Instrumentation (music)

A striking example is the band that he selected to accompany the solo bass singer in the "Quoniam" movement from his Mass in B minor.

However, in the passage that follows (bars 11-20), the two instruments blend exquisitely as they "dovetail their efforts in long, soaring, arpeggiated lines in parallel motion".

"Collaborating, the instruments genially traverse an agreed route: they are of one mind; neither needs to develop a separate perspective, let alone to advocate a contending view of experience.

The piano plays the melody in octaves, while the violin and cello play the accompaniment: Later in the movement, the piano plays both the theme in the right hand and the accompaniment in the left, leaving the violin and cello free to provide decorative countermelodies: The concluding bars of the movement ring the changes in instrumentation yet again, adding further ideas, such as the falling octave figure in the first and final bars, while varying and enriching the harmony and instrumental color.

The strings here accompany the piano playing pizzicato, before returning to their bows for the deeply expressive final bars:

Bach Quoniam from Mass in B minor – instrumental introduction
Bach Quoniam from Mass in B minor – bars 1–4
Beethoven Violin Sonata Op 96, first movement, bars 1-22
Beethoven Violin Sonata Op 96, first movement, bars 1-2
Schubert, Trio in E-flat, second movement, bars 1–6
Schubert, Trio in E-flat, second movement, bars 1–6.
Schubert, Trio in E-flat, second movement, bars 21–26
Schubert Trio in E-flat, second movement, bars 21–26
Schubert Trio in E-flat, second movement, bars 86–89
Schubert Trio in E-flat, second movement, bars 86–89
Schubert, Trio in E-flat, second movement, closing bars
Schubert Trio in E-flat, second movement, closing bars