Instrumentation
Strauss scored Salome for the following large orchestra:
- Woodwinds: piccolo, 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, heckelphone, E-flat clarinet, 2 clarinets in B-flat, 2 clarinets in A, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon
- Brass: 6 horns in F, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba
- Percussion (8–9 players): 5 timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tam-tam, tambourine, castanets, glockenspiel, xylophone
- Keyboards: celesta, harmonium (offstage), organ (offstage)
- Strings: 2 harps, 16 violins I, 16 violins II, 10–12 violas, 10 violoncellos, 8 double basses
Read more about this topic: Salome (opera)