title: Order of the Bath

text: In January 1815, after the end of the Peninsular War, the Prince Regent (later George IV) expanded the Order of the Bath to the end that those Officers who have had the opportunities of signalising themselves by eminent services during the late war may share in the honours of the said Order, and that their names may be delivered down to remote posterity, accompanied by the marks of distinction which they have so nobly earned.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The Order was now to consist of three classes: Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commander, and Companions. The existing Knights Companion (of which there were 60) became Knight Grand Cross; this class was limited to 72 members, of which twelve could be appointed for civil or diplomatic services. The military members had to be of the rank of at least major-general or rear admiral. The Knights Commander were limited to 180, exclusive of foreign nationals holding British commissions, up to ten of whom could be appointed as honorary Knights Commander. They had to be of the rank of lieutenant-colonel or post-captain. The number of Companions was not specified, but they had to have received a medal or been mentioned in despatches since the start of the war in 1803. A list of about 500 names was subsequently published. Two further officers were appointed, an "Officer of arms attendant on the Knights Commanders and Companions", and a "Secretary appertaining to the Knights Commanders and Companions". The large increase in numbers caused some complaints that such an expansion would reduce the prestige of the Order.


title: Order of the Bath

text: In 1847, Queen Victoria issued new statutes eliminating all references to an exclusively military Order. As well as removing the word 'Military' from the full name of the Order, this opened up the grades of Knight Commander and Companion to civil appointments, and the Military and Civil Divisions of the Order were established. New numerical limits were imposed, and the opportunity also taken to regularise the 1815 expansion of the Order. The 1847 statutes also abolished all the medieval ritual, but they did introduce a formal Investiture ceremony, conducted by the Sovereign wearing the Mantle and insignia of the Order, attended by the Officers and as many GCBs as possible, in their Mantles.


title: Order of the Bath

text: In 1850, a special statute authorised appointments of Knight Commander and Companion, in the Military Division, to Commissariat and Medical officers serving with the Army and Navy, including those serving with the East India Company.


title: Order of the Bath

text: In 1859 a further edition of the Statutes was issued; the changes related mainly to the costs associated with the Order. Prior to this date it had been the policy that the insignia (which were provided by the Crown) were to be returned on the death of the holder; the exception had been foreigners who had been awarded honorary membership. In addition foreigners had usually been provided with stars made of silver and diamonds, whereas ordinary members had only embroidered stars. The decision was made to award silver stars to all members, and only require the return of the Collar. The Crown had also been paying the fees due to the officers of the Order for members who had been appointed for the services in the recent war. The fees were abolished and replaced with a salary of approximately the same average value. The offices of Genealogist and Messenger were abolished, and those of Registrar and Secretary combined.


