Editing String orchestra

{{Short description|Musical ensemble}}
{{One source|date=June 2018}}
[[File:Hereford String Orchestra Spring Concert 2010.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|A string orchestra]]
{{listen|type=music
|filename = U.S. Army Band - Ralph Vaughan Williams - Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.ogg|
|title = Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
|description = [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]]' ''[[Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis]]'' (1910), performed by the U.S. Army Band Strings
}}
A '''string orchestra''' is an [[orchestra]] consisting solely of a [[string section]] made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music.  The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following:  the [[violin]], which is divided into first and second violin players (each usually playing different parts), the [[viola]], the [[cello]], and usually, but not always, the [[double bass]].

String orchestras can be of chamber orchestra size ranging from between 12 (4 first violins, 3 second violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos and 1 bass = 12) and 21 musicians (6 first violins, 5 second violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos and 2 double basses= 21) sometimes performing without a [[Conducting|conductor]]. It could also consist of the entire string section of a large symphony orchestra which could have 60 musicians (16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 10 cellos and 8 double basses = 60; ''[[Gurre-Lieder]]'' calls for 84: 20.20.16.16.12).<ref name="CarnicerMisol2008">{{cite book|author1=Josep Gustems Carnicer|author2=Edmon Elgström Misol|title=Guía práctica para la dirección de grupos vocales e instrumentales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIwVi5HJMcEC&pg=PA32|year=2008|publisher=Grao|isbn=978-84-7827-643-1|pages=32–34|language=es}}</ref>

==Repertoire==
{{listen|type=music|help=no
|filename = Serenade for Strings -mvt-1- Elgar.ogg
|title = Serenade for Strings (Op. 20, 1st movement)
|description = [[Edward Elgar]]'s "[[Serenade for Strings (Elgar)|Serenade for Strings]], movement 1" performed by the [[United States Army Band]] Strings ensemble
}}
The repertoire includes several works by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] (including ''[[Eine kleine Nachtmusik]]''), [[William Boyce (composer)|William Boyce]] (his eight symphonies are for strings only), and [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] which dispense with the [[Baroque music|baroque]] [[Figured bass#Basso continuo|basso continuo]]. Some of these works are problematic when it comes to deciding whether they are for orchestra or [[string quartet]]. Particularly in Haydn's early works it is argued that the inversions of harmony from the occasional crossings of the bass and viola line imply a double bass; the question is not settled, however.

Important 20th century works have been written for string orchestra by [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]] ([[Divertimento for String Orchestra (Bartók)|Divertimento for String Orchestra]]), [[Igor Stravinsky|Stravinsky]] (''[[Apollo (ballet)|Apollo]]''), [[Witold Lutosławski]] (''[[Musique funèbre]]''), [[Benjamin Britten]] (''[[Simple Symphony]]'' and ''[[Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge]]''), [[Charles Wuorinen]] (''Grand Bamboula''), and [[Malcolm Williamson]] ([[Symphony No. 7 (Williamson)|Symphony No. 7]]). Sir [[Michael Tippett]] wrote a ''[[Concerto for Double String Orchestra (Tippett)|Concerto for Double String Orchestra]]'' and [[Ralph Vaughan Williams]] wrote a ''Partita for Double String Orchestra''. Composers who have written a [[Serenade]] for string orchestra include [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], [[Antonín Dvořák|Dvořák]], [[Josef Suk (composer)|Suk]] and [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]]. [[Felix Mendelssohn|Mendelssohn]], in his youth, also wrote [[String symphonies (Mendelssohn)|thirteen symphonies for string orchestra]].

{{listen|type=music|help=no
|filename = Danse Sacrée.ogg
|title = Danse Sacrée L 103, No. 1
|filename2 = Danse Profane.ogg
|title2 = Danse Profane L 103, No. 2
|description2= ''[[Danses sacrée et profane]]'' by [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]], performed by the [[United States Marine Corps Band|United States Marine Chamber Orchestra]].  Arrangement of the [[chamber music]] pieces scored for string quintet of [[violin]], [[viola]], [[cello]], [[double bass]], and [[cross-strung harp]].
}}
Sometimes works originally written for string quartet, quintet, sextet etc. are arranged for string orchestra. [[Samuel Barber]]'s ''[[Adagio for Strings]]'', [[Alban Berg]]'s 3 Pieces from his ''Lyric Suite'', [[Arnold Schoenberg]]'s string sextet ''[[Verklärte Nacht]]'' and String Quartet No. 2, [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]'s sextet ''[[Souvenir de Florence]]'', [[John Corigliano]]'s Second String Quartet and [[Jean Sibelius]]'s ''[[Andante festivo]]'' are examples. An optional timpani part is also added in the Sibelius piece. The work ''[[Shaker Loops]]'' written in 1978 for septet then arranged in 1983 for string orchestra by the American composer [[John Adams (composer)|John Adams]] has become a popular addition to the repertoire in recent times. [[Graham Waterhouse]] composed several works for string orchestra (''Sinfonietta''), also in combination with contrasting sounds as [[Great Highland bagpipe]] (''[[Chieftain's Salute]]'').

