Editing Orchestra (section)

==History==
===Baroque and classical eras===
In the Baroque era, the size and composition of an orchestra were not standardised. There were large differences in size, instrumentation and playing styles—and therefore in orchestral soundscapes and palettes — between the various European regions. The ''Baroque orchestra'' ranged from smaller orchestras (or ensembles) with one player per part, to larger-scale orchestras with many players per part. Examples of the smaller variety were Bach's orchestras, for example in Koethen, where he had access to an ensemble of up to 18 players. Examples of large-scale Baroque orchestras would include Corelli's orchestra in [[Rome]] which ranged between 35 and 80 players for day-to-day performances, being enlarged to 150 players for special occasions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pannain |first=Guido |author-link=Guido Pannain |title=Arcangelo Corelli |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Arcangelo-Corelli |access-date=9 November 2015 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

In the classical era, the orchestra became more standardized with a small to medium-sized string section and a core wind section consisting of pairs of oboes, flutes, bassoons and horns, sometimes supplemented by percussion and pairs of clarinets and trumpets.

===Beethoven's influence===
The so-called "standard complement" of doubled winds and brass in the orchestra pioneered in the late 18th century and consolidated during the first half of the 19th century is generally attributed to the forces called for by [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] after Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven's instrumentation almost always included paired [[Western concert flute|flutes]], oboes, clarinets, bassoons, [[French horn|horns]] and trumpets. The exceptions are his [[Symphony No. 4 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 4]], [[Violin Concerto (Beethoven)|Violin Concerto]], and [[Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)|Piano Concerto No. 4]], which each specify a single flute. 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 [[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|"Eroica"]] Symphony arrives to provide not only some harmonic flexibility but also the effect of "choral" brass in the Trio movement. [[Piccolo]], [[contrabassoon]], and trombones add to the triumphal finale of his [[Symphony No. 5 (Beethoven)|Symphony No. 5]]. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver the effect of storm and sunshine in the [[Symphony No. 6 (Beethoven)|Sixth]], also known as the ''Pastoral Symphony''. The [[Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)|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 [[choir|chorus]] and vocal soloists—in his finale, are his earliest suggestion that the timbral boundaries of the symphony might be expanded. For several decades after his death, symphonic [[Instrumentation (music)|instrumentation]] was faithful to Beethoven's well-established model, with few exceptions.{{Citation needed|date=December 2015}}

===Instrumental technology===
[[File:Philadelphia Orchestra at American premiere of Mahler's 8th Symphony (1916).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Leopold Stokowski|Stokowski]] and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the 2&nbsp;March 1916 American premiere of [[Gustav Mahler|Mahler]]'s [[Symphony of a Thousand|8th&nbsp;Symphony]]]]
The invention of the piston and rotary valve by [[Heinrich Stölzel]] and [[Friedrich Blühmel]], both [[Silesians]], in 1815, was the first in a series of innovations which impacted the orchestra, including the development of modern keywork for the flute by [[Theobald Boehm]] and the innovations of [[Adolphe Sax]] in the woodwinds, notably the invention of the saxophone. These advances would lead [[Hector Berlioz]] to write a landmark book on [[instrumentation (music)|instrumentation]], which was the first systematic treatise on using instrumental sound as an expressive element of music.<ref>{{cite book |first=H. |last=Berlioz |author-link=Hector Berlioz |year=1843 |title=Traite d'instrumentation et d'orchestration |trans-title=Treatise on Instrumentation and Orchestration |place=Paris, FR |publisher=Lemoine}}</ref>

===Wagner's influence===
The next major expansion of symphonic practice came from [[Richard Wagner]]'s [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus|Bayreuth]] orchestra, founded to accompany his musical dramas. Wagner's works for the stage were scored with unprecedented scope and complexity: indeed, his score to ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' calls for six [[harp]]s. Thus, Wagner envisioned an ever-more-demanding role for the conductor of the theatre orchestra, as he elaborated in his influential work ''On Conducting''.<ref>{{cite book |first=R. |last=Wagner |author-link=Richard Wagner |year=1887 |trans-title=On Conducting |title=Ueber das Dirigiren |quote=a treatise on style in the execution of classical music |place=London, UK |publisher=W. Reeves}}</ref> This brought about a revolution in orchestral [[Musical composition|composition]] and set the style for orchestral performance for the next eighty years. Wagner's theories re-examined the importance of [[tempo]], [[dynamics (music)|dynamics]], [[Bow stroke|bowing of string instruments]] and the role of principals in the orchestra.

===20th-century orchestra===
At the beginning of the 20th century, symphony orchestras were larger, better funded, and better trained than previously; consequently, composers could compose larger and more ambitious works. The works of [[Gustav Mahler]] were particularly innovative; in his later symphonies, such as the mammoth [[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 8]], Mahler pushes the furthest boundaries of orchestral size, employing large forces. By the late Romantic era, orchestras could support the most enormous forms of symphonic expression, with huge string and brass sections and an expanded range of percussion instruments. With the recording era beginning, the standards of performance were pushed to a new level, because a recorded symphony could be listened to closely and even minor errors in intonation or ensemble, which might not be noticeable in a live performance, could be heard by critics. As recording technologies improved over the 20th and 21st centuries, eventually small errors in a recording could be "fixed" by audio editing or [[overdubbing]]. Some older conductors and composers could remember a time when simply "getting through" the music as well as possible was the standard. Combined with the wider audience made possible by recording, this led to a renewed focus on particular star conductors and on a high standard of orchestral execution.<ref>{{cite book |first=Lance W. |last=Brunner |year=1986 |article=The orchestra and recorded sound |pages=479–532 |editor-first=Joan |editor-last=Peyser |title=The Orchestra: Origins and transformations |place=New York, NY |publisher=Scribner's Sons}}</ref>