<P> The woodwind section, which consists of woodwind instruments, is one of the main sections of an orchestra or concert band . Woodwind sections contain instruments given Hornbostel - Sachs classifications of 421 (edge - blown aerophones, commonly known as flutes) and 422 (reed aerophones), but exclude 423 (brass instruments). </P> <P> The woodwind section of the late 19th - century symphony orchestra (for instance, in compositions by Wagner, Brahms, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, and Richard Strauss) typically includes: flutes (sometimes with one doubling piccolo), oboes (sometimes with one doubling cor anglais), clarinets (sometimes with one doubling bass clarinet and / or another doubling E-flat clarinet), bassoons (sometimes with one doubling contrabassoon). The section might also on occasion be supplemented with saxophones . In the early part of the 20th century the woodwinds (as well as other sections) were often considerably expanded . For example, Mahler in his Symphony No. 8 (1910) employs 2 piccolos, 4 flutes, 4 oboes, cor anglais, 2 E-flat clarinets, 3 B - flat clarinets, bass clarinet, 4 bassoons, and contrabassoon . After World War I, the number of instruments was often reduced, approaching the size of a chamber orchestra, with individual instrument combinations differing for each composition . The change can be illustrated by comparing two works by Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (1911--1913) with a large woodwinds section similar to the above and his Histoire du soldat (1918), which only utilizes one clarinet and one bassoon . </P> <P> The woodwind section of the orchestra today, at a minimum consists of: </P>

Where does the oboe sit in the orchestra