String section: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Chicago Symphony Orchestra 2005.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]] performing with a jazz group. The string sections are at the front of the orchestra, arrayed in a semicircle around the [[conducting|conductor's]] podium.]]

The '''string section''' of an [[orchestra]] is composed of bowed instruments belonging to the [[violin family]]. It normally consists of first and second [[violin]]s, [[viola]]s, [[cello]]s, and [[double bass]]es. It is the most numerous group in the standard [[orchestra]]. In discussions of the [[Orchestration|instrumentation]] of a musical work, the phrase "the strings" or "and strings" is used to indicate a string section as just defined. An orchestra consisting solely of a string section is called a [[string orchestra]]. Smaller string sections are sometimes used in jazz, pop, and rock music and in the [[pit orchestra]]s of [[musical theatre]].

==Seating arrangement==

[[File:Orchestra sections sven labels.pngsvg|thumb|upright=1.4|One possible seating arrangement for an orchestra. First violins are labelled "Vln I"; second violins are "Vln II"; violas are "Vla"; and double basses (in German {{lang|de|Kontrabässe}}) are "Kb".]]

The most common seating arrangement in the 2000s21st Century is with first violins, second violins, violas, and cello sections arrayed clockwise around the [[Conductor (music)|conductor]], with basses behind the cellos on the right.<ref>''[[Stanley Sadie]]'s Music Guide'', p. 56 (Prentice-Hall 1986). [[Nicolas Slonimsky]] described the cellos-on-the-right arrangement as part of a 20th-century "sea change" (''Lectionary of Music'', p. 342 (McGraw-Hill 1989).</ref> The first violins are led by the [[concertmaster]] (leader in the UK); each of the other string sections also has a principal player (principal second violin, principal viola, principal cello, and principal bass) who play the orchestral solos for the section, lead entrances and, in some cases, determine the bowings for the section (the concertmaster/leader may set the bowings for all strings, or just for the upper strings). The principal string players sit at the front of their section, closest to the conductor and on the row of performers which is closest to the audience.

In the 19th century it was standard<ref>{{author missing|date=September 2013}} (1948). "Orchestra" in ''Encyclopedia Americana'', {{oclc|1653189}} {{asin|B00M99G7V6}} {{page needed|date=September 2013}}.</ref> to have the first and second violins on opposite sides (violin I, cello, viola, violin II), rendering obvious the crossing of their parts in, for example, the opening of the finale to [[Tchaikovsky]]'s [[Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky)|Sixth Symphony]]. If space or numbers are limited, cellos and basses can be put in the middle, violins and violas on the left (thus facing the audience) and winds to the right; this is the usual arrangement in [[orchestra pit]]s.<ref>{{ill|Ferdinand Simon Gaßner|de}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8GCpcQCTDagC ''Dirigent und Ripienist''] (Karlsruhe, Ch. Th. Groos, 1844){{page needed|date=February 2024}}. [[Rousseau]]'s ''Dictionnaire de musique'' (1768), however, has a figure showing second violins facing the audience and principals facing the singers, reflecting the [[concertmaster]]'s former role as [[Conductor (music)|conductor]].</ref> The seating may also be specified by the composer, as in [[Béla Bartók]]'s ''[[Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta]]'', which uses [[antiphony|antiphonal]] string sections, one on each side of the stage. In some cases, due to space constraints (as with an opera pit orchestra) or other issues, a different layout may be used.

==="Desks" and divisi===

In a typical stage set-up, the first and second violins, violas, cellos and double bassescellos are seated by twos, a pair of performers sharing a stand being called a "desk", Each principal (or section leader) is usually on the "outside" of the first desk, that is, onclosest the right hand side for upper strings (first violins, second violins and violas) and onto the left hand side for lower strings (cellos and double basses)audience. When the music calls for subdivision of the players the normal procedure for such divisi passages is that the "outside" player of the desk (the one closer to the audience) takes the upper part, the "inside" player the lower, but it is also possible to divide by alternating desks, the favored method in threefold divisi.<ref>[[Norman Del Mar]]: ''Anatomy of the Orchestra'' (University of California Press, 1981) weighs the various merits in the chapter "Platform planning", pp. 49ff</ref> The "inside" player typically turns the pages of the part, while the "outside" player continues playing. In cases where a page turn occurs during an essential musical part, modern performers may photocopy some of the music to enable the page turn to take place during a less important place in the music.

There are more variations of set-up with the double bass section, depending on the size of the section and the size of the stage. The basses are commonly arranged in an arc behind the cellos, either standing or sitting on high stools, usually with two players sharing a stand; though occasionally, due to the large width of the instrument, it is found easier for each player to have their own stand. There are not usually as many basses as cellos, so they are either in one row, or for a larger section, in two rows, with the second row behind the first. In some orchestras, some or all of the string sections may be placed on wooden risers, which are platforms that elevate the performers.

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[[Category:String section| ]]

[[Category:MusicalTypes of musical groups]]

[[Category:Sections of the orchestra]]