Grand Treatise on Instrumentation by Hector Berlioz, updated by Richard Strauss

To read this book is to step deep into the history of orchestration and instrumentation. It’s really the first manual of its kind and speaks to the enormous vision and originality of Berlioz. The updating and commentary by Richard Strauss make the book much more readable, though it’s still no kind of manual upon which a modern orchestrator could base a career. Available in the original French, and of course English and German. There may be some copyright restrictions for the Strauss edition in the European Union.