Orchestra Members

The String Family
All musical instruments that have strings produce sound by those strings being vibrated. The causal method for vibration is varied so, consequently, all instruments with strings are varied. Strings will vibrate if they are scraped, plucked or hit and the thickness and/or length of the string w ill influence the resultant pitch. The violin is an example of an instrument that is scraped (bowed) whilst the harp and guitar are plucked. Keyboard activated hammers hit the strings of the piano to produce sound.

The range and scope, size and appearance, dynamic and timbre of instruments with strings is enormous; so much so that they are classified within “families” distinct from each other and more precise and exclusive than a mere “string” relationship would allow. Convention dictates that “the strings” or “the string section” refers only to violins (two sections), violas, cellos and double basses as found within a symphony orchestra.

All members of the string section are members of the violin family. The harp and guitar are classified separately from each other and from members of the violin family. They are stringed instruments but not members of the string section. The piano, whilst being a percussive stringed instrument, is classified under neither percussion nor strings. Pedigree, repertoire and versatility allow the pianoforte to remain aloof within the family of keyboard instruments.

1st Violin
Kay Marshall Orchestra Leader	Oli Bown	Edward Evans
Mo Dorken	Lewis Chamberlain	Simon Carter
2nd Violin
Marion Davies	Clare Bailey	Richard Pegg
Sheila Hobbs	Gemma Eyles	Julia Becker
Nicola Piggin	Elizabeth Roberts
Viola
Monte Sirota	Nic Treharne	Michael Edwards
Cello
Michael Dooley	Vivienne Thomas	Robert Chegwin
Elizabeth Hotchkiss
Double Bass
John Law (Guest)

The Woodwind Family

The orchestral woodwind family descends from instruments that were originally made of wood. (This does not apply to the saxophone: a recent and transient addition to the orchestra, it has never been constructed of wood. It qualifies as a woodwind instrument because its method of sound production is dependent upon a reed.) As with the brass, it is the method of sound production that is the defining quality that determines to which family a wind instrument is allocated.

In the woodwind family the vibrating agent is a reed (clarinet, saxophone), double reed (oboe, bassoon) or the lip of the mouth-hole (flute). The resultant vibrations are transmitted to the column of air within an instrument's tube and sound, influenced by variables such as size, shape and materials, is produced. In all woodwind instruments the sounding length of the tube can be modified by covering or leaving open various sequences of finger holes that are situated along the instrument's length. Originally, finger holes were just that: holes that were covered or uncovered by the player's fingers but by the nineteenth century a mechanical system of levers and rings influenced pitch alteration.

Originally conical, the flute has a cylindrical bore, as does the clarinet; the oboe, bassoon and saxophone, however, all have conical bores. A score marked Double woodwind indicates two each of the standard orchestral woodwind section, that is, flute, clarinet, oboe and bassoon. Triple woodwind means that one player doubles, as required, with the corresponding family member as shown by the following: flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, oboe/cor anglais and bassoon/double (contra) bassoon. In common with brass instruments, early orchestral use of woodwinds was on an as required basis with the strings forming the established nucleus around which other instruments came and went. It was not until well into the Classical period, when the harpsichord continuo was beginning to wane, that an orchestra with four recognisable sections was established.

Flute/PiccoloClarinet
Kathy Roberts	Helen Vaughan
Clarinet
Ray Driscoll	Hilary Jones
Oboe/Cor Anglais
John Blackmore	Beryl James
Bassoon/Contra Bassoon
Edward Besly	Simon Moore

The Brass Family
Brass instruments are identified, not so much by the material of their construction, (they are made from a variety of metals) but by their method of sound production. All brass instruments have a mouthpiece within which the lips of the player vibrate in a manner similar to the vibrations of the vocal cords or the double reed of the oboe. The vibrations, thus created, are transmitted to the column of air within the tube of the instrument producing the sound. Sound qualities produced by instruments of the brass family are influenced by the following:

• The Mouthpiece is either funnel or cup-shaped. The steep, funnel shape of the horn mouthpiece produces a smooth tone whereas the small, hemispherical mouthpiece of the trumpet contributes to its brilliance. The larger, cup-shaped mouthpieces of the trombone and tuba modify that brilliance to a mellower tone.

• The Bore of brass instruments is either conical, as in the horn and tuba, or cylindrical, as in the trumpet and trombone. A combination of these geometric properties with the gauge of the bore, wide or narrow, influences the tone produced.

• The Bell of all brass instruments flare: massively in the case of the tuba and horn, less so in the trombone with the trumpet having a flare proportionate to its smaller size. A wide, flaring bell produces tones with a smoother, mellower timbre.

Early orchestral use of brass instruments at the time of Haydn and Mozart would involve two natural horns and two natural trumpets. Such instruments could produce only the harmonic series associated with their fundamental pitch. Before the introduction of the valve system during the nineteenth century, interchangeable crooks (detachable tubes of varying lengths) allowed the player to modify the playing length of the instrument. Consequentially, the fundamental pitch and its accompanying harmonic series were altered. The trombone never required such consideration since the ability to alter the playing length of the tube was inherent within the slide mechanism. The brass section of a symphony orchestra typically contains four horns, three trumpets, two tenor trombones, one bass trombone and one tuba plus variations according to repertoire.

Trumpet
French Horn
Bernard Richardson
Trombone
Tuba (Bb Bass)
Haydn Jones

The Percussion Family

Percussion
Simon Baynham
Piano/Continuo
Sally Tarlton