Rating: 
Summary: must-read for musicians & composers
Review: Composer Ignacio Calvo suggested to me that I read this book, and I'm glad I did. Even though it's dated, and written in an academic style that is somewhat difficult to read, and doesn't cover newer instruments, innovations or styles in the field of orchastration, this is a must-read for new and aspiring composers who want to know what instruments to use and mix for the sound they're going for. This book tells you which instruments sound right together, also covering things like tone, pitch, tempo, etc. Musicians too will get good ideas and learn things about playing their instruments. It covers everything--keyboard, woodwind, strings, etc etc. You have to really concentrate to comprehend some of it, but this is nevertheless an essential and comprehensive teaching tool. (...)
Rating: 
Summary: A thoughtful writer
Review: I learned loads from Piston. Written in 1955, bits are dated. 'You cannot study music with records, you have to sit with the score in a concert'. Someone doing this to day would be an incredible nerd. But it is well written. Description of instrumentation is easy to grasp, although registers in the brass squad are always a bit of a handful for a non-brass man. Perhaps I found the accounts of the violin, the oboe and the harp best. The analysis section was a bit heavier but the last section is easy reading. Piston teaches well the relation between melody, secondary melody and accompaniment. Different textures in orchestration are reasonably well accounted for. I recommend Piston as a supplement to Blatter's Instrumentation and Orchestration, which is my Bible in the field. Well, they are both kind of Bibles.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I own five orchestration books (the Rimski-Korsakov, the Berlioz-Strauss, the Kent Kennon, the Forsyth, and this) and am familiar with four others (of which the only one worth mentioning is "Thinking for Orchestra" by Rene Lebovitz [sp?]). With the possible exception of the Forsyth (which is much more fun to read at least), I consider this the best and most practicable of them. I'm actually writing to warn you, however. I bought my copy at a book store, and when I'd got it home I noticed that eight pairs of facing pages (in "The Bassoon" and "Brass Instruments" chapters) were blank. So do buy this, but hang on to your receipt until you've checked it thoroughly--and Norton: work on quality control; cease to hire the incompetent. Oh, one more thing: the back flap advertises Mark Devoto's sabotage of Walter Piston's formerly excellent, now ruined, "Harmony". Ignore it.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: I own five orchestration books (the Rimski-Korsakov, the Berlioz-Strauss, the Kent Kennon, the Forsyth, and this) and am familiar with four others (of which the only one worth mentioning is "Thinking for Orchestra" by Rene Lebovitz [sp?]). With the possible exception of the Forsyth (which is much more fun to read at least), I consider this the best and most practicable of them. I'm actually writing to warn you, however. I bought my copy at a book store, and when I'd got it home I noticed that eight pairs of facing pages (in "The Bassoon" and "Brass Instruments" chapters) were blank. So do buy this, but hang on to your receipt until you've checked it thoroughly--and Norton: work on quality control; cease to hire the incompetent. Oh, one more thing: the back flap advertises Mark Devoto's sabotage of Walter Piston's formerly excellent, now ruined, "Harmony". Ignore it.
Rating:
Summary: Too detailed and Traditional (for me)
Review: I requested this book from the library in hope it might help me with some of my general orchestral challenges. I found myself having to read long chapters with very detailed explanations. Walter Piston writes as an academic to a university scalar about orchestration as it would be found within a classical orchestra. Piston looks at the instruments of the orchestra in great detail, helping the reader come to terms with technical capabilities and so forth, although modern-day instruments, such as a variety of different percussion, aren't presented. Obviously, this is due largely to the age of the book. Walter Piston was an academic of his time; very experienced, very practical. Section B describes awkward situations of orchestrations and the different ways to orchestrate, with possible solutions. However, these are only really suited for the large orchestral pieces. Modern day Musical Theatre music, for which I am in the field of, isn't shown at all. Perhaps a modern book would serve my purpose fuller, perhaps in a format which is easier to comprehend.
Rating:
Summary: This is the one (but also buy the Forsyth)
Review: Of the large number of books available on the subject of orchestration Piston's is still the most useful. Although published back in 1955 it is clearer and more accessable than any book written since that I have encountered. Occassionally Piston's literary style is dated and a tad dull but the book is not intended to be entertaining but rather be used as a reference book to be dipped into when needed. Of the other books available, Forsyth's 'Orchestration' is the most entertaining and well worth a read. For anyone interested in how 20th-century composers have written orchestral music I recommend Morgan's 'Anthology of 20th-century Music' (published by Norton) which includes extracts of a number of 20th-century orchestral masterpieces (as well as chamber and solo instrumental works). But if I had to choose to own just one book on Orchestration then it would have to be the Piston.
Rating: 
Summary: Over forty years old and still the best.
Review: Of the large number of books available on the subject of orchestration Piston's is still the most useful. Although published back in 1955 it is clearer and more accessable than any book written since that I have encountered. Occassionally Piston's literary style is dated and a tad dull but the book is not intended to be entertaining but rather be used as a reference book to be dipped into when needed. Of the other books available, Forsyth's 'Orchestration' is the most entertaining and well worth a read. For anyone interested in how 20th-century composers have written orchestral music I recommend Morgan's 'Anthology of 20th-century Music' (published by Norton) which includes extracts of a number of 20th-century orchestral masterpieces (as well as chamber and solo instrumental works). But if I had to choose to own just one book on Orchestration then it would have to be the Piston.
Rating:
Summary: a superior orchestration text
Review: The prose here is more stylish and accomplished than in most music theory textbooks, and the advice offered is to the point, compelling, and original. I also recommend Cecil Forsyth's "Orchestration", Walter Piston's "Counterpoint", and Jeff Burns's "Pentatonic Scales for the Jazz Rock Keyboardist".
Rating:
Summary: One of the best general resources for orchestration
Review: This book, though not the easiest text on the subject to read, is as detailed as any resource on the subject of orchestration can be. It offers the average musician that knows the basics of his own instrument to learn about the details of the other parts of the orchestra, and offers a basic outline of the typical uses of each section. This is a great text for the beginner composer and arranger who wants to learn one of the proper ways to utilize an orchestra. The only recommendation I can make is that the reader not use this books as law, but rather as principle. The ideas and definitions of this book are not completely concrete, and greatness often comes from innovation. This book, though, offers a great path towards a basic understanding of the workings of a live ensemble and it's effect on the nuances of a composition.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best general resources for orchestration
Review: This book, though not the easiest text on the subject to read, is as detailed as any resource on the subject of orchestration can be. It offers the average musician that knows the basics of his own instrument to learn about the details of the other parts of the orchestra, and offers a basic outline of the typical uses of each section. This is a great text for the beginner composer and arranger who wants to learn one of the proper ways to utilize an orchestra. The only recommendation I can make is that the reader not use this books as law, but rather as principle. The ideas and definitions of this book are not completely concrete, and greatness often comes from innovation. This book, though, offers a great path towards a basic understanding of the workings of a live ensemble and it's effect on the nuances of a composition.
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