==Works for string orchestra==
{{Main|:Category:Compositions for string orchestra}}
*[[Yalil Guerra]]: "Old Havana," "A la antigua," "Terra Ignota" (Unknown Land), "Clave," for strings and percussion, "El Retrato de la Paloma" (The Portrait of the Dove)-Latin GRAMMY nominated composition (2015), Symphony No. 2 for strings "Los Dioses del Olimpo" (The Olympian Gods), "Al Partir" (On Leaving) dedicated to Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, "Negro Bembón, dedicated to Nicolás Guillén.
*[[Louis Andriessen]]: ''Symphony for Open Strings''
*[[Lera Auerbach]]: 
**String Symphony "Memoria de la Luz" (2013)
**Serenade for a Melancholic Sea for violin, violoncello, piano and string orchestra (2002)
** Dialogues of Stabat Mater (after G.B. Pergolesi) for violin, viola, vibraphone and string orchestra (2005)
*[[Granville Bantock]]: ''Celtic Symphony'' for string orchestra and six harps
*[[Samuel Barber]]: ''[[Adagio for Strings]]''
*[[Béla Bartók]]: [[Divertimento for String Orchestra (Bartók)|Divertimento for String Orchestra]]
**Romanian Dances for String Orchestra
*[[Mason Bates]]: ''[[Icarian Rhapsody]]'' (1999)
*[[Jeremy Beck]]: ''Sinfonietta'' (2000)
*[[Alan Belkin]]: ''Adagio Symphonique'' (2002)
*[[Luciano Berio]]: ''Notturno'' (1995)
*[[Leonard Bernstein]]: ''[[Serenade after Plato's "Symposium"|Serenade for Solo Violin, Strings, Harp and Percussion after Plato's "Symposium"]]''
*[[Judith Bingham]]: ''The Hythe'' (2012)
*[[Georges Bizet]]: ''Adagietto,'' [[L'Arlesienne Suite No. 1]] (1872)
*[[Ernest Bloch]]: ''Concerto Grosso'' No. 2
*[[Nimrod Borenstein]]
**In the night, Op. 48 (2007)
**In the morning, Op. 51 (2008)
**Symphony for strings, Op. 68 (2014)
**Suspended, Op. 69 (2014)
**Yodit, Op. 82 (2018)
*[[Pierre Boulez]]: ''[[Livre pour cordes]]''
*[[Frank Bridge]]: ''Lament'' (1915)
*[[Benjamin Britten]]: ''[[Simple Symphony]]''
*[[Stephen Brown (composer)|Stephen Brown]]: 
**''The Carol Suite'' (1993)
**''Sunrise Serenade'' (2001)
**''On the Idle Hill of Summer'' (2002)
*[[John Cage]]: ''Twenty-Three'' (for violins, violas, and cellos) Additionally, many of Cage's indeterminate scores could be arranged for string orchestra.
*[[Carlos Chávez]]: Symphony No. 5
*[[Nigel Clarke (composer)|Nigel Clarke]]: ''The Miraculous Violin''
*[[Anna Clyne]]: 
**''[[Within Her Arms]]'' (2009)
**''[[Prince of Clouds]]'' (2012)
*[[Paul Creston]]: ''Gregorian Chant for String Orchestra'' (1936)
*[[Tansy Davies]]: ''Residuum''
*[[David Diamond (composer)|David Diamond]]: ''Rounds for String Orchestra'' (1944)
*[[Avner Dorman]]: Concerto Grosso (2002–2003)
*[[Antonín Dvořák]]: [[Serenade for Strings (Dvořák)|Serenade for String Orchestra]] in E major, Op.22
*[[Edward Elgar]]: 
**''[[Introduction and Allegro (Elgar)|Introduction and Allegro for Strings]]'' (1905)
**[[Serenade for Strings (Elgar)|Serenade for Strings]]
*[[Irving Fine]]: ''Serious Song: A Lament for String Orchestra'' (1955)
*[[Gerald Finzi]]: Romance, Op. 11 (1928)
*[[Arthur Foote]]: Suite in E major for String Orchestra, Op. 63 (1909)
*[[Alberto Ginastera]]: ''Concerto per corde'', Op. 33 (originally written for string quartet then arranged for string orchestra)
*[[Philip Glass]]: film score for [[The Hours (film)|''The Hours'']] (large string orchestra plus piano soloist)
