Alanfraserpiano
Breaking the hands is one of the most important means of orchestration. The science of breaking the hands is a vast one, because there are literally hundreds of degrees to which the hands can be broken, from a millisecond to a tenth of a second, each of which has a unique effect on the tone produced. If you listen carefully to Horowitz, for instance, you'll hear that at times he breaks the hands by bringing in the melody note BEFORE the bass note rather than the usual melody note after bass. This is a great way to call the ear's attention to a phrase entrance, an internal voice or an unusual melodic or harmonic turn.
I think we mostly object to the breaking of the hands when it weakens rhythmic structure, when it is done generically and WITHOUT THOUGHT - as a habit, a cheap way of being "expressive," instead of as a well-thought-out, wise way of highlighting aspects of architectonic structure...
AFF