title: Order of the Bath

text: In 1910, after his accession to the throne, George V ordered the revival of the Installation ceremony, perhaps prompted by the first Installation ceremony of the more junior Order of St Michael and St George, held a few years earlier, and the building of a new chapel for the Order of the Thistle in 1911. The Installation ceremony took place on 22 July 1913 in the Henry VII Chapel, and Installations have been held at regular intervals since.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Prior to the 1913 Installation it was necessary to adapt the chapel to accommodate the larger number of members. An appeal was made to the members of the Order, and following the Installation a surplus remained. A Committee was formed from the Officers to administer the 'Bath Chapel Fund', and over time this committee has come to consider other matters than purely financial ones.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Another revision of the statutes of the Order was undertaken in 1925, to consolidate the 41 additional statutes which had been issued since the 1859 revision.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Women were admitted to the Order in 1971. In the 1971 New Year Honours, Jean Nunn became the first woman admitted to the order. In 1975, Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, an aunt of Elizabeth II, became the first woman to reach the highest rank, Dame Grand Cross. Princess Alice (née Douglas-Montagu-Scott) was a direct descendant of the Order's first Great Master, and her husband, who had died the previous year, had also held that office. The second Dame Grand Cross, Sally Davies, was appointed in the 2020 New Year Honours.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The British Sovereign is the Sovereign of the Order of the Bath. As with all honours except those in the Sovereign's personal gift, the Sovereign makes all appointments to the Order on the advice of the Government.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Originally a Prince of the Blood Royal, as the Principal Knight Companion, ranked next after the sovereign. This position was joined to that of the Great Master in the statutes of 1847. The Great Master and Principal Knight is now either a descendant of George I or "some other exalted personage"; the holder of the office has custody of the seal of the order and is responsible for enforcing the statutes.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Regular membership is limited to citizens of the United Kingdom and of other Commonwealth countries of which the British monarch is Sovereign. Appointees are usually officers of the armed forces or senior civil servants, such as permanent secretaries.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Members appointed to the Civil Division must "by their personal services to [the] crown or by the performance of public duties have merited ... royal favour." Appointments to the Military Division are restricted by the minimum rank of the individual. GCBs hold the rank of admiral in the Royal Navy, general in the British Army or Royal Marines, or air chief marshal in the Royal Air Force. KCBs must at least hold the rank of vice admiral, lieutenant general in the Army or Marines, or air marshal. CBs tend be of the rank of rear admiral, major general in the Army, Royal Navy or Royal Marines, or air vice marshal in the Royal Air Force, and in addition must have been Mentioned in Despatches for distinction in a command position in a combat situation, although the latter is no longer a requirement. Non-line officers (e.g. engineers, medics) may be appointed only for meritorious service in wartime.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Commonwealth citizens not subjects of the British monarch and foreigners may be made Honorary Members. Queen Elizabeth II established the custom of awarding an honorary GCB to visiting (republican) heads of state, for example Gustav Heinemann and Josip Broz Tito (in 1972), Ronald Reagan (in 1989), Lech Wałęsa (in 1991), Censu Tabone (in 1992), Fernando Henrique Cardoso, George H. W. Bush (in 1993), Nicolas Sarkozy (in 2008), and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (in 2012), as well as Turkish President Abdullah Gül, Slovenian President Danilo Türk, Mexican President Felipe Calderón, and South African President Jacob Zuma (Royal Heads of State are instead usually made Stranger Companions of the Order of the Garter). Foreign generals are also often given honorary appointments to the Order, for example: Marshal Ferdinand Foch and Marshal Joseph Joffre during the First World War; Marshal Georgy Zhukov, King Abdul-Aziz of Saudi Arabia, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George C. Marshall, General Douglas MacArthur, and General George S. Patton Jr. during the Second World War; and General Norman Schwarzkopf and General Colin Powell after the Gulf War. A more controversial member of the Order was Robert Mugabe, whose honour was stripped by the Queen, on the advice of the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, on 25 June 2008 "as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided."


title: Order of the Bath

text: Honorary members do not count towards the numerical limits in each class. In addition the statutes allow the Sovereign to exceed the limits in time of war or other exceptional circumstances.


title: Order of the Bath

text: There were originally seven officers, each of whom was to receive fees from the Knights Companion both on appointment and annually thereafter. The office of Messenger was abolished in 1859. The office of Genealogist was abolished at the same time, but revived in 1913. The offices of Registrar and Secretary were formally merged in 1859, although the two positions had been held concurrently for the previous century. An Officer of Arms and a Secretary for the Knights Commander and Companions were established in 1815, but abolished in 1847. The office of Deputy Secretary was created in 1925.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Under the Hanoverian kings certain of the officers also held heraldic office. The office of Blanc Coursier Herald of Arms was attached to that of the Genealogist, Brunswick Herald of Arms to the Gentleman Usher, and Bath King of Arms was also made Gloucester King of Arms with heraldic jurisdiction over Wales. This was the result of a move by Anstis to give the holders of these sinecures greater security; the offices of the Order of the Bath were held at the pleasure of the Great Master, while appointments to the heraldic offices were made by the King under the Great Seal and were for life.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Members of the Order wear elaborate costumes on important occasions (such as its quadrennial installation ceremonies and coronations), which vary by rank:


title: Order of the Bath

text: The "mantle", worn only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross, is made of crimson satin lined with white taffeta. On the left side is a representation of the star (see below). The mantle is bound with two large tassels.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The "hat", worn only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames Commander, is made of black velvet; it includes an upright plume of feathers.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The "collar", worn only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross, is made of gold and weighs 30 troy ounces (933 g). It consists of depictions of nine imperial crowns and eight sets of flowers (roses for England, thistles for Scotland and shamrocks for Ireland), connected by seventeen silver knots.


