The most significant phenomenon in the history of Western music has been the evolution and maturation of the symphony orchestra. Although its basic format was set in the eighteenth century, the orchestra's style and sound has been changed by generations of composers who reflected and influenced the musical Zeitgeist. While some of these changes have not been dramatic, those initiated by the Wagnerian orchestra, as well as the Impressionistic orchestras of Debussy and Ravel, have wrought virtual revolutions in orchestral writing. Style and Orchestration presents a fascinating history and critique of orchestral style that focuses on how composers have used specific technical and artistic elements of the orchestra to create their own personal style within their musical era. From the Baroque ensembles of Bach and Handle, and the newly formed symphonic and operatic orchestras of the Classicists, to today's vanguard composers and their orchestras, Gardner Read discusses and analyzes typical compositions of the masters in terms of their individual styles. The book, which is organized around historical periods, provides excellent general descriptions of orchestral development during each era. Read uses more than 90 excerpts taken from full scores to illustrate and discuss the orchestral concepts employed by various composers, to compare and contrast the musical viewpoints of contemporaries, and to show how each composer enriched musical history. To help readers locate easily the entire score of the works cited, the author gives score references at the end of each chapter in addition to the large bibliography. By providing an unusually extensive survey of current orchestration, including exotic, avant-garde, and experimental, Read fills a considerable gap in the literature on contemporary music. Students, teachers, musicians, and music lovers will welcome this enlightening and comprehensive history of orchestral style. - Dust jacket.