String strength
‘String strength’ in this case has nothing to do with the tension or durability of, for example, violin strings, but is the term used to describe the number of musicians in a string section. Running an orchestra involves a lot of shorthand, and ‘5.4.3.2.1’ would mean ‘5 first violins, 4 second violins, 3 violas, 2 cellos and a double bass’. Whereas a composer would state in the score exactly the number of woodwind and brass instruments needed in a piece, the ‘string strength’ is nearly always left as a variable. Sometimes there is a sense of ‘the more, the better’, and certainly that would be appropriate (within reason) for a Mahler symphony, for example: many modern symphony orchestras have a standard string strength of 16.14.12.10.8, i.e. a full 60 players. But for much of The AAM’s repertoire such an approach is inappropriate, given that one of our aims is ‘to play instruments of the appropriate period in appropriate numbers’.
So if the score does not tell us what an appropriate string strength is, where do we turn? We have to go to suitable historical sources, such as the pay lists for the musicians of court orchestras, contemporary engravings and press reports of the time.
In the case of the Haydn symphonies, as you will learn from reading the CD sleeve notes by James Webster for our Decca series, the appropriate string strength depends on where Haydn was when he composed the work. In his earliest years at the Esterhazy court (to c. 1767) the normal orchestral complement was approx 13–16 players in total, within which the string strength would be just 3.3.1.1.1. Starting in the late 1760s, the numbers increased partly owing to Prince Esterhazy’s growing passion for opera which necessitated a larger ensemble and from c. 1768 to c. 1775 the string strength was 4.4.2.1.1. By the 1780s, following the opening of the court opera house and the expansion of the season, the string strength grew to approximately 6.5.2.2.2. When Haydn moved to London in the 1790s the string numbers increased markedly: in Salomon’s band of 1792–1794 the string strength was around 8.8.4.5.4 and in 1795 the ‘Professional’ orchestra included a string section of around 10.10.5.6.5.
Turning briefly to Handel, a contemporary report of the coronation of George II in October 1727 referred to ‘about 160 Violins, Trumpets, Hautboys (oboes), Kettle-Drums, and Bass’s proportionable’, and although this may be a slight exaggeration, we know from financial records that in addition to the normal complement of royal musicians, a further 57 players were bought in just for the occasion at three guineas a head. (Can any reader tell me what 3 guineas in 1727 would be worth today? I would not want to be out of sync with market rates...)
Going to the opposite end of the string strength spectrum, The AAM has performed the Bach harpsichord concertos with a string strength of either 1.1.1.1.0 or 1.1.1.1.1 in the belief that this is historically and musicologically appropriate. Next time you put on that old LP of the Bach ‘piano’ concertos with a symphony orchestra providing the accompaniment, do bear that in mind!