[Pt. II Proj.1] ~Research point 2.0: The orchestral score and INSTRUMENT GLOSSARY

Research point 2. 0: The orchestral score

Find out the instruments within each section of a standard symphony orchestra. Make a note of them and the order in which they appear in the score.

Since the second world war the modern orchestra has more or less remained the same size. It is a smaller orchestra than what was used in the Romantic era (due to post war financial difficulties). Modern symphony orchestras are approximately 100 members in size.

16-18 1^st Vilolins. – Left of conductor, nearest to the audience.

16 2^nd Violins. – Left of conductor.

12 Violas – in front of the conductor, a bit to the right.

12 Cellos – right of the conductor, opposite 1^st Violins.

8 Double Basses – right of the conductor, behind cellos.

4 Flutes (one with piccolo as a specialty) – third row from back, to the left.

4 Oboes (one with English horn as a specialty) – third row from back, to the right.

4 Clarinets (one with bass clarinet as a specialty, another specializing in high clarinets) second row from back, to the left, after horns.

4 Bassoons (one with double bassoon as a specialty) – second row from back, in middle after clarinets.

5–8 Horns – second row from back, on far left.

4 Trumpets – second row from back, on far right.

4 Trombones (one with bass trombone as a specialty) – in the back to the right.

1 Tuba – in the back to the right.

1 Kettledrums – in the back in between Perc. Section and Tuba/Trombones

3–4 Percussionists (of whom at least one must also play kettledrum) – in the back to the left.

1–2 Harps – to the left, behind the violins, frequently in line with flutes and oboes.

1 Keyboards (piano, celesta, harpsichord, etc.) – to the left, behind the violins, frequently in line with flutes and oboes

ORCHESTRAL SCORE ORDER

WOODWIND SECTION

Flutes (Fl or Fls)

Piccolo

Flute

Alto Flute

 Oboes (Ob or Obs)

Oboe

Cor Anglais

Clarinets (Cl or Cls)

Clarinet

Bass Clarinet

Bassoons (Bsn or Bsns)

Bassoon

Contrabassoons

HORN SECTION

Horns (Hn or Hns)

BRASS SECTION

Trumpets (Tpt or Tpts)

Trumpets

Trombones (Trb or Tbn)

Trombones

Bass Trombone

Euphonium (Euph) (when present)

Tuba (Tuba or Tba)

PERCUSSION SECTION

Timpani (Timp)

Timpani

Percussion (perc)

Other Percussion (Triangle, agogo bells, tam-tam glockenspiel, xylophone, vibraphone, tubular bells, tenor drum, bass drum)

Other Perc Instruments

Harp (hp)

Piano (pf) & Keyboards (kbd)

CHOIR (SATB) (when included)

Soprano (Sop)

Alto (Alt)

Tenor (Ten)

Bass (Bass)

STRING SECTION

Violin 1 (Vlns or Vns)

Violin 2 (Vlns or Vns)

Viola (Vla or Va)

Violoncello or Cello (Vcl or Vc)

Double Bass or Bass (DB)

INSTRUMENT GLOSSARY  (Instruments from Strauss’ Don Juan underlined).

The table above taken from Yale;

https://web.library.yale.edu/cataloging/music/instname Music Cataloging at Yale ♪ Language tools (Russian diacritics and ligatures are not displayed. The source used for some of these names is Terminorum musicae index septem linguis redactus (Polyglot dictionary of musical terms). Budapest: Akadémaia Kiadó ; Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1978. ISBN 9630512769, 3761805535 and Instrument names in other languages from Dolmetsch online Thanks to Marco Adorna for assistance with the Italian terminology and Jean-Baptiste Mazon for help with the French terminology)