You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 18.208.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪ST47‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a web host's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and they should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 01:01, 24 April 2026.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪AntiCompositeNumber‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: See the help page if you are affected .
- Start of block: 15:08, 30 August 2023
- Expiry of block: 15:08, 30 August 2025
Your current IP address is 18.208.109.86. The blocked range is 18.208.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((Short description|Section of orchestra or concert band))
((Refimprove|date=April 2021))
[[File:CMB 7717 (23265585053).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The woodwind section of the [[United States Army Band]]]]
The '''woodwind section''', which consists of [[woodwind]] instruments, is one of the main sections of an [[orchestra]] or [[concert band]].
Woodwind sections contain instruments given [[Hornbostel-Sachs]] classifications of 421 ([[edge-blown aerophones]], commonly known as ''flutes'') and 422  ([[reed aerophone]]s), but exclude 423 ([[brass instrument]]s, which have [[brass section|their own section]].)

==Orchestra==
The woodwind section of a symphony [[orchestra]] typically includes [[western concert flute|flute]]s (sometimes with one doubling [[piccolo]]), [[oboe]]s (sometimes with one doubling [[cor anglais]]), [[clarinet]]s (sometimes with one doubling [[bass clarinet]] and/or another doubling [[E-flat clarinet]]), and [[bassoon]]s (sometimes with one doubling [[contrabassoon]]).<ref name=Apel>Apel, Willi, ed., ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'', Second Edition, pp. 604-5. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1969. SBN 674375017.</ref> In the early part of the 20th century the woodwinds (as well as other sections) were often considerably expanded. For example, [[Mahler]] in his [[Symphony No. 8 (Mahler)|Symphony No. 8]] (1910) employs 2 piccolos, 4 flutes, 4 oboes, cor anglais, 2 [[E-flat clarinet]]s, 3 B-flat clarinets, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons, and contrabassoon.<ref name=Apel/> After [[World War I]], the number of instruments was often reduced, approaching the size of a [[chamber orchestra]], with individual instrument combinations differing for each composition. The change can be illustrated by comparing two works by [[Stravinsky]]: ''[[The Rite of Spring]]'' (1911–1913) with a large woodwinds section similar to the above and his ''[[Histoire du soldat]]'' (1918), which only utilizes one clarinet and one bassoon.<ref name=Apel/>

The woodwind section of the orchestra today, at a minimum consists of:

* Two [[western concert flute|flute]]s
* Two [[oboe]]s
* Two [[clarinet]]s
* Two [[bassoon]]s

For early classical music, the clarinets may be omitted. The principal flutist is traditionally the section leader. The evolution of this section can be seen over Mozart's Symphonies. When emulating the classical style, [[Sergei Prokofiev]] used the above combination in his First Symphony.

The woodwind section of the orchestra frequently also includes one or more of the following, in typical score order:

* [[Piccolo]] (often played by the second or third flute)
* [[Cor anglais]] (often played by an oboist but commonly by a specialist cor anglais player)
* [[E-flat clarinet]] (usually played by a clarinet player)
* [[Bass clarinet]] (often played by a clarinet player but commonly by a specialist bass clarinet player)
* [[Contrabassoon]] (usually played by a bassoon player)

Less commonly used, in typical score order, are:
* [[Alto flute]] (usually played by a flute player)
* [[Bass flute]] (usually played by a flute player)
* [[Oboe d'amore]] (usually played by an oboist)
* [[Bass oboe]] or [[Heckelphone]] (often played by an oboist but sometimes by a bassoonist)
* [[Basset horn]] (usually played by a clarinet player)
* [[Contrabass clarinet]] (usually played by a clarinet player)
* [[Soprano saxophone|Soprano]], [[Alto saxophone|Alto]], [[Tenor saxophone|Tenor]] or [[Baritone saxophone]]s (sometimes played by a clarinet player, but more often by a dedicated soloist)

==Concert band==
The woodwind section of the [[concert band]] is generally much larger than the woodwind section of the orchestra. Also, the concert band generally has a larger variety of woodwind instruments than the orchestra.

The woodwind section of the concert band commonly contains, in normal score order((Citation needed|date=September 2015)):

*[[Piccolo]](s)
*[[western concert flute|Flute]]s
*[[Oboe]]s
*[[Bassoon]]s
*[[Soprano clarinet|B♭ clarinet]]s
*[[Bass clarinet]](s)
*[[Alto saxophone]]s
*[[Tenor saxophone]](s)
*[[Baritone saxophone]](s)

Other woodwinds that are used in the concert band, but not as frequently as the ones listed above, in normal score order((Citation needed|date=September 2015)):

*[[Cor anglais]] (usually played by an oboist)
*[[Contrabassoon]] (usually played by a bassoonist)
*[[Piccolo clarinet|E♭ clarinet]] (usually played by a B♭ clarinetist)
*[[Alto clarinet]] or [[basset horn]] (usually played by a B♭ or bass clarinetist)
*[[Contra-alto clarinet]] or [[contrabass clarinet]] (usually played by a bass clarinetist) 
*[[Soprano saxophone]] (usually played by the principal alto saxophonist)

Woodwinds that are sometimes, but very rarely, used in the concert band:

*[[Alto flute|Alto]] and [[bass flute]]s
*[[Bass saxophone]]

==Woodwind choir==
A woodwind choir, also called woodwind orchestra, or woodwind ensemble is a performing ensemble consisting exclusively of members of the [[Woodwind instrument|woodwind]] family of instruments. It typically includes [[flute]]s, [[oboe]]s, [[clarinet]]s, [[bassoon]]s and [[saxophone]]s, all of varying sizes. The woodwind orchestra has a small repertoire of original music written especially for the ensemble and arrangements of [[orchestra]]l compositions, [[light music]], and popular tunes.

