Orchestra Hall at Symphony Center (Photo: Todd Rosenberg)
It is easy to step into the concert hall, with its red velvet seats, tuxedoed musicians, and glittering chandeliers, and assume the symphony orchestra is so steeped in tradition that it must have always been this way. In reality, the modern orchestra as we know it today only took shape in the last 150 years. Along with its evolution came other shifts in how instrumental music is played and consumed.
Earliest Origins
For at least 40,000 years, humans have been making musical instruments out of whatever materials they had access to, from animal bones and clay to wood and metal. In the grand scheme of music-making, the orchestra is a relatively modern invention.
In the Renaissance, “consorts” began to emerge. These were small ensembles of mixed instruments or instruments of different sizes from the same family—whatever the players had on hand. In Italy and England especially, viols were particularly popular. The viol, or viola da gamba, is a bowed fretted string instrument played on or between the legs (“da gamba”), which predated the modern violin family (violin, viola, cello, and double bass).
At this time, notated music often did not indicate what instruments it should be played on, and much of it had to be fleshed out by the players. For instance, the harmonies were often suggested through either figured bass (a bass line with numbers denoting the type of chord) or tablature for lute or guitar. With such skeletal written material, consort musicians had to rely on improvisation and individual interpretation to bring the music to life.
The Baroque Period
This practice of not specifying instrumentation continued into the Baroque era, but composers eventually became more particular. Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) was among the first to denote what instruments he wanted for the score of his 1607 opera, L’Orfeo. His orchestra included lots of bowed strings but also an assortment of brass (sackbuts, cornets, and trumpets), two recorders, and a large continuo section (two harpsichords, two or three theorboes, a double harp, a bass viola da gamba, two pipe organs, and a regal). He also instructed the players to play the score “as simply and correctly as possible, and not with many florid passages or runs,” demonstrating a move away from improvisation as standard practice.
During the Baroque period, bowed string instruments became central to burgeoning orchestras, with the violin family gradually pushing out viols. Established in the 1570s at the court of Versailles, the Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi is considered the first “permanent” orchestra in Europe. The ensemble was initially comprised solely of strings, with 24 violins divided across five sections according to size (from the smallest, dessus, to the largest, basses). By the 18th century, wind instruments and continuo had been added to its ranks, and the distribution of strings had begun to approach that of a Classical-era orchestra. In size and artistry, the orchestra reached its apex under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Lully. The Ving-quatre Violons du Roi became a model imitated by court orchestras across Europe.
The Classical Era
Orchestras continued to grow in size throughout the Classical period. Timpani and brass became more permanent fixtures and not just reserved for festal or outdoor occasions. Woodwinds also began to take on a more prominent role, with the clarinet eventually added to the section of oboes, flutes, and bassoons. For example, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 31, written in Paris in 1778, not only adopts the large forces of French orchestras but also adds two clarinets. This was the first time Mozart incorporated the clarinet in a symphony, having only just encountered the single-reed instrument at the court in Mannheim.
Romanticism & The Institutionalization of the Orchestra
In the Romantic period, composers such as Hector Berlioz filled out the orchestra even more, adding specialty instruments such as the tuba, English horn, and Eb clarinet into normal rotation. While strings remained the backbone, technological advancements in brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments opened up greater sonic possibilities.
It was at this time that the symphony orchestra as we know it became standardized at between 80 and 100 players, depending on the specific repertoire requirements.
This growth in orchestra size was one of the many factors that led to the emergence of the conductor. In the Baroque and Classical periods, the conductor (usually the composer) would lead from the harpsichord or organ in the center of the ensemble with their back to the audience. Otherwise, the concertmaster (first-chair first violin) would lead with their body and bowing. As orchestras grew, it became harder for everyone to see the concertmaster or keyboardist. Coupled with the increased complexity of orchestral scores, this necessitated the emergence of the conductor as a distinct figure, guiding the orchestra with a baton from the podium. And in conjunction, keyboard instruments were pushed largely to the background, unless they were front and center for concertos and other showcase repertoire..
With the expansion and standardization of the orchestra came a decreased emphasis on improvisation. Music became more dictated by the composer and conductor, leaving less room for individual creative freedom. The modern set-up also led to a change in the audience’s relationship to the music. Whereas instrumental music had been a form of courtly entertainment that often accompanied dancing, eating, ceremonies, or even conversation, now audiences were more passive, listening in reverent silence.
This shift in attitude was also occasioned by the building of concert halls in the late 19th century. Instead of being in the employ of an aristocrat or opera house, orchestras were becoming their own independent entities, programming their own music and selling season subscriptions.
Alongside the institutionalization of the orchestra came a change in what repertoire was played. Until the mid-19th century, orchestras mostly performed new music. It wasn’t until Felix Mendelssohn reintroduced audiences to J.S. Bach that there began to be renewed interest in music of the past. Soon, orchestras began to play historical music with more frequency, eventually becoming the backbone of their repertoire.
The Orchestra Today
While concertgoers today often expect to hear mostly works by composers long dead, this was not the case until relatively recently. Broadly speaking, as the 20th century progressed, less new music was being played. The orchestral canon, and with it, standard instrumentation, became relatively rigid.
Fortunately, that is starting to change. Many symphony orchestras are committing to performing contemporary music and even commissioning new works at higher levels than before—and from more diverse voices.
Although the basic makeup of the symphony orchestra has remained largely the same since the late 19th century, composers have continued to expand the sonic palette available to them. For instance, percussion sections have become more prominent and varied, and electronic elements such as synthesizers, prerecorded tracks, and loops have even been incorporated.
As we move further into the 21st century, our concept of what an orchestra can be may continue to evolve beyond the 19th-century paradigm.
