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  4. Thesaurus of Orchestral Devices

  • Thesaurus of Orchestral Devices

    P
    P
    I was just curious to know how many of you have this book. And of those who do, do you actually use it? It's one of my proudest possessions, but I can rarely use the darn thing because I have limited access to the scores to which it refers, beyond the standard warhorses.

    For those not familiar, it is a book by Gardner Read which classifies orchestral idioms on (usually) a per instrument basis, and then it lists examples of those idioms from the repertoire.

    One limit of the work is that it cites specific editions (plates) and page numbers. If you have a different edition of the score, you're in for a little detective work.
  • E
    E
    No, haven't heard of that one. Will check it out. You have any sources where it is being sold? Perhaps Amazon.com will be the best bet.

    Alfred Blatter's book does similar but without the need for external reference. It's more of a guide to how to notate all the physical possibilities of each instrument (ie: pitched key slaps, etc.).

    Evan Evans
  • P
    P
    Regrettably, it is long since out of print. About six years ago, I providentially crossed paths with a Hollywood percussionist who sold me his for fifty dollars. If memory serves, there was some service that was authorized to make Xeroxes of the work, but it was something like 250 dollars a copy. Then, there's the online used book finders.

    But I do encourage you to go to any larger scale university music library. It is likely there for your perusal, though every one I've found in libraries are reference-only and cannot be checked out.

    An example page would be:
    Wood Timpani Sticks - Timpani Roll - 1 Player

    And then the examples:
    Antheil Over the Plains Page 17 Measure 2
    Barber Medea Page 57 Measure 3
    Debussy Nuages Page 17 Measure [10] 2f

    And on it goes. Without the glossaries, this is a 580 page book, a tome, really. And it includes correct notation examples (this is Gardner Read, after all) and language translations for terms.
  • E
    E
    Sounds great. Will check it out sometime.

    Evan Evans
  • M
    M
    I have it, having picked up a used copy several years ago. It is an amazing book, though to be honest I do not use it as much as I would like to have time for.

    Michael Matthews
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