ORCHESTRA

The word originates from the Greek 'orchēstra' which was the circular part of the ancient theatre where the actors, dancers, and musicians performed.

A full-size orchestra is called a symphony or philharmonic orchestra. The real number of musicians may vary from seventy to over one hundred people. The chamber orchestra refers to smaller-sized ensembles of about fifty musicians or fewer.

117 articles related to ORCHESTRA:

ORCHESTRA

Ravel's La Valse and the duel that wasn't

Completed by Maurice Ravel in 1920, La Valse stands as a remarkable composition distinguished by its innovative waltz...
FLUTE

Badinerie: origins of Bach's famous flute suite

Badinerie—the final movement of Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor—is rightfully recognized as one of the...
ORCHESTRA

Greensleeves: the folk melody behind Vaughan Williams' Fantasia

Greensleeves is one of the best-known English folk melodies, first published in 1580 as a broadside ballad titled A Newe...
ORCHESTRA

Pachelbel's Canon: the harmonic sequence that flooded pop music

Pachelbel's Canon, also known as Canon and Gigue in D, is the best-known piece by German composer Johann Pachelbel which...
ORCHESTRA

Valse triste: why wasn't Sibelius' famous piece performed on his 150th birthday?

Valse triste or Sad Waltz is a short orchestral composition written by Jean Sibelius in 1903 for Kuolema, a drama by the...
FILM

Concerning Hobbits: portraying home with the penny whistle

Concerning Hobbits is a two-minute tune originally composed by Canadian composer Howard Shore for Peter Jackson's 2001...
ORCHESTRA

Dido's Lament: sadness and simplicity of Purcell's best-known song

When I Am Laid In Earth or Dido's Lament is probably one of the saddest songs of the Baroque era, written by the English...
FILM

Hedwig’s Theme: magical mood cast by the celesta melody

Hedwig's Theme, also known as the main theme of all eight Harry Potter films, was the first piece written by John...
Contemporary Composer

The meaningless song lyrics of Adiemus

Adiemus is a cross-genre project conceived by Welsh composer and multi-instrumentalist Karl Jenkins to refresh...
Xylophone

Danse Macabre: skeletal images in Saint Saens' iconic xylophone

The concept of the Danse Macabre (literally meaning the Dance of Death) dates back to the Medieval period when European...
ORCHESTRA

Handel's Sarabande: obscure keyboard suite that found its iconic orchestration in Barry Lyndon movie

The sarabande is a fiery carnival dance that originated in the 16th century in Central America and then spread to Spain...
ORCHESTRA

Les Indes Galantes: Rameau's controversial opera as the essence of Rococo style

Les Indes Galantes is Jean-Philippe Rameau's first stage work in the opéra-ballet form with a prologue and four entrées...
ORCHESTRA

La Marcho di Rei: L'Arlesienne opening theme harks back to Provencal Christmas carol

The origin of the iconic theme in the energetic opening of Georges Bizet's L'Arlésienne is still unclear. Presumably,...
ORCHESTRA

Ombra mai fu: Handel's best-known melody of failed Serse opera

The highly acclaimed instrumental composition known as Handel's Largo comes from the opening aria of his 1738 opera...
ORCHESTRA

Lully's Passacaglia of Armide revised by Bear McCreary in Outlander score

The passacaglia is a slow dance that originated in Spain at the very beginning of the Baroque era, initially performed a...
ORCHESTRA

Gabriel Faure's Pavane as the key to modern revival of early genre

The pavane—a slow processional dance of Italian origin—was quite common in Europe during the transition period from the...
ORCHESTRA

Capriol Suite: early dances arranged for modern orchestra by Peter Warlock

The Capriol Suite is one of the most popular works by the 20th century English composer Philip Arnold Heseltine who...
ORCHESTRA

The transcendental experience behind classical orchestras conducted by Sergiu Celibidache

Sergiu Celibidache was a Romanian composer, musical theorist, and one of the most innovative conductors of the 20th... 2 comments
Violin

Edouard Lalo's Symphonie Espagnole brought to life by the best violinists of the 20th century

Symphonie Espagnole is an iconic work by the French composer Edouard Lalo, which is believed to have launched the...
ORCHESTRA

The Oceanides: the deeply impressionistic tone poem by Sibelius

The magnificent mythology of ancient Greece describes the Oceanids as water nymphs whose life and functions are...
Double bass

Giovanni Bottesini as most influential contrabass maestro of the Romanticism

Giovanni Bottesini was an Italian composer and legendary contrabassist of the Romantic period whose work for solo double...
MANDOLIN

Vivaldi's two mandolin concertos as the core of classical mandolin music

Although the mandolin in its modern design can be traced from the second half of the Baroque period, its role in... 1 comment
ORCHESTRA

Grosse Fuge: Armageddon or the birth of atonality featured in Beethoven’s last major work

The Grosse Fuge is one of Beethoven’s most controversial works which he finished shortly before his death while being in... 1 comment
ORCHESTRA

The didjeridu and Indigenous Australian chants interpolated into classical music by Peter Sculthorpe

Peter Sculthorpe was an Australian composer who sought to express the traditional Indigenous culture and unique nature...
SITAR

The first-ever concerto for sitar and Western orchestra was dedicated to glorious music teacher Allauddin Khan by his most successful pupil

Released in 1971, Concerto for Sitar & Orchestra was the first-ever recording to feature Indian classical music in a...
OBOE

The dramatic-abstract of Thea Musgrave's music as influenced by serialism

Thea Musgrave is a Scottish-American composer whose formative years fell on the mid-1950s when revolutionary musical...
ORCHESTRA

The instrumental re-imagining of vocal music by Gerald Finzi, a countryside composer and apple grower

Gerald Finzi was an English composer whose work and lifestyle were immersed in the culture of his country, remaining...
Nature Sounds

Crickets choir: musical examples imitating rhythmic patterns of chorusing insects

One of the most mesmerizing sounds in nature is the bizarre rhythmic patterns generated by chorusing insects. While... 1 comment
ORCHESTRA

Franz Berwald: iconic composer of Scandinavian Romanticism was forced to earn a living as an orthopedist

Franz Berwald was a Swedish composer whose works were not particularly popular during his lifetime but who, decades...
ORCHESTRA

Сontemporary orchestration of early Italian music by Bruno Maderna

Bruno Maderna was an outstanding Italian conductor and composer whose music was mostly associated with avant-garde and...

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