Anatomy of the Orchestra

by Norman Del Mar

The first edition (1981) of Anatomy of the Orchestra, Norman Del Mar's renowned treatise and study of orchestral practice, sold out within a year of its publication. Del Mar (1919-1994), a distinguished conductor and musicologist, was recognised as one of the greatest authorities on the orchestra in his lifetime. Written not only for fellow conductors, players, students, and professional musicians, Anatomy of the Orchestra is also for everyone interested in the performance of orchestral music. 'It's tremendous fun just reading from cover to cover ... The chapter on horns doesn't fail to embrace water-emptying, or the perils of seating them in front of percussion - vibrations shoot up backward-turned bells and shiver the players' lips; and who needs be any longer at a loss for a term for any type of snare drum in any of four languages?' Tempo

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

528 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1981

About the author

Norman René Del Mar, CBE, was a British conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialized in the music of late romantic composers; including Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler, and Richard Strauss.

Reviews

[Christopher Kou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is THE book that got me started in orchestration and helped me learn and understand the various parts of the orchestra, how the various instruments are used and the conventions associated with them. Every section and instrument is described and analysed in detail. I highly recommend this book to those who compose or arrange music for orchestral ensembles, or for those who simply want to better understand the orchestra so that they may better appreciate music as a listener.

[Joshua Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't help but compare and contrast this with Christopher Adey's book, Orchestral Performance. Although Adey's tome is perhaps a bit more detailed into the nuts and bolts of performance, Del Mar's is a much easier read, while not cutting corners in regards to content. Although a majority of the book was just reminders to me, there were still several thought-provoking bits of information within.

[✨ Brianna Raquel ✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Del Mar really made me feel like I can easily write for orchestra

[Will Biby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not for the faint of heart! This book is highly technical and only suited of musical scholars and nosy, know-it-all amateurs like myself. It's really great primer on all instruments of the ensemble for the benefit of the conductor. Del Mar is just thorough enough to not drown the reader with too much detail... just enough to arm you with the knowledge to make you seem a bit smarter than you are (key for all successful conductors).

All of this knowledge is framed with English wit and experience. Highly recommended!

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what audience this book was written for, and I'm not entirely sure it exists. I absolutely do not recommend this book for non-musicians. The more I already knew about any given instrument, the much easier that section was to read. That said, I found this book really interesting because there was so much about these instruments that I see all the time that I had no idea about.