Woodwinds

Piccolo: An orchestral sparkler, the piccolo-which takes its name from the Italian for 'small'-is a half-sized flute and plays an octave higher. The fingering is identical to that of the flute and flute players often alternate with piccolo. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the piccolo's debut in a major work, where it adds a bright florescence to the Finale. Beethoven's delighted rushed and trills also caught on, and the piccolo quickly became the go-to instrument for jubilation, a faculty it has never lost.

• Famous players: Keith Bragg
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Flute: The flute's ancestry goes back at least five millennia to ancient Egypt. But the modern, keyed orchestral silver (or occasionally wooden, or gold) model is essentially a 19th-century invention. The three-octave range begins at middle C, with slight extensions possible. All the wind instruments obtain their expressive qualities through techniques of blowing, but with the flute the lips, which form an embouchure, are particularly important, leading to what is sometimes called the 'flute players' smile'. The breathy, velvety middle range has a sensuality all of its own as Debussy gorgeously proves in the opening of Prelude a l'apre-midi d'un faune.

• Famous players: Samuel Coles
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Oboe: Historically, the woodwind section was formed around the soprano of the double-reed family, but the oboe has an even more ostentatious pride of place. With a distinctively nasal, stable and penetrating tone that allows it to stand out in almost any instrumental texture, the oboe was chosen as the instrument to which the entire orchestra tunes to a concert A, Double reeds are finickety constructs that need to be personally tailored to each individual player, and this craft is yet another proud skill set that oboe ( and bassoon players must acquire. Although known for its pastoral and plaintive                                                                     characteristics, the oboe has a darting, flirtatious side as well. Plus it                                                         can honk!

• Famous players: Timothy Rundle
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English Horn: The first thing always mentioned about the English horn, the alto of the double-reed family, is that it is neither English nor is it a horn. To make matters more confusing, the instrument is often referred to by its French name. the cor anglais, all for obscure reasons. About one-and-a-half times the size of the oboe, the English horn is immediately recognized by its pronounced, pear-shaped bell. The sound is similar to, if slightly less honky than, the oboe, thickening nicely in the lower register. It is both a mellow melody instrument and a handy softener for the wind section's overall texture.

• Famous players: Jill Crowther
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Clarinet: The clarinet, a single-reed instrument invented in the 18th century, is the most modern of the standard instruments of the orchestra and hence one of the most acoustically advanced and tonally nuanced. The range of the B-flat clarinet, the most common of the clarinet family, is from the upper bass register to the top of the soprano, but the lower register, the chalumeau, is particularly prized for its expansive resonance. Clarinetists can be asked to juggle three different instruments, all in different keys. The A is close in range                                                             and size to the B flat but has a sightly mellower tone, while the E flat                                                       is smaller, higher and more piercing.

• Famous players: Mark van de Wiel
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Bass Clarinet: Larger and differently shaped than the standard clarinets, the bass clarinet has a darker timbre that composers often exploit for expressions of gloom and doom, as Mahler does in his Sixth Symphony. But the bass clarinet also shares the higher clarinets' wood-rich glow and can provide a satisfyingly comforting sound. Like a saxophone (which was influenced by he earlier bass clarinet), the instrument has a metal upturned bell and a curved metal crook to which the mouthpiece is attached, but it retains the maple-wood body. Another adjective that gets applied to the bass clarinet is goblin-esque for its startlingly subtle dynamic control.

• Famous players: Laurent Ben Slimane
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Contrabass Clarinet: The contrabass clarinet descended from a weird, short-lived late 18th-century instrument called the batyphone into another weird instrument that might be likened to the deep sea monster of the orchestra. Huge and rarely seen, it makes a wondrous low sound unlike any other from an acoustic instrument. Contrabass clarinets come in different shapes, but all have loops and some double loops. The instrument is a favorite of Esa-Pekka Salonen, who exploits its other-worldly timbral qualities in his Violin Concerto. 

Bassoon: Having been asked too many times by composers to be gruff or comical, the bassoon has gained the reputation for being the clown of the orchestra. Bassoonists hate that label, of course, but like all great clowns, this baritone, double-reed instrument could just as easily be called the soul of the orchestra. The bassoon is an impressive acrobat; the fingering is frightfully complex and the tone dark and buzzy, yet the bassoon is capable of surprising agility and jazzy tone bending, Typically made of maple wood, the large bore doubles back on itself, and a metal crook extends from the top for attaching the thick hard-to-make and hard-to-blow reeds. 

• Famous players: Amy Harman
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Contrabassoon: The contrabassoon, or double bassoon, is an ungainly double-long bassoon playing an octave lower, which is very long and low indeed, To accommodate all that length, the bore doubles back twice on itself like a paper clip in contrast to the bassoon's hairpin shape. The reeds, too, are thicker and heavier, and the fingering is different. The contrabassoon's lowest notes are the lowest of the orchestra , and the instrument's deep profound buss was thought suitable only for reinforcement of bass lines until modern composers were able to find delight in the contrabassoon's strangeness, This is another of the instruments Beethoven introduced into symphonic repertory with his Fifth Symphony.

• Famous players: Luke Whitehead
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