The orchestra has been at the heart of much of Western music for over 350 years. Many of the pieces in the recommended listening list in the Model Music Curriculum for England are written for orchestra. We explore how the orchestra developed throughout the centuries, for the first of our series of posts examining the make-up of Western orchestras.
Check back in May for the next post in the series, when we’ll delve deeper into the string family.
What is an orchestra?
The word ‘orchestra’ comes from the Ancient Greek word ‘orkhēstra’, which referred to the semi-circular space in front of the stage where the chorus danced. ‘Orkheistha’ is the Ancient Greek for dance and the ending of ‘-tra’ means ‘place to dance’. In Ancient Roman times the word changed to ‘orchēstra’ and referred to the special seating area for senators and other important people.
The first use of ‘orchestra’ to describe a group of musicians is from 1720, when the name was applied to a musical ensemble sitting in front of the stage.
Western orchestras today are usually made up of families of instruments:
• The string family – violin (grouped as first violins and second violins), viola, cello, double bass and harp
• The woodwind family – flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon (sometimes including saxophone) with their smaller and larger family members such as piccolo (small flute) or cor anglais (large oboe)
• The brass family – French horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba (sometimes including cornet and euphonium)
• The percussion family – timpani, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, tambourine (sometimes including piano, tam-tam, xylophone, glockenspiel and many other instruments)
A small orchestra is sometimes called a ‘chamber orchestra’ or ‘camerata’, while a large orchestra is sometimes called a ‘symphony orchestra’ or a ‘philharmonic orchestra’.
Orchestras might perform alone or with soloist(s), and accompany opera and ballet. Today, orchestras may also perform music for films and games as well as being used in pop music.
Orchestras are usually directed by a conductor, but this role can also be taken by the leader or concert master, the principal player of the first violin section.
Western classical music is divided into several musical periods, which are typically called Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Modern.
From consorts to orchestras
In the Renaissance period (15th and 16th centuries), music was often performed by ‘consorts’. These were groups of instruments from the same family but of different sizes – large instruments for low notes, smaller instruments for higher notes. They included recorders or viols (an early version of the modern string family).
In the Baroque era (approximately 1600–1750), musical ensembles began to combine instruments from different families, with woodwind or brass performing alongside string instruments. This marked the beginning of the modern orchestra.
In the Baroque era (approximately 1600–1750), musical ensembles began to combine instruments from different families, with woodwind or brass performing alongside string instruments. This marked the beginning of the modern orchestra.
Composers wrote for the musical groups they worked with. For example, J.S. Bach had a group of 18 musicians in Koethen, Germany, whereas Corelli had an orchestra of between 35–80 players in Rome, Italy.
Orchestras largely centred around a string section of violins divided into two groups – first violin and second violin, viola, cello and double bass, with woodwind or brass players as soloists or as part of the orchestra. The percussion session included drums, tambourines and bells. Harpsichords were often included in the orchestra during this era.
Watch Les Siècles perform music from the opera Dardanus, by Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau
In the Classical period (approximately 1750–1820) the use of specific instruments became more standardised. In the early Classical period, composers such as Haydn and Mozart would often have 2 oboes, with possibly 1 bassoon, 2 horns and strings.
Later in the period, Beethoven would add 2 flutes, 2 clarinets with 2 bassoons, plus 2 trumpets and timpani.
During the Romantic era (which began to emerge around 1800 and lasted until about 1910), the orchestra grew even more, and the woodwind section became more standardised with 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets and 2 bassoons. The brass section expanded, often requiring 4 horns and 3 trombones.
Towards the end of the era, composers included additional members of the woodwind family such as the piccolo and cor anglais (English horn). Tubas were added to the brass section and harps started to be included more.
Dvorak’s New World Symphony includes a tuba in the brass section and features a famous cor anglais solo
The Modern period began in the 1890s and is sometimes sub-divided into Modernism, 20th Century and Contemporary.
Although by this time the standard orchestra was fairly established, composers used the instruments available to them to expand or reduce the orchestra. Stravinsky wrote for small orchestras of 32 players through to large orchestras of over 100 musicians.
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring was written for a large orchestra with several of the woodwind players ‘doubling’ – playing more than one instrument, e.g. flute and piccolo.
Interesting fact
When musicians need to know which instruments are required in a piece and how many, there is a musical shorthand for this, which gives just the number of each instrument. Instruments are always listed in the same order, starting with the woodwind section followed by the brass section, percussion section and ending with the string section. Sometimes the number of string players is not specified by the composer so the instrumentation might be "str", but there is a generally agreed number of players for each piece.
The order is:
flutes oboes clarinets bassoons – horns trumpets trombones tubas – percussion (abbreviated as perc) – first violins second violins violas cellos double basses
So Beethoven’s First Symphony would be written:
2 2 2 2 – 2 2 0 0 – tmp – 8 6 4 3 2
Which translates as:
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons – 2 horns, 2 trumpets – timpani – 8 first violins, 6 second violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos, 2 double basses
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony needs a large orchestra and requires some musicians to play more than one instrument. The shorthand is written as:
4[1.2.3/pic1.4/pic2] 3[1.2.3/EH 3[1.2.3/Eb/Bcl] 3[1.2.3/cbn] – 6 4 3 1 – tmp+4 – hp – 16 14 12 10 8
Which means:
• 4 flutes with players 3 and 4 playing piccolo and flute, 3 oboes with player 3 playing English horn (cor anglais) and oboe, 3 clarinets with player 3 playing Eb clarinet and bass clarinet as well as the standard clarinet, 3 bassoons with player 3 playing contrabassoon and bassoon.
• 6 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones, 1 tuba.
• Timpani plus 4 other percussion players
• Harp
• 16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos, 8 double basses
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