It started when I asked my mother what the difference between a Orchestra, Band and a Symphony is. I thought that Orchestras had only string instruments a Band had only Wind instruments and I had no idea what made a Symphony a Symphony.
It turns out that I was only partly right. Lets start with the smallest one (in my opinion).
It seems that 'Band' has more than one definition -in the musical world. A band is a bunch of musicians playing either brass and percussion instruments only; that would be a brass band. Or if they are playing brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments only then it is a concert band or military band. (A)
From what I can find it can also mean a group of people who all love music and decide to play anything that they like. Be it brass, woodwind, or strings (and they almost always have some sort of percussion).
Now an 'Orchestra' is bigger than a band and includes a wind,
percussion, and string section -specifically violins, violas, cellos, and
basses. If there are no strings, it’s a band (or it might have a fancy
name, like wind symphony or concert band or Coldplay).
Also; if the Orchestra is small -less than 40 people or even as small
as four or five- it is called a Chamber Orchestra (because it could be small
enough to fit in a chamber, or room, instead of needing a large concert
hall). There is a point at which an Orchestra becomes a Symphony Orchestra, -or
just Symphony, for short. This distinction has less to do with numbers
and more to do with instruments. (B) Keep reading if you want to know what it is.
Now a 'Symphony' is almost always larger than an Orchestra (I can't think of a smaller one but it is possible). Symphonies have four sections of instruments (this is what sets it apart from Bands and Orchestras): it has strings,
woodwinds, brass, and percussion. Basically, an Orchestra would be a Symphony
if it was capable of playing a Symphony. (Which is a long piece of music, usually
of three or more movements, written for Orchestras with full percussion
sections, piano, harp, bassoons, oboes, an organ, a special guy to play
the triangle, etc). (B) In today's world, composers like to
bring unique sounds into their symphonies, including everything from trash
cans and kazoos to typewriters and washing machines.(B)
And when does a Symphony become a 'Philharmonic'? From what I can find, the term Philharmonic is only used these days to
distinguish a Symphony from another Symphony that are in the
same city. Vienna, for instance, has the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and
the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The definition of Philharmonic is no more than “harmony-loving.”
And there you go! Now you know the deference between a Band, Orchestra, Symphony and even a Philharmonic!
Bibliography:
(A) http://www.thefreedictionary.com/band
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