Strings: as usual, but subject to minutely complex grouping.
3 flutes (3rd to play piccolo when required).
2 oboes.
1 cor anglais.
3 bassoons.
2 clarinets.
1 bass clarinet.
4 horns. (The mechanical improvements by which horns and trumpets acquired a complete scale have revolutionized the nature of those instruments; and Wagner’s orchestration, more than that of any other composer, has profited by this. Yet, in the preface to the score Wagner speaks very strongly of the loss of the original character of the horn in the hands of ordinary players; and goes so far as to say that, if experience had not shown that they could be trained to play nearly as smoothly as the classical players, he would have renounced all the advantages of the new mechanism.)
3 trumpets.
3 trombones.