Scan 308
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1910
4 lines. Read by computer on 11 September 2026. Printed page 268. See the scan on archive.org.
1consists of kettledrums, big drums, cymbals, triangle, bell, chimes and other instruments of percussion. The arrangement of these instruments varies with the taste of the conductor of an orchestra, though as a general rule for concert work the violins, violas and cellos are usually in the foreground as they are the real foundation of the orchestra and make this effect by a massing of voices in each part and hence are given the places of advantage. The bass instruments and the drums and other percussive instruments are placed farthest from the hearers, usually occupying the center of the stage, and back of them and to the left are the double-bass string instruments. The flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and horns are in the center, with violins and violoncellos in front, and at the side of them and just in front of the drums will be found the trombones and cornets. This distribution is indicated by the volume of the various instruments. The strings are treated by the composer as a choir, but the others as solo instruments, for a single oboe, flute, or other wind instrument may do the same work in a development of a composition as the whole body of first violins.
3The number of instruments of each group depends somewhat upon the music to be performed or the special use to which an orchestra is to be put, whether symphonic or dramatic. A number of instruments required in a dramatic orchestra, such as brass trumpet, tenor tuba, contrabass tuba and contrabass trombone, are seldom called for in concert work, and so have no place in the regular list of instruments. About three-fourths of a well-balanced orchestra, say one of ninety or one hundred instruments, consists of strings, which choir is usually spoken of as the string quartet. Its chief instrument is of course the violin, the one which practically leads the entire orchestra, for its clear, penetrating tones make it the richest of all the voices, and the brilliancy of a composition is portrayed by the mass of violins playing in the upper or middle register. Instrument-makers, performers and composers have combined their skill
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