoire requires non-standard section divisions: • Group I comprises the outside stands of the first violins. • For Baroque and Classical repertoire, some period-instrument • Group II comprises the first two stands of the second violins specialists have returned to the 18th- and 19th-century tra- and the remaining stands of the firsts. dition of same-sized first- and second-violin sections. Some • Group III comprises the remaining stands of the seconds, with works by Berlioz, Wagner, Debussy, and Strauss explicitly re- one of the principals positioned strategically. quire this. Many operatic works include music played onstage or in the • Pieces in Viennese waltz style sound best if one moves one wings; these passages are usually printed in separate parts, though stand from the seconds to the firsts (16/10 instead of 14/12, or they may appear in the parts for the pit, too ( Table 11.5/D). The 14/8 instead of 12/10): in this music the seconds merely pro- concertmaster or conductor should assign one or more soloists, as vide the accompaniment, and the firsts often play the melody needed, and decide, in cooperation with the stage director, where divisi in thirds or octaves. they should sit or stand or whether the music needs to be taped. ©Martin Wulfhorst, The Orchestral Violinist’s Companion, 2012 (To order the book visit www.orch.info) 494 9 Decoding and Marking Orchestral Parts • 9.23 Divisi: “Which Part Should I Play?” Solo, soli, tutti • In string parts, solos such as those listed in label is especially helpful when an exposed passage follows a Tables 11.4a–11.5 are usually marked “solo” or “soli” (addition- loud or “safer” texture, as it does here (and in many other al labels are listed in Wulfhorst 2012/14). Accompanying parts examples in Parts 3–9). for the remainder of the section are usually marked “gli altri,” “die In concertos the term solo indicates passages where the soloist übrigen” (the others), and so on. But be careful: the marking “soli” dominates. (In Dvořák’s Cello Concerto/iii 11 and 14 , however, can sometimes signal a prominent, exposed, or difficult passage “solo” indicates a true solo for the concertmaster.) In solo passages that should be played by the full ensemble: of 18th-century concertos, some period-instrument specialists a • Even though this passage is marked “soli” by the composer have revived the 18th-century practice of reducing the string section. or editor, it should be played by the entire first-violin section. Modern examples of the same practice are found in Walton’s con- The term indicates an important, exposed thematic statement. certos: the passages marked with hooks ( ) should be played b • The term soli, added here by the players, indicates that the with a reduced violin section. tricky passage is exposed and every note will be heard. The 9-23a-h [2-16m March 11, 110% Allegro assai moderato = 63 a 4ta corda q 1 (Soli) 1 Verdi # # 5 4≤ ≤ ≤ ≤ ≤ ≤. 1 Ballo I/Prel. # # c œ œ nœ œ. œ ~~~ &strings,# ww. (strings:Œ Ó fugato) Ó offŒ nœ œ nœ œ œ œ . œ . œ . œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ! . .assai. piano. œ. .e stacc.œ. #œ. œ. œ. ∏ ∏ All.o agitato assai vivo [ = 80] b h 28 4 3 2 Verdi w w œ œ ≤ Traviata II/7 b b œœ œœœ œœœœ œ &b b b C w w œœ œœœ œœ œœœœ œœ œ j‰ ‰‰ j‰~~~ @ a tempo@ 3 nœ bœ œœœœ œ j œœ œ ƒ soli (to be doubled by the4 42nd violins) œnœ œ œ œ a tempo p c Etwas ruhiger [ = 96] Rit. q 150 4 The notation of divisi passagesget. zus. ≤ Mahlerc • Ideally, composers have marked the beginning -œand end of . œ.f – i • (3) The composer specifies which stands or players are Symphony 5/II/3 bb 3 Œ Œ ‰ œ a passage for divided& pizz.4 violinsœœ with abbreviationsarco such as “div.” J playing the parts: and “unis.” or their Germanœœ or French equivalentszartπ (here f • “The first [= outside] players of all stands alone” is a “geteilt” and “zusammenp”). Check for omissions and misprints more precise way of saying “half the section.” Wagner and of such markings and add them if they are missing. Mahler meant the same with the phrases “erster Spieler” d Rêveusement lent = 50 La moitiŽ q 4 Composers may1 indicate section divisions in various manners, (ParsifalTOUS div. I/m.- 1) and “alle 1. Spieler” (Symphony 3/vi ). leaving sometimes more and sometimes less freedom to the con- g • The third and fourth stands divide the two parts, either Debussy n˙. Rhapsodieductor and players forb b theb assignment≤ ∑ of parts: ∑ ∑ ∑by player or by stand. d • (1) The composer&bvn.b b2 specifiesc or implies the number of groups h • The numberingŒ n˙. system is very precise. You will only need Sourdine w w w w into which the section shouldπ be split: div. a 2, prima metà, 2. to decide from- the context whether the numbers refer to Hälfte, etc. Players and conductor must decide whether here, stands or players,π and then mark your part accordingly. for instance, “la motiéRubato” (half the[ = section) ca. 100] refers to the outside Given that the section size in this piece is sixteen players, e sur la toucheq players, the inside players, the front stands, or the back stands the numbers system surely refer toa theTempo stands. = 112 -2 of the section.59 i • Given that the stipulated section59 size isq sixteen play- 3 ( 1 ) 2 ≤ ≤ 4 Debussye • (2) The composer specifies ≤3thenumber of stands≤ or musicians≤ ≤ ers, the numbers≤2 must refer to the players. In Jeux De- Ibériaplaying/iii a certain part: 2 stands. , uno- leggio, 4 Spieler, 6 violons, bussy chose a clearer format: “2e, 3e pupitre,” etc., refers &c œ- œ œ- œ œ- œ œ œ œ- œ. œ œ . j ‰ Œ Ó etc. You should assume that the stands or- players-œ - are-œ countedœ. -to stands,- -œ andœ numbersœ. œ. œ withoutœ. œ attributeœ (“1.,” “2.,” etc.) from the front:6 1 ershere V ons“6 Solipremiers violons soli” can be assumed refer to players.