*[[Henryk Górecki]]: Three Pieces in Old Style (1963)
*[[Edvard Grieg]]: ''[[Holberg Suite]]'' (originally written for piano then arranged for string orchestra)
*[[Stefans Grové]]: Elegy for Strings (1948)
*[[Mark Gustavson]]: ''Hymn to the Vanished'' (2001)
*[[Karl Amadeus Hartmann]]: [[Symphony No. 4 (Hartmann)|Symphony No. 4]]
*[[Victor Herbert]]: Serenade for Strings
*[[Alfred Hill (composer)|Alfred Hill]]: String Symphonies
*[[Gustav Holst]]:
**''[[St Paul's Suite]]'' (1912)
**''[[Brook Green Suite]]'' (1933)
**''[[A Moorside Suite]]'' (1928)
*[[Arthur Honegger]]: [[Symphony No. 2 (Honegger)|Symphony No. 2]]
*[[Alan Hovhaness]]: Symphony No. 31 (1976–77)
*[[Charles Ives]]: ''The Call of the Mountains'' (arranged by Jonathan Dore from the String Quartet No. 2)
*[[Karl Jenkins]]: [[Palladio (Jenkins)|''Palladio'']] (1996)
*[[Paul Juon]]: Five Pieces for String Orchestra, op.16
*[[Vasily Kalinnikov]]: Serenade for Strings in G minor
*[[Mieczysław Karłowicz]]: Serenade for Strings Op. 2 (1897)
*[[Nigel Keay]]: Serenade for Strings
*[[Uuno Klami]]: Suite for String Orchestra (1937)
*[[Sophie Lacaze]]: 
** ''Y aparece el sol'' (2017) for flute, didgeridoo and string orchestra 
** ''Immobilité sérieuse I'' (2013) for piano and string orchestra
*[[Kenneth Leighton]]:
** Symphony for Strings, Op. 3 (1948-49)
** Concerto for String Orchestra, Op. 39 (1960-61)
*[[Elizabeth Maconchy]]: Symphony for Double String Orchestra (1952–53)
*[[Gustav Mahler]]: Adagietto from [[Symphony No. 5 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 5]].
*[[Gian Francesco Malipiero]]: Symphony No. 6 "Degli Archi" (1947)
*[[Andrew March]]: [[Sanguis Venenatus]] [[United Kingdom tainted blood scandal|(Tainted Blood)]] Elegy for Strings (2009)[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4gy-7IlUqg]
*[[Bohuslav Martinů]]: ''[[Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and Timpani (Martinů)|Double Concerto for Two String Orchestras, Piano, and Timpani]]''
*[[Nicholas Maw]]: ''Life Studies''
*[[Felix Mendelssohn]]:
** [[String symphonies (Mendelssohn)|13 String Symphonies]]
** [[Concerto for Violin and Strings (Mendelssohn)|Concerto for Violin and Strings]]
*[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]:
** [[Piano Concertos K. 107 (Mozart)|Three Concertos for Piano and Strings]] in D major, G major and E{{music|flat}} major, K. 107 (1771 or 1765)
** Divertimento No. 1 for Strings in D major, K. 136/125a (1772)
** Divertimento No. 2 for Strings in B{{music|flat}} major, K. 137/125b (1772)
** Divertimento No. 3 for Strings in F major, K. 138/125c (1772)
** ''[[Eine kleine Nachtmusik]]'' (1787)
*[[Lior Navok]]: ''Between Two Coasts''
*[[Ștefan Niculescu]]: ''Formants'' (1967), for 17 solo strings
*[[Robert Paterson (composer)|Robert Paterson]]:
**''Suite for String Orchestra'' (2011)
**''I See You'' (for String Orchestra and Recording) (2015)
*[[Vincent Persichetti]]: Symphony No. 5
*[[Allan Pettersson]]: 
**Concerto No. 1 (1949–50) 
**Concerto No. 2 (1956)
**Concerto No. 3 (1956–57)
*[[Ottorino Respighi]]: ''[[Ancient Airs and Dances#Suite No. 3 (1932)|Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3]]'' (1932)
*[[Carl Ruggles]]: ''Portals''
*[[Aulis Sallinen]]: ''Aspects of the Funeral March of Hintriki Peltoniemi'' (originally written for string quartet then arranged for string orchestra)
