Orchestras grew out of the bands of musicians employed by monarchs and grand nobles in the 17th century. The French king, Louis XIII, had a band of 24 string players as early as 1626. Later, wind instruments were added, often from military bands. Orchestras in the modern sense began to develop in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, when regular groups of musicians were first employed to play in opera houses, at courts, in churches and eventually in concert halls.

The size of early orchestras depended on the wealth of their patrons and the type of music they performed. By the middle of the 18th century, orchestras commonly included about a dozen violins, perhaps eight other stringed instruments, two oboes, bassoons and horns, and an accompanying (or continuo) harpsichord. For important occasions a pair of kettledrums and trumpets could be added. Handel’s Water Music, composed for George I in 1717, employed trumpets to dramatic effect. Conducting was divided between the harpsichord player and the first violin (who sometimes ‘conducted’ with his bow); a baton was not used until the 19th century.

By the early 19th century, the ‘grander’ music of composers like Beethoven called for a much larger orchestra, with enlarged string and wind sections and the addition of percussion.