Orchestra

An orchestra ( ; OR-ki-strə) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music or jazz, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: The string section, including the violin, viola, cello, and double bass The woodwind section, including the flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, and sometimes piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, and saxophone The brass section, including the French horn (commonly known as the "horn"), trumpet, trombone, and tuba, and sometimes cornet and euphonium The percussion section, including the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, tam-tam and mallet percussion instruments The harp is fairly regularly included in modern orchestras, especially for romantic period music. Keyboard instruments such as the piano, harpsichord, pipe organ, free-bass accordion and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone as soloist instruments. For performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments and guitars may also be included. A full-size Western orchestra may sometimes be called a symphony orchestra or philharmonic orchestra (from Greek phil-, "loving", and "harmony"). The number of musicians employed in a given performance may vary from seventy to over one hundred, depending on the work being played and the venue size. A chamber orchestra (sometimes a concert orchestra) is a smaller ensemble of not more than around fifty musicians. Orchestras that specialize in the Baroque music of, for example, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, or Classical repertoire, such as that of Haydn and Mozart, tend to be smaller than orchestras performing a Romantic music repertoire such as the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. The typical orchestra grew in size throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching a peak with the large orchestras of as many as 120 players called for in the works...