*[[Esa-Pekka Salonen]]: ''[[Stockholm Diary]]'' (2004)
*[[Arnold Schoenberg]]: ''[[Verklärte Nacht]]'' or ''Transfigured Night'' (1899) (originally written for string sextet then arranged for string orchestra)
*[[Franz Schreker]]: Scherzo for String Orchestra (1900)
**Intermezzo for String Orchestra (Op. 8, 1900)
*[[William Schuman]]: Symphony No. 5
*[[Jean Sibelius]]: ''[[Andante festivo]]'' for strings and timpani
*[[Richard St. Clair]] Symphony for String Orchestra
*[[Richard Strauss]]: ''[[Metamorphosen]]'' for 23 solo strings
*[[Igor Stravinsky]]: 
**[[Concerto in D (Stravinsky)|Concerto in D]] (1946)
**''[[Apollon Musagète]]'' (1927–1928), ballet for string orchestra
*[[Josef Suk (composer)|Josef Suk]]: [[Serenade for Strings (Suk)|Serenade for Strings]] (Op. 6, 1892)
*[[William Susman]]: 
**''Zydeco Madness''
**''Angels of Light''
*[[Tōru Takemitsu]]: ''Requiem'' (1957)
**"A Way a Lone II" (1981)
*[[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]]: [[Serenade for Strings (Tchaikovsky)|Serenade for Strings]] in C major, Op. 48
*[[Michael Tippett]]: 
**Concerto for Double String Orchestra
**''Corelli Fantasia''
**''Little Music for Strings''
*[[Joan Trimble]]: "Suite for Strings" (1951)
*[[Pēteris Vasks]]: 
**''Cantabile'' (1979)
**''Musica Dolorosa'' (1984)
*[[Ralph Vaughan Williams]]: 
**''[[Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis]]''
**''[[Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus]]''
**[[Concerto Grosso (Vaughan Williams)|Concerto Grosso]]
*[[Heitor Villa-Lobos]]: [[Bachianas Brasileiras#Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9|''Bachianas Brasileiras No.9'']]
*[[Carl Vine]]: ''Smith's Alchemy''
*[[Claude Vivier]]: ''[[Zipangu (Vivier)|Zipangu]]'' (1980)
*[[Julian Wagstaff]]: ''Treptow'' for String Orchestra (2005)
*[[George Walker (composer)|George Walker]]: ''[[Lyric for Strings]]'' (1946)
*[[William Walton]]: Sonata for Strings
*[[Robert Ward (composer)|Robert Ward]]: ''Concertino for String Orchestra'' (originally written for string quartet then arranged for string orchestra)
*[[Graham Waterhouse]]: 
**''[[Celtic Voices and Hale Bopp]]'' (1995, 1997)
**Sinfonietta (2002)
*[[Malcolm Williamson]]: 
**''Epitaphs for Edith Sitwell'' (1966/72)
**''Ode for Queen Elizabeth'' (1980)
**''Lento for Strings'' (1985)
*[[Dag Wirén]]: ''Serenade for Strings''
*[[John Woolrich]]: 
**''Blue Drowning'' (2005)
**''It is Midnight Dr. Schweitzer''
**''To the Silver Bow'', double concerto for viola, double bass and strings (2014)
**''[[Ulysses Awakes]]''
*[[Charles Wuorinen]]: ''Grand Bamboula''
*[[Iannis Xenakis]]: ''[[Pithoprakta]]'' for 46 strings, 2 trombones, wood block and xylophone.
*[[Takashi Yoshimatsu]]: ''Threnody to Toki'' for Piano and String Orchestra (1980)
*[[Đuro Živković]]: 
**''Serenade'' (2002)
**''PSALM XIII'' (2014)
*[[Ellen Taaffe Zwilich]]: 
**''Partita'' (Violin Concerto No. 2) for Violin and String Orchestra (2000)
**''Commedia dell'arte'' (Violin Concerto No. 3) for Violin and String Orchestra (2012)
**''Prologue and Variations'' (1983)

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Orchestra}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Types of musical groups]]
[[Category:Orchestras]]
[[Category:String orchestras| ]]