Page 986 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

An orchestra is an ensemble of 80 to 100 instrumentalists, performing in one of
either the string, woodwind, brass, percussion, and in some cases keyboard,
families of instruments.

The name ‘orchestra’, incidentally, is another Greek one. It refers to the circular
part of a theatre where dancers and musicians would perform, which the
modern symphony orchestra is reminiscent of in shape and function.

What we recognise as an orchestra today can be traced back to the 1600s, and
the year 1607 when Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi formed a very specific
group of musicians to premiere his opera, Orfeo.

Other similar groups were popping up too, and soon composers were writing
music especially for these ensembles due to the magnificent sounds they
produced. And they grew in size, until in the 19th century, huge forces were
called up for symphonies by the likes of Beethoven and Mahler.

Read more: Why are orchestras laid out the way they are?

The ensembles came to be named after the type of music they were built for,
these pieces of music called symphonies, and so are most commonly known as
symphony orchestras. The composer of the first concert symphonies is widely
agreed to have been the Italian composer, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, who
was working in the early 1700s.

Phenomenal 25-year-old maestro Nicolò Foron wins international conducting
competition