=== History of the woodwind choir ===

Civic wind groups in the United Kingdom can be traced back to medieval times. The father of English literature [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] wrote in his poem [[The House of Fame|House of Fame:]]

"Then I saw standing behind them, far away and all by themselves, many scores of thousands, who made loud minstrelsy with bagpipes and shawms and many other kinds of pipes, and skilfully played both them of clear and them of reedy sound, such as be played at feasts with the roast-meat, and many a flute and lilting-horn and pipes make of green stalks, such as these little shepherd-lads have who watch over beasts in the broom."

Wind music flourished in the courts of Europe. [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] celebrated his coronation in 1509, which included three days of entertainment, with performances from several wind groups. In 1749 [[George Frideric Handel|Handel's]] [[Music for the Royal Fireworks]] was performed as a piece for winds after [[George II of Great Britain|King George II]] ordered [[George Frideric Handel|Handel]] to remove the string parts.((Citation needed|date=September 2015))

[[Harmonie|Harmoniemusik]] played an equally important role in the eighteenth century for open-air and important social occasions. Together with the [[string quartet]], the ensemble and genre most typifies the [[Classical period (music)|Classical era]]. In 1782, [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph II]], Holy Roman Emperor, founded his Imperial Wind Ensemble in Vienna. Harmoniemusik had an important influence on the development of the symphony orchestra. [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]] and [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] became more daring in the way they wrote for the wind sections in their symphonic works. [[Anton Reicha]] and [[Franz Danzi]] were two pioneering composers of the [[wind quintet]] but by the end of the nineteenth century, interest in this ensemble began to fade.((Citation needed|date=September 2015))

It was around this time that the [[concert band]] became an important vehicle for composers to advertise their operas and orchestral works. [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]], [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]] and [[Richard Wagner|Wagner]] appointed bandmasters to arrange their works to be performed to the masses at bandstand events. [[Gustav Holst|Holst]], [[Ralph Vaughan Williams|Vaughan Williams]] and [[Percy Grainger|Grainger]] began writing original works for the concert band at the turn of the twentieth century. These works were the seeds which grew into the now extensive body of repertoire which exists for the medium. Further into the twentieth century came a renewed interest in the wind quintet. Many leading contemporary composers have produced wind quintets which have become standard chamber repertoire.((Citation needed|date=September 2015))

Much has been done to promote wind music through organisations, institutions, music retailers and passionate individuals but this would fall largely into the concert band genre. Indeed it is the development of the concert band which procured an environment whereby music for the woodwind section was required.((Citation needed|date=September 2015))

=== Original music for woodwind choir ===

*[[Ernst Bloch|Ernest Bloch]] (1880–1959) ''Prelude and March'' (for woodwind choir)
*[[Alan Bullard]] (born 1947) ''Journey Through Time'' (2010)
*[[Gary Carpenter (composer)|Gary Carpenter]] ''Pantomime'' (2005)
*[[Martin Ellerby]] (born 1957) ''Sinfonia Aqua'' (2015)
*Adam Gorb (born 1958) ''Battle Symphony'', Op.26 (1997)
*Adam Gorb (born 1958) Suite for Winds (1995)
*Patrick Glenn Harper (born 1977) ''Excursion for Woodwind Ensemble'' (2006), ''Three Sketches for Woodwind Ensemble'' (2016)
*Christopher Hussey (born 1974) ''Dreamtide'' (2012)
*Christopher Hussey (born 1974) ''Twisted Skyscape'' (2008)
*Shea Lolin (born 1983) ''Lux Aeterna'' (2014)
*Hamilton G. McLean ''Promenade for Woodwind Choir''
*[[Philip Sparke]] (born 1951) Overture for Woodwinds (1999)
*[[Josef Tal]] (1910-2008) ''Wind Quintet'' (1966)
*Jeffery Wilson (born 1957) ''Postcards: Play, Sing, Dance'' (2012)
*Ruth Young ''The Zoo Keeper'' (2006)

''Twisted Skyscape'', a recording of a woodwind choir, was made with the [[Czech Philharmonic|Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble]], conducted by Shea Lolin in 2014. <ref>((cite web |title=twisted skyscape |url=https://www.twistedskyscape.com/home.php/ |website=Twisted Skyscape |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401061030/https://www.twistedskyscape.com/home.php/ |archive-date=April 1, 2016))</ref>

==See also==
* [[String section]]
* [[Percussion section]]
* [[Brass section]]
* [[Keyboard section]]

==References==
((Reflist))

((Orchestra))

[[Category:Sections of the orchestra]]
[[Category:Sections of the concert band]]
[[Category:Woodwind instruments]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

Woodwind section (edit)
Template:Ambox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Template:Citation needed (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:Delink (view source) (protected)
Template:Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Fix (view source) (protected)
Template:Fix/category (view source) (protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:More citations needed (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Orchestra (edit)
Template:Orchestras (edit)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Refimprove (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/blacklist (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Category handler/shared (view source) (protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Delink (view source) (protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:Find sources (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/links (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Find sources/templates/Find sources mainspace (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Message box (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/ambox.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Message box/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Namespace detect/data (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to Woodwind section.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodwind_section"