Does an orchestra include piano?

Most symphony orchestras today include at least one pianist, though he or she will not typically be involved in every performance. This is because the inclusion of piano in the concert orchestra was almost never observed by composers prior to the early 20th century and is not always used in music since then. read more

Certain works for symphony orchestra, for example Messiaen’s Turangila symphony , include a piano part in the score. And there are other works for orchestra that include a piano part in the score. But , usually, and in 95% of cases, there is no piano part in the score. Unless it is a concerto for piano and orchestra. read more

This is not to say that an orchestra cannot coexist with a piano. It can, but either the piano has to have a limited role or it needs to be a piano concerto. Moreover, this is only a problem with the modern piano or fortepiano. read more

I have an idea why orchestra's don't usually include pianos. Piano is a very solo oriented instrument, it doesn't sound very loud if there's only one pianist either, and the only time I do see more than one pianos is if it's like a 10 piano concert, or some other thing with little to no other instruments of the orchestra. read more