PIANO
The pianoforte – to give it its full name – is not usually regarded as an orchestrial instrument, yet in Mozart's time it served a 'filling in' purpose, even in concertos. Only the huge advances in piano construction in the 19th Centuary took it out of the ranks to become the ideal vehicle of romantic soloists, determined to pit their individual strength against that of the orchestra in the graet piano concertos.
ORGAN
The 'King of Instruments' has such an independant existance and abundant range of mechanically produced sounds that it is almost an orchestra in itself. But composers, thrilled by the effect of monster organs built in the vast Victorian concert halls, have used the instrument with great impact. The introduction to Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra (used in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey) has one of the most exciting organ entries in the musical repertoire.
TAMBOURINE
One of the percussion section featured in Britten's Young Person's Guide, the tambourine, is two instruments in one: a small hand drum beaten in the usual manner with a clap of the hand, and a set of tiny cymbals arranged round the circular frame which can be shaken to give the effect of a tiny rattle. Together with the castenets, the tambourine provides local-colour effects in music coming from or inspired by Spain.
GUITAR
Guitars come in all shapes and sizes from bulbous lutes and triangular mandolines to the electric instruments of modern rock bands. The most popular member of the family is the Classical or Spanish guitar, which sounds on the same principle as a violin – with strings resonating against a hollow sound box – but is played by plucking or strumming with the fingers or a plectrum.
CYMBALS
The crash of cymbals usually marks the high point of a piece of romantic orchestral music. The bronze plates, either beaten together or with a stick while suspended on a stand, are among the oldest of all instruments, dating back to ancient times. They have no specific note, but cymbals of different sizes make strikingly different sounds. After Mozart introduced 'Turkish music' into his work, they appeared regularly in the orchestra.
SIDE DRUM
Historically, the side drum belongs to the battle march or the military parade with its insistant ra-ta-tat-tat rhythm. Originally it was a portable drum, suspended from the drummer's side and beaten with hard sticks to produce the rattling sound of the snare, the gut or plastic surface of the drum.
TOM TOM & TAM TAM
Both the tom-tom and the tam-tam are oriental in origin but otherwise they have very little in common. The tom-tom is a set of two small drums with a long cylindrical base and a small head, usually made of animal skin or plastic. Tom-toms are particularly associated with African and African-based Western music but a few contemporary composers have also used them.
The tam-tam is a huge oriental gong made of beaten metal with a thick rim and a central plate where the padded beater strikes the instrument. The percussionist can also stroke the metal to produce a huge crescendo, growing from a shimmering whisper to an overwhelming clang.
TRIANGLE
One of the simplest instruments in design, the triangle, a thin triangular metal frame, demands great powers of concentration from players, who need to count the bars very carefully during rests. It can make a high-pitched tinkling sound or a lengthy clanging rattle when trilled.
BASS DRUM
The largest of the concert drums used with any regularity in the orchestra, the bass drum is a two-sided instrument with a deep and resonant sound, often used to create thunder effects. It looks like a giant wooden cup and is struck by large-headed padded beaters. It contributes towards the overwhelming impact of the hammer blows in Mahler's Sixth Symphony, but its star appearance is in the off-the-beat booming in the Dies Irae section of the Verdi Requim Mass.
TIMPANI
Often known as kettle-drums because their deep, rounded shells are shaped like an old-fashioned cooking pot or kettle. The earliest of the percussion instruments to find a place in the orchestra, in Bach and Handel's day they underlined the martial gait of trumpets and pipes. They acquired a pedal mechanism at the end of the 19th century, allowing sliding effects in the music of Britten and Bartok.
TUBULAR BELLS
Bells of all kinds, including cow-bells, creep into the orchestra, but the most familiar are the tubular bells which hang from a wooden frame and are struck by small hammers. The pipes which make the bell-like sounds are cut to different lengths to produce notes of varying pitch. Great bells are more of a rarity, and in the opera house they are often pre-recorded.
XYLOPHONE
The orchestral xylophone is a more complicated instrument than the small versions used in most schools. It is the most frequently used member of the tuned percussion family, with the notes laid out to the pattern of a piano keyboard. The blocks are made of wood – unlike the glockenspeil, which has metallic notes – and are struck with a hard beater of varying weight.
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