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These are some of the factors that have led to the strings exalted position within the orchestra, and thus the composer will spend the majority of his time and will typically ascribe his most important musical ideas to the strings. Paradoxically, the strings also offer the greatest versatility in producing different kinds of sound through the use of altered and extended technique.
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Strings offer a fairly homogenous timbre from top to bottom with far less variation of tone colour between octaves and even between instruments, thus lending a sort of unity to the ensemble. The timbre of the stringed instruments is extremely rich in harmonic overtones, meaning the listener tires less quickly of string-based music than that of any other section. Their versatility means that they excel at any type of music- stringed instruments typically have a wider range, dynamic span and expressive capacity than either winds or brass. The reasons for this are many: stringed instruments are relatively indefatigable, and can play extremely long phrases (at both rapid and slow tempi) without the interruption of having to stop for a breath. Innumerable scores from all periods demonstrate that composers have treated woodwind and brass as accessories to the string section, to which they typically entrust their most essential musical material. During the string sections relatively brief history as an orchestral section, it has seen a meteoric rise to prominence and indeed dominance in the ensemble.