Delaware County Symphony
Sebastian Grand, Music Director
October 2 through October 9 of 2021 was a county-wide celebration of the arts in Delaware County. As part of that celebration, the DCS created this interactive Explore the Orchestra web page where viewers can watch short musical performances and learn about the music, the instrument, or the composer.
The Delaware County Symphony invites you to
Explore the Orchestra
Strings
The string section is comprised of violins, violas, cellos, and basses. Click on the violin image to watch a performance of Karl Jenkins' Palladio Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra: Allegretto from our Sounds of the Orchestral Sections concert. Listen to how the cellos and basses start the movement and for the exciting violin solo. Click here to read more.
Click on the viola image to see a viola up close from the Virtual Instrument Petting Zoo video. How does the music make you feel? Click here to read more about the viola.
The cellos and basses play the lower notes in the string section. Click on the cello image to watch a performance of the Gigue from the Cello Suite no. 3 in C major by J.S. Bach from our European Flavors concert. Listen to the lively rhythm of the cello. Click here to read about the gigue.
We will end this section with a performance of the Eugen Doga Waltz from the movie My Sweet and Tender Beast. Click on the bass image to watch this excerpt from our The Sounds of Strings concert. Imagine the dance that goes with this music. Click here to learn about Eugen Doga.
Violin
Viola
Cello
Bass
Woodwinds
The woodwind section of the orchestra includes flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon. To see a woodwind trio, click on the flute image to watch a performance of the Rondo from the Divertimento No. 2 in Bb Major, K. 229 by W. A. Mozart (arranged and transcribed by Karl Krabe) from our Folk and Fanfare concert. Listen to how the melody in the flute is repeated throughout the movement. Click here to read about the rondo.
The oboe and bassoon are double reed instruments. The sound is produced from two reeds vibrating together when it is played. Another double reed instrument is the English Horn. Click on the oboe image to watch a performance of Enrique Granados' Intermezzo from Goyescas, played on the English Horn, from our European Flavors concert. Listen to the characteristic warm sound of a double reed instrument. Click here to read more
In Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances, (arranged by by Roe Goodman), selections 2 (Sash Dance) and 6 (Fast Dance), the individual characteristic of each woodwind instrument in the trio can be appreciated. Click on the clarinet image to watch the performance from our Folk and Fanfare concert. Click here to read more.
To hear a full woodwind sound, click on the bassoon image to watch a performance of Charles Gounod's Petite Symphonie Mvt. 4, Finale, from the Sounds of the Orchestral Sections concert. Listen to how each woodwind instrument sounds when it is playing by itself and when they are all playing together. Click here to read more.
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet
Bassoon
Brass
This section begins with a fanfare! The brass section - trumpet, horn, trombone, and tuba - all play on Jack Hawes' Festival Pieces for Brass Quintet, 1. Fanfare. Click on the trumpet image to watch this excerpt from our Folk and Fanfare concert. Listen to the characteristic rhythm of a fanfare that is repeated throughout the movement. Click here to read about the fanfare.
Click on the horn image to watch a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite, III. March: “Folk Songs from Somerset” (arranged for brass quintet by Jari Villanueva) from our Folk and Fanfare concert. Listen for the horn solo during the middle section of the movement. Click here to read more.
The trombone and tuba play the lower brass sounds. Both are featured in Gustav Holst's, Second Suite in F for Military Band, IV. Fantasia on the “Dargason” (arranged for brass quintet by David Sabourin). Click on the trombone image to watch the performance from the Folk and Fanfare concert. Listen to the melody at the beginning played by the trombone. Everyone then plays the same melody, ending with the tuba. Click here to read about the "Dargason."
From our Sounds of the Orchestral Sections concert, a full brass sound can be heard from the Giovanni Gabrieli, Canzon septimi toni No. 2 from the Sacrae Symphoniae, Venice, 1597. Click on the tuba image to watch. Listen to how the sound changes when the brass instruments are playing softly and when they are playing loudly. Click here to read more.
Trumpet
Horn
Trombone
Tuba
Percussion
The percussion section of the orchestra can include timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, bells, xylophone, tambourine, gong, wood block, and more! Click on the timpani image to see most of these instruments in action in a performance of Benjamin Britten's The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra: Percussion Variation (arranged for percussion quartet by Katherine Hajec) from our Sounds of the Orchestral Sections concert. How many different percussion instruments can you hear? Click here to read more.
The mallet or keyboard instruments in the percussion section are bells, xylophone, vibraphone, marimba, and chimes. Click on the xylophone image to watch a performance of Brian Slawson's The Three Banditos, for trio on one marimba from the Mallets on the Marimba video. Listen to how the sound of the marimba changes in the slower section of the piece. Click here to read more.
The orchestral bells are featured in Wally Barnett’s Drumbells. Click on the triangle image to view the performance from our Sounds of the Orchestral Sections concert. In the middle section of this piece, only metallic sounding instruments are used. Click here to read more.
The piano is a familiar solo instrument. When performing in an orchestra, it is considered to be part of the percussion section. Click on the piano image to see how this instrument is enhanced when playing with a string orchestra in the performance of Ennio and Andrea Morricone,'s Cinema Paradiso from our Movies, Musicals, and More! concert. Listen for when the piano has the melody and when the strings have the melody. Click here to read more.
All of the above concert excerpts were performed during the DCS "Concerts on Demand" series of 2020-2021. To watch the full concerts that these excerpts are from, please visit the DCS YouTube page.
Timpani
Xylophone
Triangle
Piano