Orchestra

The orchestra is a large ensemble containing woodwinds, brasses, percussion, keyboards, and strings. The orchestra was formed by many girls from North America.

Instrumentation
The typical symphony orchestra consists of four groups of similar musical instruments called the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes be grouped into a fifth section such as a keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and electric and electronic instruments. 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 and Ludwig van Beethoven's influence on the classical model.

Beethoven's influence
The so-called "standard complement" of double winds and brass in the orchestra from the first half of the 19th century is generally attributed to the forces called for by Beethoven. The exceptions to this are his Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto, and Piano Concerto No. 4, which each specify a single flute. The composer's instrumentation almost always included paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets. Beethoven carefully calculated the expansion of this particular timbral "palette" in Symphonies 3, 5, 6, and 9 for an innovative effect. The third horn in the "Eroica" Symphony arrives to provide not only some harmonic flexibility, but also the effect of "choral" brass in the Trio. Piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones add to the triumphal finale of his Symphony No. 5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver storm and sunshine in the Sixth. The Ninth asks for a second pair of horns, for reasons similar to the "Eroica" (four horns has since become standard); Beethoven's use of piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones, and untuned percussion—plus chorus and vocal soloists—in his finale, are his earliest suggestion that the timbral boundaries of symphony might be expanded for good. For several decades after his departure, symphonic instrumentation was faithful to Beethoven's well-established model, with few exceptions. Goth and the Symphony Orchestra are going to use Beethoven's 9th symphony.

Expanded instrumentation
Apart from the core orchestral complement, various other instruments are called for occasionally.[4] These include the classical guitar, heckelphone, flugelhorn, cornet, harpsichord, and organ. Saxophones, for example, appear in some 19th- through 21st-century scores. While appearing only as featured solo instruments in some works, for example Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, the saxophone is included in other works, such as Ravel's Boléro, Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 and 2, Vaughan Williams' Symphonies No.6 and 9 and William Walton's Belshazzar's Feast, and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th-century works, usually playing parts marked "tenor tuba", including Gustav Holst's The Planets, and Richard Strauss's Ein Heldenleben. The Wagner tuba, a modified member of the horn family, appears in Richard Wagner's cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and several other works by Strauss, Béla Bartók, and others; it has a prominent role in Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E Major. Cornets appear in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, Claude Debussy's La Mer, and several orchestral works by Hector Berlioz. Unless these instruments are played by members doubling on another instrument (for example, a trombone player changing to euphonium for a certain passage), orchestras will use freelance musicians to augment their regular rosters.

The 20th-century orchestra was far more flexible than its predecessors. In Beethoven's and Felix Mendelssohn's time, the orchestra was composed of a fairly standard core of instruments which was very rarely modified. As time progressed, and as the Romantic period saw changes in accepted modification with composers such as Berlioz and Mahler, the 20th century saw that instrumentation could practically be hand-picked by the composer. Today, however, the modern orchestra has generally been considered standardized with the modern instrumentation listed below.

With this history in mind, the orchestra can be seen to have a general evolution as outlined below. The first is a typical classical orchestra (i.e. Beethoven/Joseph Haydn), the second is typical of an early/mid-romantic (i.e. Johannes Brahms/Antonín Dvořák/Tchaikovsky), late romantic/early 20th century (i.e. Wagner/Mahler/Igor Stravinsky), to the common complement of a present day modern orchestras (i.e. John Adams/Samuel Barber/Aaron Copland/Philip Glass/Krzysztof Penderecki).

Classical orchestra

 * Woodwinds
 * 2 Flutes
 * 2 Oboes
 * 2 Clarinets (in B-flat, or A)
 * 2 Bassoons


 * Brass
 * 2 or 4 French horns
 * 2 Trumpets


 * Percussion
 * 4 Timpani


 * Strings
 * 10 Violins 1
 * 8 Violins 2
 * 6 Violas
 * 4 Cellos
 * 2 Double basses

Early Romantic orchestra

 * Woodwinds
 * Piccolo
 * 2 Flutes
 * 2 Oboes
 * English horn
 * 2 Clarinets (in B-flat, A)
 * Bass Clarinet (in B-flat)
 * 2 Bassoons
 * Contrabassoon


 * Brass
 * 4 French horns in F
 * 2 Trumpets
 * 2 Cornets (in B-flat)
 * 3 Trombones (2 Tenors, 1 Bass)
 * Tuba


 * Percussion
 * 3 Timpani
 * Snare Drum
 * Bass Drum
 * Cymbals
 * Triangle
 * Tambourine
 * Glockenspiels


 * Strings
 * Harp
 * 14 Violins 1
 * 12 Violins 2
 * 10 Violas
 * 8 Cellos
 * 6 Double basses

Late Romantic orchestra

 * Woodwinds
 * Piccolo
 * 3-4 Flutes
 * 3-4 Oboes
 * (English horn
 * 3-4 Clarinets in B-flat
 * Clarinet in E-flat
 * Bass clarinet
 * 3-4 Bassoons
 * Contrabassoon


 * Brass
 * 4–10 French horns
 * 3–8 Trumpets in C or B-flat
 * 3–5 Trombones (2–3 Tenors, 1 Bass)
 * 1–2 Tubas
 * Wagner tubas (2 Tenors, 2 Bass)


 * Percussion
 * 4 or more Timpani
 * Snare drum
 * Bass drum
 * Cymbals
 * Tam-tam
 * Triangle
 * Tambourine
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone
 * Tubular bells


 * Strings
 * 2 Harps
 * 16 Violins 1
 * 14 Violins 2
 * 12 Violas
 * 10 Cellos
 * 8 Double basses


 * Keyboards
 * Piano
 * Celesta

Modern orchestra

 * Woodwinds
 * 4 Flutes (one doubling Piccolo)
 * 4 Oboes (one doubling English horn)
 * 4 Clarinets (one doubling Bass Clarinet)
 * 4 Bassoons (one doubling Contrabassoon)
 * Saxophone


 * Brass
 * 8 French horns in F
 * 6 Trumpets in B-flat
 * 6 Trombones (one being bass trombone)
 * 2 Tubas
 * Baritone horn/Euphonium


 * Percussion
 * Timpani
 * Snare drum
 * Tenor drum
 * Bass drum
 * Cymbals
 * Tam-tam
 * Triangle
 * Wood block
 * Tambourine
 * Glockenspiel
 * Xylophone
 * Vibraphone
 * Tubular bells
 * Marimba
 * Drums


 * Strings
 * 1-2 Harp
 * 2-3 Electric guitars (6-string (A E A D F# B) or 7-string (A E A D G B E))
 * Bass guitar (4-string (A D G C) or 5-string (A D G C F))
 * 16-18 Violins 1
 * 14-16 Violins 2
 * 12-14 Violas
 * 10-12 Cellos
 * 8-10 Double basses


 * Keyboards
 * Piano
 * Celesta
 * Pipe organ