Editing String orchestra (section)

==Repertoire==
{{listen|type=music|help=no
|filename = Serenade for Strings -mvt-1- Elgar.ogg
|title = Serenade for Strings (Op. 20, 1st movement)
|description = [[Edward Elgar]]'s "[[Serenade for Strings (Elgar)|Serenade for Strings]], movement 1" performed by the [[United States Army Band]] Strings ensemble
}}
The repertoire includes several works by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] (including ''[[Eine kleine Nachtmusik]]''), [[William Boyce (composer)|William Boyce]] (his eight symphonies are for strings only), and [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] which dispense with the [[Baroque music|baroque]] [[Figured bass#Basso continuo|basso continuo]]. Some of these works are problematic when it comes to deciding whether they are for orchestra or [[string quartet]]. Particularly in Haydn's early works it is argued that the inversions of harmony from the occasional crossings of the bass and viola line imply a double bass; the question is not settled, however.

Important 20th century works have been written for string orchestra by [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]] ([[Divertimento for String Orchestra (Bartók)|Divertimento for String Orchestra]]), [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] (''[[Apollo (ballet)|Apollo]]''), [[Witold Lutosławski]] (''[[Musique funèbre]]''), [[Benjamin Britten]] (''[[Simple Symphony]]'' and ''[[Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge]]''), [[Charles Wuorinen]] (''Grand Bamboula''), and [[Malcolm Williamson]] ([[Symphony No. 7 (Williamson)|Symphony No. 7]]). Sir [[Michael Tippett]] wrote a ''[[Concerto for Double String Orchestra (Tippett)|Concerto for Double String Orchestra]]'' and [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] wrote a ''Partita for Double String Orchestra''. Composers who have written a [[Serenade]] for string orchestra include [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]], [[Josef Suk (composer)|Suk]] and [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]]. [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]], in his youth, also wrote [[String symphonies (Mendelssohn)|thirteen symphonies for string orchestra]].

{{listen|type=music|help=no
|filename = Danse Sacrée.ogg
|title = Danse Sacrée L 103, No. 1
|filename2 = Danse Profane.ogg
|title2 = Danse Profane L 103, No. 2
|description2= ''[[Danses sacrée et profane]]'' by [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]], performed by the [[United States Marine Corps Band|United States Marine Chamber Orchestra]].  Arrangement of the [[chamber music]] pieces scored for string quintet of [[violin]], [[viola]], [[cello]], [[double bass]], and [[cross-strung harp]].
}}
Sometimes works originally written for string quartet, quintet, sextet etc. are arranged for string orchestra. [[Samuel Barber]]'s ''[[Adagio for Strings]]'', [[Alban Berg]]'s 3 Pieces from his ''Lyric Suite'', [[Arnold Schoenberg]]'s string sextet ''[[Verklärte Nacht]]'' and String Quartet No. 2, [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]'s sextet ''[[Souvenir de Florence]]'', [[John Corigliano]]'s Second String Quartet and [[Jean Sibelius]]'s ''[[Andante festivo]]'' are examples. An optional timpani part is also added in the Sibelius piece. The work ''[[Shaker Loops]]'' written in 1978 for septet then arranged in 1983 for string orchestra by the American composer [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]] has become a popular addition to the repertoire in recent times. [[Graham Waterhouse]] composed several works for string orchestra (''Sinfonietta''), also in combination with contrasting sounds as [[Great Highland bagpipe]] (''[[Chieftain's Salute]]'').