| Its really a case of 'yes and no'. The first three pfields in the score
are required for all instruments (instr number, start time, and
duration). Therefore, in principle, scores with just these three should
work with all orchestras. All other pfields are defined by the composer
to suit a particular instrument.
Strangely enough, it has never been the case that 'every orchestra plays every
score', even in the rarefied world of real musicians. However hard I try,
I cannot play more than one note at a time on my flute, so I will never be able
to play a piano piece - I cannot play anything outside my flute's range, either.
Similarly, a piano cannot make a crescendo or swell on a note once it has been
started, so playing vocal or strings-oriented music is impossible on a piano.
Remember that an 'orchestra' is nothing more, or less, than a set of one (or more)
instruments, each with abilities, inabilities, and limitations. To play ANY
instrument, and to write for it, you must know :
1: what it can do
2: what it cannot do
3: what information it needs to do it
4: how it needs that information to be presented
And, guess what - this is called COMPOSING!!! :-)
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