title: Order of the Bath

text: On lesser occasions, simpler insignia are used: The "star" is used only by Knights and Dames Grand Cross and Knights and Dames Commander. Its style varies by rank and division; it is worn pinned to the left breast:


title: Order of the Bath

text: The star for "military Knights and Dames Grand Cross" consists of a Maltese Cross on top of an eight-pointed silver star; the star for "military Knights and Dames Commander" is an eight-pointed silver cross pattée. Each bears in the centre three crowns surrounded by a red ring bearing the motto of the Order in gold letters. The circle is flanked by two laurel branches and is above a scroll bearing the words "Ich dien" (older German for "I serve") in gold letters. Stylised versions of this are known as "Bath stars" and are used as epaulette pips to indicate British Army officer ranks and for police ranks.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The star for "civil Knights and Dames Grand Cross" consists of an eight-pointed silver star, "without" the Maltese cross; the star for "civil Knights and Dames Commander" is an eight-pointed silver cross pattée. The design of each is the same as the design of the military stars, except that the laurel branches and the words "Ich dien" are excluded.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The "badge" varies in design, size and manner of wearing by rank and division. The Knight and Dame Grand Cross' badge is larger than the Knight and Dame Commander's badge, which is in turn larger than the Companion's badge; however, these are all suspended on a crimson ribbon. Knights and Dames Grand Cross wear the badge on a riband or sash, passing from the right shoulder to the left hip. Knights Commander and male Companions wear the badge from a ribbon worn around the neck. Dames Commander and female Companions wear the badge from a bow on the left side:


title: Order of the Bath

text: The "military badge" is a gold Maltese Cross of eight points, enamelled in white. Each point of the cross is decorated by a small gold ball; each angle has a small figure of a lion. The centre of the cross bears three crowns on the obverse side, and a rose, a thistle and a shamrock, emanating from a sceptre on the reverse side. Both emblems are surrounded by a red circular ring bearing the motto of the Order, which are in turn flanked by two laurel branches, above a scroll bearing the words "Ich dien" in gold letters.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The "civil badge" is a plain gold oval, bearing three crowns on the obverse side, and a rose, a thistle and a shamrock, emanating from a sceptre on the reverse side; both emblems are surrounded by a ring bearing the motto of the Order.


title: Order of the Bath

text: On certain "collar days" designated by the Sovereign, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform or eveningwear. When collars are worn (either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations), the badge is suspended from the collar.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The collars and badges of Knights and Dames Grand Cross are returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood upon the decease of their owners. All other insignia may be retained by their owners.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The Chapel of the Order is the Henry VII Lady Chapel in Westminster Abbey. The Sovereign, Great Master and the Knights and Dames Grand Cross are allotted stalls in the choir of the chapel, above which their heraldic devices are displayed.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Every four years, an installation ceremony, presided over by the Great Master, and a religious service are held in the chapel. The last such service was on Tuesday 24 May 2022, and was presided over by the Prince of Wales. The Sovereign and each knight who has been installed is allotted a stall in the choir of the chapel.


title: Order of the Bath

text: As there are a limited number of stalls in the chapel, only the most senior Knights and Dames Grand Cross are installed. A stall made vacant by the death of a military Knight Grand Cross is offered to the next most senior uninstalled military GCB, and similarly for vacancies among civil GCBs. Waits between admission to the Order and installation may be very long; for instance, Marshal of the Air Force Lord Craig of Radley was created a Knight Grand Cross in 1984, but was not installed until 2006.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Above each stall, the occupant's heraldic devices are displayed. Perched on the pinnacle of a knight's stall is his helm, decorated with a mantling and topped by his crest. Under English heraldic law, women other than monarchs do not bear helms or crests; instead, the coronet appropriate to the dame's rank (if she is a peer or member of the Royal family) is used.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Above the crest or coronet, the knight's or dame's heraldic banner is hung, emblazoned with his or her coat of arms. At a considerably smaller scale, to the back of the stall is affixed a piece of brass (a "stall plate") displaying its occupant's name, arms and date of admission into the Order.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Upon the death of a Knight, the banner, helm, mantling and crest (or coronet or crown) are taken down. The stall plates, however, are not removed; rather, they remain permanently affixed somewhere about the stall, so that the stalls of the chapel are festooned with a colourful record of the Order's Knights (and now Dames) throughout history.


