Help me find the flautist’s friend & the hero of the harp….!

Have you ever wondered which of the great composers wrote the best bits for different instruments in their orchestral scores?

I do all the time! I’m not a musician, just a keen listener with an enquiring mind. As a huge fan of Aaron Copland I am convinced that he has written some of the best bits for trumpet, flute, cor anglais and percussionists. I also feel sure that many musicians are truly grateful for his contribution in showcasing their skills.

However, I doubt anyone has quantified this – gone through all the great works of all the great composers and worked out how many of the solo highlights are given to different instruments or what proportion of notes were dedicated to different instruments. If it has been done I’d love to see the results. If I were to make some guesses I’d think that Tchaikovsky, Mahler and Mozart were good friends to the French horn player and Bach and Prokofiev great benefactors to the oboist. And this is just my perspective based on a scant knowledge of a few works.

So, I’d like your help. If you play an instrument in an orchestra, be it professional or amateur I’d like you to complete my survey and Help me Find the Flautist’s Friend and the Hero of the Harp! It’s only a few questions long and I simply want you to tell me from your understanding of the orchestral repertory which composers wrote the best bits (and the worst bits) for your instrument.

Just to clarify, what I am mainly looking for are the pieces that get you an ovation – those wonderful solos where the orchestra almost goes silent, like the parting of the waves and your instrument gets a few moments to bask in the sun. Also, as an orchestral player, the pieces on the programme or their composers that immediately get you excited (or nervous) because you know you’ll be getting to play some of the best bits and make your family and friends proud.

I also want to know the composers that are most under rated when it comes to writing for your instrument or lesser known composers that have written something amazing that you would like other people to know about.

Of course the results of this survey will be most revelatory with some instruments more than others. However, whether you play the piccolo, tuba or percussion or in the first or second violins I would love to hear from you. I hope that orchestral musicians the world over will see it as a chance for the wonderful extracts of music that it sometimes feels that only you know about will become better known.

I’ll need quite a lot of responses to make this survey give truly interesting outputs so please share with your colleagues and friends. Also, if you play more than one instrument then feel free to complete the survey more than once. When I have enough answers and can see some trends in the consensus of opinion I will release the results and perhaps write a book. I really appreciate your help and eagerly anticipate your involvement!