String section: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:22, 21 December 2024

Revision as of 21:16, 22 June 2025

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==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 2000s 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.