Composers have been writing music for the group of instruments we call an orchestra for the last four centuries. Endlessly adaptable and always evolving, an orchestra can be made up of 20 players or ...

CATEURA, Paraguay — The sounds of a classical guitar come from two big jelly cans. Used X-rays serve as the skins of a thumping drum set. A battered aluminum salad bowl and strings tuned with forks ...

Over the following century, the orchestra slowly grew in size but not much in diversity: Instruments like the clarinet, timpani, and piccolo were added by various composers for their ability to ...