Large orchestra
Symphony orchestra in full scoring.
What it means
Large orchestra (German Großes Orchester) designates a symphony orchestra in full scoring: strings in large numbers, woodwinds in threes or fours, an extended brass group, timpani and further percussion, plus, depending on the work, harp, celesta, or piano. The total number can exceed a hundred players. The term delimits this scoring from the smaller orchestra as is usual for music of the eighteenth century, and from the chamber orchestra.
Musical use
The expansion of the scoring in the nineteenth century is connected with several developments: larger halls, improved instruments, the need for differentiated tone colours and a greater dynamic span. For composition this means new possibilities — mixed colours, widely spread registers, enormous intensifications — but also new tasks: the larger the apparatus, the more carefully the balance must be set so that voices remain audible. Many works call for the full scoring only in a few places and otherwise work with smaller groups within the whole.
The large orchestra of the Romantic period comprises, besides strings, woodwinds and brass in multiple scoring, harp, and percussion.
Performance practice
Watch the balance and listen beyond your own group; in a large scoring your own sense of volume is unreliable. Check the effect, if possible, from the hall. Expect spatial delays, especially between widely separated groups, and follow the conductor instead of your ear. Settle changes of mute and changes of instrument with sufficient lead time. For music of the eighteenth century, a reduced string scoring is to be considered so that the proportions are right.
Bear in mind that many works call for the full scoring only in a few places: the greatest part is worked out in chamber-music fashion, and whoever plays large throughout gives away the intensification. Work out the places where really everyone takes part. Watch the balance between brass and strings, which easily tips in large scorings.
Before rehearsal, settle which additional instruments are really available, because cancellations otherwise are noticed only on the day of performance.