In Search of Certainty

Chapter 13. Orchestration And Creative Instability: Or why the conductor does not promise to blow every trumpet

“The composer should picture to himself the exact harmonic formation of the piece he intends to orchestrate.”

Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Principles of Orchestration

“It is true, that certain living creatures, as Bees, and Ants, live sociably one with another, (which are therefore by Aristotle numbred amongst Politicall creatures;) and yet have no other direction, than their particular judgements and appetites; nor speech, whereby one of them can signifie to another, what he thinks expedient for the common benefit: and therefore some man may perhaps desire to know, why Man-kind cannot do the same. To which I answer,

“First, that men are continually in competition for Honour and Dignity, which these creatures are not... these creatures, having not (as man) the use of reason, do not see, nor think they see any fault, in the administration of their common businesse: whereas amongst men, there are very many, that thinke themselves wiser, and abler to govern the Publique, better than the rest; and these strive to reforme and innovate, one this way, another that way; and thereby bring it into Distraction and Civill warre.”

Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

Amongst the many forms of intentional human expression, we have traditionally only music and dance that capture multiple, simultaneous, overlapping voices, unifying them into a single collective experience. As artistic languages, these embrace ...