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IntroductionThe music of a symphony orchestraThe musiciansThe conductorHistory

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Orchestra

An orchestra <<AWR kuh struh>> is a group of musicians who play together on various instruments. Some African and Asian orchestras are made up of percussion <<puhr KUHSH uhn>> instruments like drums and gongs. But orchestras in other parts of the world must include violins and other stringed instruments to be called an orchestra.

An orchestra may perform alone, or it may play along with a large group of singers. An orchestra may also play with one or more musicians who sing or play solos, or pieces of music played alone. Orchestras also play for ballets and operas. They provide background music for movies and TV shows, too.

When people use the word orchestra, they usually mean a symphony orchestra. Symphony orchestras have a variety of instruments, mainly stringed instruments. Symphony orchestras play all kinds of music, but especially classical music, which is performed in concerts.

Some symphony orchestras are made up entirely of professional musicians—people who play music for a living. There are professional symphony orchestras in most of the world's major cities.

Many schools have student orchestras. Some children who play in student orchestras grow up to be professional orchestra musicians. Most, however, simply enjoy being able to make music with their friends and family.

The music of a symphony orchestra

Orchestral music is written in the form of a score, which shows the notes to be played by each instrument. The score used by each musician shows only that musician's part. A leader called the conductor stands in front of the musicians and directs them as they play. The conductor has a score that shows all the parts together.

An orchestra has about 20 kinds of instruments, but the number of each kind varies among different groups. A large orchestra may have more than 100 musicians. Small orchestras have about 15 to 40 players.

The musicians

The musicians in a symphony orchestra are divided into four main groups called sections. They are the string section, the woodwind section, the brass section, and the percussion section.

The string section is the most important part of a symphony orchestra. It has more than half the musicians. The string section may have 20 to 32 violins, 8 to 10 violas, 8 to 10 cellos, and 6 to 10 string basses.

The violinists are divided into two groups of equal size. The first violins play the highest-sounding part in the string section, and the second violins play the next highest part. The leading first violinist serves as concertmaster of the orchestra. The concertmaster directs the other musicians in tuning their instruments and may also be the orchestra's assistant conductor.

The woodwind section is made up mainly of flutes, oboes, clarinets, and bassoons. An orchestra has from two to four of each of these instruments. The musicians in this section also play other woodwind instruments when a score requires them to do so. For example, a flutist may switch to the piccolo, and an oboe player may change to the English horn.

The brass section has two to five trumpets, two to eight French horns, two to four trombones, and one tuba. These instruments are especially important in the loud, exciting parts of the music.

The percussion section has all sorts of instruments, especially drums. The booming musical notes of two or more timpani, also called kettle drums, make the music more exciting. Bass drums and snare drums help keep the beat. Other percussion instruments include bells, cymbals, wood blocks, and a gong, tambourine, triangle, and xylophone <<ZY luh fohn>>.

Other instruments may be added to an orchestra when they are needed. They include the harp, harpsichord, organ, piano, synthesizer <<SIN thuh sy zuhr>>, and various saxophones.

The conductor

Usually, the conductor chooses the music to be played at a concert. Next, he or she decides exactly how the score should be played—for example, how fast and how loud. Then the conductor gets together with the players for practices, called rehearsals. At a rehearsal, the conductor asks particular musicians or sections to play certain parts of the score over and over again until the sound is just right. An orchestra has many rehearsals before it is ready to play in a concert. The conductor directs the orchestra by keeping time with a stick called a baton <<buh TAHN>>, or with his or her hands.

History

The word orchestra was first used by the ancient Greeks to mean the front part of a stage. During the Middle Ages (from the 400's to the 1500's), the word orchestra came to mean the musicians on that front part of the stage. In modern times, orchestra has come to mean both the musicians on stage and the seats right in front of the stage.

The first orchestras were organized by kings and queens of France and in Italian churches and palaces during the late 1500's and the 1600's. Most of these orchestras used stringed instruments, and they provided music for ballets, operas, church services, and dance parties.

By the early 1700's, some European composers, or people who write music, created music just for an orchestra to play. In the late 1700's, a form of music for orchestras called the classical symphony was developed. In the 1900's, some composers added electronic instruments or put the players into different groups to create new kinds of musical sounds.

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For more information, see these articles:

Brass instruments
Keyboard instruments
Mehta, Zubin
Music
Musical instrument
Ozawa, Seiji
Percussion instruments
Stringed instruments
Symphony

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