ORCHESTRA, or'kes-tra (Lat. orchestra. from Ilk. 6pxticrpa, from ore/u.182lai, to dance, faun orchos, row; conmeted with Skt. to In the I:reek theatres, the allotted to the chorus of dancers; in mod ern theatres. the part of the building assigned to the instrumeutalists, also the parquet ; and in the modern coneert-roem, the place oecupied by the instrumental and vocal performers. The word orchestra is also used to denote the musi cians collectively, and especially the instru ments on which th1.3. play.
The modern orelepstra (referring to the instru ments) is the result of a long and slow develop ment. Before the seventeenth century composers had employed various instruments in the accom paniment of their vocal works. But in the choice of instruments the composers seem to have been influenced more by chance than by any definite plan. In fact, the manner in which many in struments were treated gives conclusive evidence that their nature and possibilities were not at all understood. The development of the orchestra coincides with that of the opera (q.v.). In the first opera ever performed in piddle, Peri's Rani dice t16001, the orchestra consisted of a tinged ellord. a lute, a theorbo. a lyre, and three The this combination of instruments was to give the very simplest kind of aecom paniment to the dramatic recitative. Claudio Ilenteverde (15(17-1643) was the first to discover the nature and relative value of souse of the in struments. Yet the instrumentation of his first opera, Orfco (1607), differs little from that of his predecessors. But his Cornball di Tcrne,',di c l'iorinda (162-I) shows a conscious ness of purpose and is full of original and strik ing orchestral effects. Here we tindl for the first time the tremolo of the strings. The strings, in fact, form the foundation of the orchestra. In this work is also found the first instance of pi: iraNi. :Nlonteverde had diseevered that in struments had their own peculiarities, and acting upon this knowledge he became the inventor of a distinctively instrunientdi/ style: whereas his pred ceessors wrote a truly roe& style for all instru ments. Since ,Ilonteverdle the _strings have been regarded as the foundation of the or chestra, and with him the various kinds of viols were employed for this purpose. Ales sandro Searlatti employed violins, violas, and basses, although their treatment is still very crude. The 'celli generally played in unison with the basses, But occasionally the violas were treated with freedom and were even divided into two parts. The principal wood
wind instrument was the : 2assionS were used only to strengthen the basses. (1625-90) strengthened the violins, so that his orchestra consisted of 20 violins, 2 violas, 2 viole di gamba (the precursor of the 'cello). 4 flutes. 2 bassoons, 2 cornets. -and 3 trombones. About this time the kettle-drums also found their way into the orchestra. But the real art of writing for the strings was not yet known; there was no sonority. To render the harmony fuller the harpsichord was used. Even so great a master as J. N Bach did not know how to use the instruments. He treats them throughout like voices without the slightest appreciation of tonal color. Ilandel is nut much more ad vanced. This composer scored heavily for the wood-wind. hut with no other purpose than that of reiMforcing the strings. In fact, many of his works were reorchestrated by :Mozart. and to-day Handel's works are almost exclusively heard with the instrumental rearrangement of Mozart.
!lapin (1732-1809) is universally known as the father of the symphony (q.v.). At the same time he is also the father of the modern orchestra. 11'hen Haydn began his work the string orchestra was pretty well established and its known. But the employment of the wood-wind was utterly planless. In 1760 Haydn was appointed director of music to Prince Paul Anton Esterlnz•. At first his orchestra. numbered only 17 instruments, 6 violins and violas, 1 'cello, 1 double-loss, I flute, 2 oboes, bassoons, anal 4 horns. In order to obtain the best effects from this little orchestra, the master di rected all his energies to discover and make use of the true nature of the wocl-wind. In his first symphony (1759) Haydn uses in addition to the strings (the violins being divided into first and second) only two oboes and two horns. In his last symphony (D major, written in London, 1705) the score calls for 2 flutes, 2 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, kettle-drums, and the regular strings. In two of his last works, the ('rcation (1798) and the ,s'ensons (181)1). Haydn employs 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons. 1 contra-bassoon, 2 horns. 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, kettle-drums, and the strings. And here we have the modern symph011y orchestra (which, however, usually has four horns).