NOTATIO

Howdy, I have an ensemble of like instruments where the "lead" voice moves around the ensemble freely (and sometimes quickly).

I had been thinking of using Hauptstimme markings (with brackets showing the end of the "lead" passage), but am now second-guessing myself.

As a performer, I definitely would want to know when I am playing the melody that should be brought out (and this will also save loads and loads of rehearsal time). But will my scheme just add clutter and confusion? Is there a better way to approach this? Any options you can recommend?

It honestly depends on how obvious the Hauptstimme is without the explicit marking. There are many times where a voice's emphasis will be clear merely from the context, and where the marking would just clutter the page. Schoenberg ostensibly created the symbol because his music was so complex as to require[i/i] it for proper performances.

Because the instruments are like and the range of the parts cross frequently, it’s really not obvious moment to moment where the lead voice is; it’s not always the highest part.

If you mark the lead voice forte and the accompanying voices piano (or something similar), it would be clear which is the lead voice even without Hauptstimme signs.