title: Order of the Bath

text: When the grade of Knight Commander was established in 1815 the regulations specified that they too should have a banner and stall plate affixed in the chapel. This was never implemented (despite some of the KCBs paying the appropriate fees) primarily due to lack of space, although the 1847 statutes allow all three classes to request the erection of a plate in the chapel bearing the member's name, date of nomination, and (for the two higher classes) optionally the coat of arms.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Members of the Order of the Bath are assigned positions in the order of precedence. Wives of male members also feature on the order of precedence, as do sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander; relatives of female members, however, are not assigned any special precedence. Generally, individuals can derive precedence from their fathers or husbands, but not from their mothers or wives. (See order of precedence in England and Wales for the exact positions.)


title: Order of the Bath

text: Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commander prefix "Sir", and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commander prefix "Dame", to their forenames. Wives of Knights may prefix "Lady" to their surnames, but no equivalent privilege exists for husbands of Dames. Such forms are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of the former are written out in their fullest forms. Furthermore, honorary foreign members and clergymen do not receive the accolade of knighthood, and so are not entitled to the prefix "Sir", unless the former subsequently become Commonwealth citizens.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal "GCB"; Knights Commander use "KCB"; Dames Commander use "DCB"; Companions use "CB".


title: Order of the Bath

text: Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also entitled to receive heraldic supporters. Furthermore, they may encircle their arms with a depiction of the circlet (a red circle bearing the motto) with the badge pendant thereto and the collar; the former is shown either outside or on top of the latter.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Knights and Dames Commander and Companions may display the circlet, but not the collar, around their arms. The badge is depicted suspended from the collar or circlet. Members of the Military division may encompass the circlet with "two laurel branches issuant from an escrol azure inscribed "Ich dien"", as appears on the badge.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Members of the Order of the Bath and their children are able to be married in Westminster Abbey in London.


title: Order of the Bath

text: It is possible for membership in the Order to be revoked. Under the 1725 statutes the grounds for this were heresy, high treason, or fleeing from battle out of cowardice. Knights Companion could in such cases be degraded at the next Chapter meeting. It was then the duty of the Gentleman Usher to "pluck down the escocheon [i.e. stallplate] of such knight and spurn it out of the chapel" with "all the usual marks of infamy".


title: Order of the Bath

text: Only two people were ever degraded – Lord Cochrane in 1813 and General Sir Eyre Coote in 1816, both for political reasons, rather than any of the grounds given in the statute. Lord Cochrane was subsequently reinstated, but Coote died a few years after his degradation.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Under Queen Victoria's 1847 statutes a member "convicted of treason, cowardice, felony, or any infamous crime derogatory to his honour as a knight or gentleman, or accused and does not submit to trial in a reasonable time, shall be degraded from the Order by a special ordinance signed by the sovereign". The Sovereign was to be the sole judge, and also had the power to restore such members.


title: Order of the Bath

text: The situation today is that membership may be cancelled or annulled, and the entry in the register erased, by an ordinance signed by the Sovereign and sealed with the seal of the Order, on the recommendation of the appropriate Minister. Such cancellations may be subsequently reversed.


title: Order of the Bath

text: In 1923 the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was made an honorary Knight Grand Cross, by King George V. Mussolini was stripped of his GCB in 1940, after he had declared war on the UK.


title: Order of the Bath

text: George Pottinger, a senior civil servant, lost both his status of CB and Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (CVO) in 1975 when he was jailed for corruptly receiving gifts from the architect John Poulson.


title: Order of the Bath

text: Romanian president Nicolae Ceauşescu was stripped of his honorary GCB status by Queen Elizabeth II on 24 December 1989, the day before his execution. Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, was stripped of his honorary GCB status by the Queen, on the advice of the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, on 25 June 2008 "as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process in Zimbabwe over which President Mugabe has presided."


