How many voices do violins usually play in modern orchestral music?

Question

I've been into arranging and composing for orchestral music for a few years now, however, my music is usually fully computer-rendered (ewql), so I don't have any practical limits of how many instruments I use.Well I'm trying to not be completely off, however, in a few of my compisitions I use a _lot_ of violin voices (like, melody w/ octave + 2 voices harmony + 2 voices staccato for about 8 bars. meanwhile, two voices violas and one voice cello/cbs). Now a few of my pieces are actually to be performed every once in a while, however not by an overkill orchestra with like 100 violinists.So, my question is, how many voices for orchestral instruments, especially violins, are "okay"? How many players should there be for each voice? I haven't been able to find any good resources about this yet.

Answer 1

In most pieces written for orchestra, whether a full orchestra or an all-string ensemble, there are two violin sections, one viola section, one bass section. There are pieces with three violin sections, and I have seen a few with a second viola or cello section as well. There is no rule that you can't divide the sections differently. But you should know that there's a very good reason there are so many violins on the stage in the first place: it's hard to hear them over other string instruments as well as wind and brass instruments. If you make your sections too small, the parts you have composed won't be heard in performance.

The musicians in each section play the same part, with the exception of solos. It's very unusual for a single violin to play more than one voice. And this is true of viola, cello, and bass as well. Typically, any chords and double stops written in the music are divided between stand partners. The general rule is that the person who sits on the outside takes the top and the person who sits on the inside takes the bottom.

Answer 2

Hello, most orchestras will typically divide violins into two sections (violin I and violin II), although there are some rare occasions where a violin III part may be present. As for voices, it is a generally a good idea to only think of violins as a single voice (if one player) or two individual voices (violins I and II). While it is true that violins can sometimes play multiple notes and once (double and triple stops), this is not very practical for a long or continuous musical passage (certainly not as 2-3 complete voices). However, it is certainly possible for ensembles like a full orchestra (with many violinists) to cover more than 2 parts if needed; you would likely just need to indicate how you want each part to be divided in the music. Hopefully this helps!