The Woodwind Choir

Woodwind scoring works through each instrument's distinct attack and comfortable register.

Related

FluteOboeClarinetBassoon

The problem

The woodwinds are not a set of interchangeable colours. Flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon produce sound differently, and their ranges, dynamics and articulation all differ. Good woodwind writing begins by accepting those differences.

Instrument combination

The four standard woodwinds cover high, middle-high, middle-low and low positions. The flute is bright and agile, the oboe penetrating, the clarinet smooth and changeable, the bassoon a source of bass and rhythm. Piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet and contrabassoon extend the extremes or replace a standard colour.

Register and masking

Each instrument sounds most like itself in its own comfortable register. Keep a bassoon high for long, or park a flute in the bass, and the instrument loses its identity. Woodwind harmony needs gaps between registers; three or more parts in unison turn muddy quickly.

What to listen for

In the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto, hear how the two recorders differ in colour from the strings. In the First, hear three oboes and bassoon form an independent woodwind layer. In the Fortieth Symphony, hear four woodwinds make a chord that both fuses and separates.

Common misconceptions

The idea that woodwinds are only for melody is too narrow. They carry harmony, bass and rhythm as well; the hard part is keeping all four in their strong registers.

Sources

• 通行配器教材所述木管音域、发音与组合原则，用于事实核对，未引用原文
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., entry "Woodwind", used for fact-checking only, not quoted

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.