title: Order of the Bath

text: Vicky Pryce, former wife of Chris Huhne, was stripped of her CB by Queen Elizabeth II on 30 July 2013, following her conviction for perverting the course of justice.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: The World's Best 50 Restaurants is a list produced by UK media company William Reed, which originally appeared in the British magazine "Restaurant" in 2002. The list and awards however are no longer directly related to Restaurant magazine, though they are owned by the same media company. In addition to the main 1-50 ranking, the organisation awards a series of special prizes for individuals and restaurants, including the One To Watch Award, the Icon Award, the Best Female Chef Award and the Chefs' Choice Award, the latter based on votes from the fifty head chefs from the restaurants on the previous year's list. In specific regions the organisation also pre-announces a 51-100 list, showcasing more venues in the area. Often working as a barometer of global gastronomic trends, the list showcases a variety of cuisines from all over the world.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: The World's 50 Best Restaurants has earned its legitimacy as providing guidance to aspiring gourmets, inspiring diners to travel and explore restaurants and bars, unveiling up-and-coming chefs and culinary trends, and showcasing various cuisines from around the world – with many more still to discover and celebrate. 50 Best aims to bring together communities across the hospitality sector to foster collaboration, inclusivity, diversity and discovery and help drive positive change.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list first appeared in Restaurant magazine in 2002, as a feature. Shortly afterwards, an awards night was established to celebrate the release of the list that soon became a major event in the culinary world. The results are now published via The World’s 50 Best Restaurants social media channels and on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants website on the awards night.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: The World's 50 Best Restaurants list is the result of a poll of over 1,000 independent experts, who each cast votes for establishments where they have enjoyed their best restaurant experiences. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants Academy is gender-balanced and contains 27 regions around the world. Each region has a chairperson (Academy Chair), and that chairperson assembles 40 people (including themselves) to vote. This panel is an equal mix of leading chefs and restaurateurs in that region, food journalists and critics, and well-travelled gourmets. Under usual circumstances, at least 25% of the panellists from each region change each year.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: The World’s 50 Best Restaurants’ voting process and results are subject to independent adjudication by world-renowned professional services consultancy Deloitte.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: There are no criteria for voting, what is ‘best’ is left up to each voter to decide – as everyone’s tastes are different, so everyone’s idea of what constitutes a great restaurant experience is different. The organisation allows the 1,080 expert voters to make up their own minds, and simply collates their votes to create the list.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: Since 2013, William Reed has also published regional restaurant lists Asia's 50 Best Restaurants and Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants, and launched Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants in February 2022.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: In 2019 the Best of the Best category was created, a hall of fame for restaurants that have reached the pinnacle of the No.1 position in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. With the creation of this list, No.1 winners are no longer eligible to be voted on new editions of the list.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: The new iteration of Noma was eligible for The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2021 list due to three key changes from the original restaurant: its location, concept and ownership. As such, it was considered a new restaurant and eligible for the No.1 position in 2021. The previous version of Noma topped the 50 Best list on four occasions, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.


title: The World's 50 Best Restaurants

text: The following restaurants have been named No.1 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants since the list’s inception and were therefore no longer eligible for voting:


title: Orchestra

text: An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families.


title: Orchestra

text: Other instruments such as the piano, harpsichord, and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone as soloist instruments, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments and guitars.


title: Orchestra

text: A full-size Western orchestra may sometimes be called a or philharmonic orchestra (from Greek "phil-", "loving", and "harmony"). The actual number of musicians employed in a given performance may vary from seventy to over one hundred musicians, depending on the work being played and the size of the venue. A "" (sometimes "concert orchestra") is a smaller ensemble of not more than about fifty musicians. Orchestras that specialize in the Baroque music of, for example, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel, or Classical repertoire, such as that of Haydn and Mozart, tend to be smaller than orchestras performing a Romantic music repertoire such as the symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms. The typical orchestra grew in size throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, reaching a peak with the large orchestras (of as many as 120 players) called for in the works of Richard Wagner, and later, Gustav Mahler.


title: Orchestra

text: Orchestras are usually led by a conductor who directs the performance with movements of the hands and arms, often made easier for the musicians to see by use of a conductor's baton. The conductor unifies the orchestra, sets the tempo and shapes the sound of the ensemble. The conductor also prepares the orchestra by leading rehearsals before the public concert, in which the conductor provides instructions to the musicians on their interpretation of the music being performed.


title: Orchestra

text: The leader of the first violin section – commonly called the concertmaster – also plays an important role in leading the musicians. In the Baroque music era (1600–1750), orchestras were often led by the concertmaster, or by a chord-playing musician performing the basso continuo parts on a harpsichord or pipe organ, a tradition that some 20th century and 21st century early music ensembles continue. Orchestras play a wide range of repertoire, including symphonies, opera and ballet overtures, concertos for solo instruments, and as pit ensembles for operas, ballets, and some types of musical theatre (e.g., Gilbert and Sullivan operettas).


