It comprises violins, usually divided into "Firsts" and "Seconds", violas, violincellos, normally called cellos, and double basses. They're played by drawing a bow over four stretched strings pitched five tones apart. They can also be plucked - called pizzicato - or even, occasionally, strummed like a guitar.

The violin family is often supplemented by plucked instruments: harps are the most common, but guitars or mandolins may also be used.

The most shapely and beautiful of all musical instruments, today's violin is the result of centuries of evolution. Established as the staple of the orchestra by the mid-17th Century, it carries the melodic burden of must baroque, classical and romantic music. Its importance is due to its brilliance of tone and its potential for dazzling virtuoso display.

The alto member of the violin family, the viola is often called the Cinderella of the stringed instruments, not only because so little has been written for solo performances, but also for its elusive, mournful tone.

Unique among brass instruments for their distinctive slide, trombones have hardly changed in their basic design since the middle of the 15th Century, when they were called sackbuts. The brass instruments of military and brass bands, their resounding tone is associated with silemn ceremony. I early opera, they are linked with the appearance of the Gods of Olympus, the Sea and the Underworld.

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.

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 castanets, the tambourine provides local-colour effects in music coming from or inspired by Spain.

The recorder, although familiar to children, only makes rare appearances in the orchestra.

Some topics in this essay:
DOUBLE BASS, ORCHESTRA STRINGS, PERCUSSION Percussion, Adolphe Sax, Rameau FLUTE, BELLS Bells, African-based Western, Classical Spanish, Sea Underworld, ANGLAIS America, double bass, 18th century, brass instruments, 19th century, baroque transverse flute, cor anglais, bass line, baroque transverse, percussion instruments, transverse flute, baroque music, music double bass,