Is Piano Unimportant in an a Symphony Orchestra?

The rehearsals for our ASO concert are approaching. When all your friends are talking about Mahler Symphony No.5 during lunch break, as a piano student, there's nothing more you can do than merely chewing on your food. That's when you start questioning yourself. Is there no place to stay in the orchestra for a pianist? Is piano unimportant in a symphony orchestra?

The answer to this question may depend on how you define importance, but if you're expecting the following paragraphs to prove that the answer is absolutely a big no, you may be a little disappointed. I can only say that, the piano is important in a symphony orchestra for those pieces that include it. But it is not part of the traditional orchestration and many composers never included a piano part in their symphonies and other orchestral works. Hence, in the sense it's a less important orchestral instrument overall.

There's a reason a symphony works: The instrument sections have their own respective ranges and characteristics, thus they can coexist. The percussion won't drown out the strings. The woodwinds wont surrender to the brass. In short, no one section can outperform the other sections, leave alone the solo parts. But, taking the piano, undeniably it's range, or it's dynamic capabilities give it an edge over the others instruments. It is capable of interacting directly with horns, drums, violins, clarinets, and so on. That's why orchestral parts are sometimes transcribed into piano scores for rehearsal purpose.

However, this doesn't mean that the keyboard family has never been welcomed in an orchestra. Before the time of Haydn and Mozart, a harpsichord would have been included in most orchestral performances as part of the continuo. With the development of the piano and the shift in musical style from the baroque to classical period, this became less and less common and the harpsichord was a rarity for a long time.

Still, occasionally piano plays an important in an orchestra though. Stravinsky's Ballet music for Pertroushka is one of the examples of symphonic music with a significant part for solo piano. In this work, the piano pronounces a musical identity that is supposed to be separated from the orchestra, as though a new actor enters the stage.

(The piano part starts at 1:54)

All in all, not many pianists can forge a career in music as an orchestral pianist, because of the limited places, and being one may not be an ideal job for all of them. Although the life of the orchestral pianist seems not as lonely as that of the soloist can be, pianists may still find themselves a lot more time off than their colleagues, and even may not feel that they are 'part of things' in the same way the string or woodwind players are. As with all musical disciplines and career paths, it's important to build interest and relationships outside of work. For example, many pianists find that an active teaching practice, helps them to refocus and keep their values in music.

No matter whether a piano is always included in an orchestra or not, pianists can still make music with others by extending their piano training to accompany other musicians for concerts or exams, or exploring the wide variety of chamber music repertoire available involving the piano. After all, there are still famous and touching symphony works that include a piano, such as the third movement of the Organ symphony and many of the Prokofiev symphonies. Have fun exploring them!