20 June 2024

Originating from a Greek word meaning the space in front of the stage where a chorus sang and danced, it wasn’t till the late 17^th century that ‘orchestra’ began to be applied to a group of musicians. Orchestral music is one of classical and modern music’s most important elements – particularly when it’s used in movies, TV shows, video games and advertising - so let’s examine the orchestra itself in more detail.

The History of the Orchestra

The idea of an orchestra as a particular group of musicians came to prominence during the Baroque period (1650-1710), with a keyboard instrument (eg a harpsichord joined) by wind instruments. During the Romantic period (1810-1914), the wind and brass instruments expanded, while the range of percussion instruments increased during the 20^th century.

What Are the Four Types of Orchestras?

‘Orchestra’ can refer to several different ensembles, including the full orchestra, chamber orchestra (a smaller version), pit orchestra (a subset of the full orchestra that provides live music for a play or opera), or a concert band (a large wind ensemble).

What Instruments Are in the Orchestra?

There are four instrument ‘families’:

• Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass, Harp
• Brass: Trumpet, Trombone, French Horn, Tuba
• Woodwinds: Flute, Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon
• Percussion: Timpani, Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Cymbals, Xylophone

Orchestral Strings

The orchestra’s largest section is also considered to be its ‘workhorse’. Providing everything from soaring melodies to dark, brooding moods, it colours the sound in myriad ways. With their wide range of pitch and dynamics, strings play both melody and harmony, and thus often carry a piece’s main theme. Plus, with playing techniques such as pizzicato and tremolo, they offer composers diverse textures.

Notable orchestral pieces written for strings include Brahms’ Violin Concerto; the third movement was used for Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will be Blood:

The piece’s joyful energy makes for a stark contrast with the violence that precedes it.

One of the most memorable uses of an orchestral string piece is Samuel Barber’s ‘Adagio for Strings’ in Oliver Stone’s Platoon, which soundtracks Sgt Elias’s (Willem Dafoe) agonising, emotional death:

In stark contrast, Apocalypse Now, another Vietnam war film, brought the full might of the brass section to its attack sequence with Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’:

Grandiose, epic, full-throttle – it’s one of cinema’s most iconic pairings of orchestral music and movie sequence.

The brass section (typically trumpet, trombone, tuba, French horn and cornet), adds depth, richness and grandeur to orchestral music – together with providing fanfare, majestic melodies and dynamic accents.

Other notable brass pieces include ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’ from Holst’s The Planets, whose melodies and instrumentation inspired composer John Williams’ ‘The Imperial March’ and ‘Imperial Attack’ themes for Star Wars:

The Woodwind Section

The woodwinds (also known as the winds), are often used to create lush, cinematic textures, whilst low winds such as a low clarinet or bassoon can be used to play rhythmic staccato notes and thus provide the rhythm.

Woodwinds are the orchestra’s least homogeneous section. Stringed instruments, for example, are all built in the same way - they just get bigger. But with the winds, flutes and piccolos are non-reed instruments; a clarinet is a single-reed instrument, whilst oboes and bassoons use a double-reed, offering a variety of different timbres.

Both soloists and ensemble players, woodwinds can also be used to ‘double’ other instruments, mainly strings.

Debussy’s ‘Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune’ has a sinuous flute melody, plus clarinet and oboe solos, and is a quintessential example of musical Impressionism, a style that was popular at the turn of the 20^th century.

Percussion in the Orchestra

This section is divided into three sub-sections:

• Pitched percussion – instruments such as the glockenspiel, hand bells and tubular bells
• Auxiliary percussion – unpitched instruments including the snare drum, shakers and cymbals
• Timpani – this requires a high level of skill; the timpanist doesn’t usually perform on other percussion instruments

On the big screen, think of Strauss’s ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’s thunderous timpani in 2001: A Space Odyssey soundtracking an opening sequence that’s become so iconic it’s led to countless homages and pastiches – not least Greta Gerwig’s Barbie:

Ravel’s ‘Bolero’ has a sustained, 15-minute ostinato rhythm laid down by a snare drum, whilst Dukas’s fantastical ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’, used in Disney’s Fantasia, stars the glockenspiel, and Tchaikovsky’s ‘Symphony No. 4, Allegro con fuoco’ has a record number of cymbal clashes per minute.

Orchestral Music in Modern Media

Orchestral music has been used in the movies since the Silent Era, aiding in storytelling by amping up the action and emotion to guide the audience’s reactions.

Whether it’s in the movies, TV shows, video games or advertising, orchestral music is increasingly part of the mix, with shows like Netflix’s Regency romance smash Bridgerton introducing younger audiences to classical music by using orchestral versions of modern hits including Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’ and Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank U, Next’.

Reality TV shows in particular love to create drama by using slowed down, orchestrally amped-up versions of big hits – what music journalist Dorian Lynskey calls ‘Traitor-pop: absurdly melodramatic cover versions of songs that are already plenty dramatic.’ Think German producers 2WEI’s choral version of Britney Spears’ ‘Toxic’ or – at the other extreme – Radiohead’s ‘Everything in Its Right Place’ on Netflix’s 3 Body Problem teaser trailer:

Huge shows such as Game of Thrones, Succession and nature documentaries like Blue Planet II are given an epic, big-screen feel with their orchestral scores by modern maestros including Ramin Djawadi, Nicholas Britell and Hans Zimmer, which demonstrate orchestra music’s versatility. And there’s nothing like hearing them played live, by a full orchestra:

The Best of Modern Orchestral Music

Audio Network’s huge array of orchestral music showcases Debussy, Holst and Elgar in our Classical Collection, plus the hybrid orchestral genre, ideal for blockbusters, trailers and drama. Also, check out the collection curated by Lorne Balfe, an award-winning cinema, TV and video game composer (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Top Gun:Maverick, and Gran Turismo) to get that orchestral ‘Hollywood Sound’.