About Orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus. The orchestra grew by accretion throughout the eighteenth and 19th centuries, but changed very little in composition during the course of the 20th century.

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A smaller-sized orchestra for this time period (of about fifty players or fewer) is called a chamber orchestra. A full-size orchestra (about 100 players) may sometimes be called a "symphony orchestra" or "philharmonic orchestra"; these modifiers do not necessarily indicate any strict difference in either the instrumental constitution or role of the orchestra, but can be useful to distinguish different ensembles based in the same city (for instance, the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra). A symphony orchestra will usually have over eighty musicians on its roster, in some cases over a hundred, but the actual number of musicians employed in a particular performance may vary according to the work being played and the size of the venue. A leading chamber orchestra might employ as many as fifty musicians; some are much smaller than that. Orchestras can also be found in schools.

schools
Instrumentation

The typical symphony orchestra consists of four proportionate groups of similar musical instruments called the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings, and also the fifth proportionate group of similar musical instruments like the rhythm section in modern times. The orchestra, depending on the size, contains almost all of the standard instruments in each group. In the history of the orchestra, its instrumentation has been expanded over time, often agreed to have been standardized by the classical period[1] and Beethoven's influence on the classical model.[2]model


[edit] Early Romantic Orchestra Woodwinds(Piccolo)2 Flutes2 Oboes(English Horn)2 Clarinets in B-flat, A(Bass Clarinet in B-flat, A)2 Bassoons(Contrabassoon) Brass4 Horns in F (sometimes in different keys)2 Trumpets in F (sometimes in different keys)(2 Cornets in B-flat)3 Trombones (2 Tenors, 1 Bass)(Tuba) Percussion3 TimpaniSnare DrumBass DrumCymbalsTriangleTambourineGlockenspiel StringsHarp 14 Violins I12 Violins II10 Violas8 Violoncellos6 Double basses in

in

[edit] Late Romantic Orchestra WoodwindsPiccolo3 Flutes3 OboesEnglish HornClarinet in E-flat3 Clarinets in B-flat, ABass Clarinet3 BassoonsContrabassoon Brass4-8 Horns in F3-4 Trumpets in F, C, B-flat3-4 Trombones (2-3 Tenors, 1 Bass)(Wagner Tubas (2 Tenors, 2 Bass))1-2 Tubas Percussion4 or more TimpaniSnare drumBass drumCymbalsTam-tamTriangleTambourineGlockenspielXylophoneChimes KeyboardsPianoCelestaOrgan Strings2 Harps 16 Violins I16 Violins II12 Violas10 Violoncellos8 Double basses Harps