Principles of Orchestration, with Musical Examples Drawn from His Own Works

Rimsky-Korsakov's famous dictum opens this book: "To orchestrate is to create, and this cannot be taught." But as he argues, while invention cannot be formalized, technique certainly can be learned from a master. This book stands alone among orchestration treatises: it was written by a composer whose own works, the glittering Scheherazade, the thundering Capriccio Espagnol, demonstrated revolutionary command of orchestral color. Here he distills decades of practical wisdom, examining every instrument's soul: its range, its timbre, how it speaks and breathes. He shows how melodies unfold across string sections, how brass can thunder or whisper, how woodwinds weave and sigh. The final chapters venture into opera, exploring vocal accompaniment, stage instrumentation, the mysteries of voice and instrument together. Nearly 330 pages of musical examples drawn directly from his scores transform theory into living sound. This is the book every composer, conductor, and serious listener has turned to for over a century to understand how an orchestra becomes an orchestra.