Everyone knows what a composer does – he or she writes the music and often the lyrics. But the question remains: What part of the music do they actually create? Some composers write all the music and do their own arranging, writing for all the instruments or the voices in a choral piece. Some composers only write melodies, and some add musical sketches or ideas of what they want to hear and express in their work.
Enter the arranger. This is the person who takes the original work of the composer and arranges or orchestrates the ideas into a new and comprehensible, total composition. Some works wouldn’t be in existence without the talent of a music arranger.
Arrangers are also called orchestrators, transcribers, or rarely, instrumentation adapters. They are all essentially the same. The Harvard Dictionary of Music defines orchestration as: “The art of employing, in an instrumental composition, the various instruments in accordance with their individual properties and the composer’s concept of the sonorous effect of his work.”
Arranging involves a detailed knowledge of each instrument. It also considers the range, tone quality in various registers, loudness, and physical and acoustical limitations. The arranger writes each part for all the instruments and their various combinations in a musical composition. The purpose is to capture the composer’s original intent and concept.
Robert Russell Bennett was born in 1894 in Kansas City, Missouri. He was mentioned in a previous article as a gifted, master of the art of arranging. For over three decades his arrangements of Broadway shows have represented the best and most noteworthy of this genre.
Bennett inherited some of his musical aptitude from his father who was a professional musician as well as a baseball player. He grew up on a farm and later he studied harmony and counterpoint. Bennett conducted army bands and also arranged and composed music in New York City. After six years of study in Europe, beginning in 1920, he returned to commissions and successes in New York and Hollywood.
Bennett was an inspired and talented arranger, as well as a brilliant composer of original music. He composed in every medium including chamber music and opera. He arranged many scores for movie, television, and other numerous programs.
Richard Rodgers used Bennett for most of his Broadway shows for several reasons. First, Rodgers himself acknowledged that his forte was not arranging music. He was truly a gifted melodist but never really studied the art of arranging music. Second, Bennett was considered the best when it came to setting Rodgers music for full orchestra.
Yes, it is truly an art to figure out what combination of instruments can express what the composer was trying to accomplish. Bennett was a master at this. In his lifetime he received many highly deserved awards, commissions and prizes. Among these are an Oscar, Emmy, an honorary doctorate and the highest musical award the city of New York offers, the Handel Medallion.
Please submit your questions and comments to banddirector01@comcast.net. Visit our website at www.danvilleband.org for up-to-date information about the Danville Community Band.
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