What is the role of the first violin in an orchestra?

The piano, in common with two other percussion instruments, cannot be played in an orchestral ensemble without being recognised. But, unlike those others, it happens to possess the capacity of all key- board instruments for rendering full melodic, harmonic and contra- puntal effects.

An orchestra is a large group of musicians which can include even 100 or more members. A band is a small group of musicians which generally includes a lesser number of members than orchestras. Orchestras use four main families of instruments – strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion.

The Flute. The flute is the highest sounding of the standard orchestra woodwind instruments (although the piccolo is higher). It's played played by blowing air across a hole in the mouthpiece. Because it's higher in pitch, like the violin, it will often play the melody of a piece.

A sustained melody is played either by the bamboo flute (suling) or by a bowed stringed instrument (rebab) or is sung—the last especially when, as often occurs, the gamelan is used to accompany theatrical performances, or wayang. The voice is then part of the orchestral texture.

Major orchestra salaries range by the orchestra from a little over $100,000 to a little over $150,000. Principals, the ranking member of each orchestra section, can make a great deal more, in some instances more than $400,000. ... During the concert season, most orchestra musicians end up with long and intense work-weeks.

Henry Lewis, who broke racial barriers in the music world as the first black conductor and music director of a major American orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony, and as the first black to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 63.

Edinburgh

Glenn Miller

Organ – Even though the organ is one of the oldest wind instruments in the world, it is not used too often in classical orchestral works. The modern day pipe organs are much more complicated than the original which may help to explain why they are left out of most concerts.

William Grant Still's

Baroque orchestras had from 10 to 30 players, primarily strings. In the Baroque orchestra, the strings and winds played the same sort of music melodically and rhythmically. The woodwind and brass were used as melodic instruments but later they were mainly used to sustain the harmony.

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The concertmaster

The brass and percussion can play far louder than strings. Woodwinds are in the middle. In order to adjust the dynamics, the orchestra has more strings than anything else, and they are placed near the front.

The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Strings