Stravinsky scored The Rite of Spring for eight horns, while Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder demanded 10. For more details on how this instrument works, I recommend you watch Katy Woolley’s excellent demonstration at where you can also see the rest of the orchestra’s brass team in action.Ī common orchestral brass line-up would be four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and one tuba, but depending on the nature of the piece and ambitions of the composer, section sizes vary wildly. While pop and jazz so-called ‘horn sections’ usually contain a mixture of brass and wind instruments, in orchestral circles a horn invariably means a French horn, that complicated assembly of coiled tubing with a distinctive flared bell attached. The four main orchestral brass instruments are trumpet, trombone, tuba and horn. Apocalyptic duties apart, quietly played brass instruments can also sound beautifully rich, warm and expansive, making this the most dynamically versatile section of the orchestra. For casual listeners, the jet-engine roar of brass in full flight epitomises symphonic grandeur and power - given their capacity for tumultuous, high-decibel delivery, it’s no wonder that trumpet fanfares are associated with cataclysmic events like bringing down the walls of Jericho, or sounding the final trump on Judgement Day (does the MU have special rates for those gigs?).
Having taken a detailed look at strings and woodwind over the last four articles, it’s time to turn our attention to the tremendous sonority that is orchestral brass.
Brass and horns ignite the fire at the heart of the orchestra.
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