In its historical origin a philharmonic orchestra was a musical association that was made up of music fans and they did not have to be musicians. This sense has already disappeared and today the philharmonic orchestra is equivalent to the symphony orchestra.
A philharmonic orchestra is the highest level musical ensemble in Western culture. It is made up of an instrumental set, in such a way that the different groups of instruments intervene at the same time, that is, in unison. To achieve this effect, the musicians who make it up match their performance techniques and obey the conductor's signal. It is made up of between 95 and 106 performers and takes part in performances of symphonic concerts, lyrical plays, opera or ballet performances.
Its historical origin
The modern philharmonic orchestra has its origin in Europe, specifically in France and Great Britain in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This musical modality comes from the old chamber orchestras that played in the halls and palaces of the courts.
Orchestra formation
The orchestra is made up of four families or sections: the stringed instruments, those of wood breath, those of metal breath and those of percussion. The classification of musical instruments is carried out systematically based on the materials used, their form of performance, historical evolution and their location on the stage. The classification follows the way the sound is produced and the way it is played and built.
Depending on the sound, bowstring instruments (such as the violin, viola or cello, which are similar in structure and the smallest one produces sharp sounds and the largest one, more bass sounds) participate in a main way. To this family of instruments must be added two others: the harp and the piano.
Wood Breath Instruments
The wooden breath instruments also intervene, which have a bamboo mouthpiece, a reed or a bezel through which the sound is blown to produce the sound and, at the same time, they have a mechanism of keys that are operated by closing the holes instrument (this section consists of the piccolo, flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, bassoon and contrabassoon). There are also instruments such as horns, trumpets or trombones and in the external part of the orchestra there are percussion instruments. Thus, all of them are grouped into three sections: string, wind and percussion.
