Dictionary of Music - Birding America

orchestra 285II. Brasses (13 to 18)6 to 8 French horns3 to 5 trumpets3 to 4 trombones1 tubaIII. Percussion (5 to 9)2 to 4 timpani3 to 5 other percussion (bass drum, tenordrum, snare drum, tambourine, triangle,cymbals; also tuned percussion, such asglockenspiel, xylophone, celesta, chimes)IV. Unbowed stringed instruments (2 to 3)1 to 2 harps1 pianoV. Bowed strings (62 to 66)16 to 18 first violins16 second violins12 violas10 cellos8 to 10 double bassesIn addition to these more or less basic instruments,many others are occasionally used, amongthem the saxophone group, instruments from earliertimes (harpsichord, oboe d’amore, recorder, bassethorn, etc.), specialized brasses (Wagner tuba, cornet,euphonium, etc.), an enormous variety of percussioninstruments (sleighbells, gong, wood block,marimba, claves, maracas, bongo drums, cow bell,and many others), and electronic instruments (electricorgan, electric guitar, synthesizer, etc.).The orchestra differs from a chamber group(quartet, octet, or the like) in that there may be morethan a single player for each part and there arealways several for each violin, viola, and cello part.However, the exact size and instrumental makeup ofthe orchestra have changed considerably during thecourse of its history. The first true orchestra seems tohave been the group of some three dozen musiciansassembled for Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in 1609. (Thescore lists thirty-six, but presumably the trumpetswere supported by timpani, as was customary, eventhough no percussion instruments are named.)Throughout the baroque (1600–1750) the orchestraremained small, with about twenty to thirty-fiveplayers. The choice of instruments varied considerably,especially since composers still did not alwaysspecify particular ones. The viols of the Renaissancewere gradually replaced by violins, which becamethe single most important group, but wind instruments—flutes,oboes, horns, and, later, bassoons andtrumpets—also played an increasingly importantrole. The basso continuo (see CONTINUO) needed inso much baroque music was at first performed onvarious instruments (bass viol, harp, lute, harpsichord,organ), but by the eighteenth century it wasgenerally played by one or more cellos, togetherwith harpsichord or organ.In the middle of the eighteenth century inMannheim, Germany, the orchestra became a morestandard group (see MANNHEIM SCHOOL); in particular,the violins were given the role of providingcontrasts in volume (loud-soft). The woodwindsand brasses gradually became still more prominent,although the strings remained the most importantsection. By this time composers generally specifiedparticular instruments for the parts in their scores.The mid-eighteenth-century Mannheim orchestraconsisted of thirty strings, four flutes, two oboes,two bassoons, and four horns; trumpets and timpaniwere available when needed. In the second half ofthe eighteenth century the CLASSIC composersexpanded the wind section, adding a pair of clarinets(or more), a third oboe, and two more bassoons,and eventually gave each of these instrumentsa separate part (formerly they had oftendoubled one another, or even doubled a string orcontinuo part).During the remainder of the nineteenth centurythe orchestra continued to grow, both in size and invariety of instruments. Winds and percussion instrumentswere added in great numbers, and the stringsection grew in proportion. First Wagner and Bruckner,and later Mahler and Richard Strauss, expandedthe orchestral resources to huge proportions, creatinggreat masses of sound. Debussy was among thefirst to react against this trend, returning to a carefulselection of instruments for their individual tonecolor. Since about 1910 the size of the orchestra ingeneral has shrunk, and composers have tended topay careful attention to ORCHESTRATION. See also