title: Orchestra

text: Amateur orchestras include those made up of students from an elementary school or a high school, youth orchestras, and community orchestras; the latter two typically being made up of amateur musicians from a particular city or region.


title: Orchestra

text: The term "orchestra" derives from the Greek ὀρχήστρα ("orchestra"), the name for the area in front of a stage in ancient Greek theatre reserved for the Greek chorus.


title: Orchestra

text: In the Baroque era, the size and composition of an orchestra was not standardised. There were large differences in size, instrumentation and playing styles—and therefore in orchestral soundscapes and palettes — between the various European regions. The "Baroque orchestra" ranged from smaller orchestras (or ensembles) with one player per part, to larger scale orchestras with many players per part. Examples of the smaller variety were Bach's orchestras, for example in Koethen, where he had access to an ensemble of up to 18 players. Examples of large scale Baroque orchestras would include Corelli's orchestra in Rome which ranged between 35 and 80 players for day-to-day performances, being enlarged to 150 players for special occasions.


title: Orchestra

text: In the classical era, the orchestra became more standardized with a small to medium-sized string section and a core wind section consisting of pairs of oboes, flutes, bassoons and horns, sometimes supplemented by percussion and pairs of clarinets and trumpets.


title: Orchestra

text: The so-called "standard complement" of doubled winds and brass in the orchestra pioneered in the late 18th century and consolidated during the first half of the 19th century is generally attributed to the forces called for by Beethoven after Haydn and Mozart. Beethoven's instrumentation almost always included paired flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets. The exceptions to this are his Symphony No. 4, Violin Concerto, and Piano Concerto No. 4, which each specify a single flute. Beethoven carefully calculated the expansion of this particular timbral "palette" in Symphonies 3, 5, 6, and 9 for an innovative effect. The third horn in the "Eroica" Symphony arrives to provide not only some harmonic flexibility, but also the effect of "choral" brass in the Trio movement. Piccolo, contrabassoon, and trombones add to the triumphal finale of his Symphony No. 5. A piccolo and a pair of trombones help deliver the effect of storm and sunshine in the Sixth, also known as the "Pastoral Symphony". The Ninth asks for a second pair of horns, for reasons similar to the "Eroica" (four horns has since become standard); Beethoven's use of piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones, and untuned percussion — plus chorus and vocal soloists — in his finale, are his earliest suggestion that the timbral boundaries of symphony might be expanded. For several decades after his death, symphonic instrumentation was faithful to Beethoven's well-established model, with few exceptions.


title: Orchestra

text: The invention of the piston and rotary valve by Heinrich Stölzel and Friedrich Blühmel, both Silesians, in 1815, was the first in a series of innovations which impacted the orchestra, including the development of modern keywork for the flute by Theobald Boehm and the innovations of Adolphe Sax in the woodwinds, notably the invention of the saxophone. These advances would lead Hector Berlioz to write a landmark book on instrumentation, which was the first systematic treatise on the use of instrumental sound as an expressive element of music.


title: Orchestra

text: The next major expansion of symphonic practice came from Richard Wagner's Bayreuth orchestra, founded to accompany his musical dramas. Wagner's works for the stage were scored with unprecedented scope and complexity: indeed, his score to "Das Rheingold" calls for six harps. Thus, Wagner envisioned an ever-more-demanding role for the conductor of the theatre orchestra, as he elaborated in his influential work "On Conducting". This brought about a revolution in orchestral composition, and set the style for orchestral performance for the next eighty years. Wagner's theories re-examined the importance of tempo, dynamics, bowing of string instruments and the role of principals in the orchestra.


title: Orchestra

text: At the beginning of the 20th century, symphony orchestras were larger, better funded, and better trained than previously; consequently, composers could compose larger and more ambitious works. The works of Gustav Mahler were particularly innovative; in his later symphonies, such as the mammoth Symphony No. 8, Mahler pushes the furthest boundaries of orchestral size, employing huge forces. By the late Romantic era, orchestras could support the most enormous forms of symphonic expression, with huge string sections, massive brass sections and an expanded range of percussion instruments. With the recording era beginning, the standards of performance were pushed to a new level, because a recorded symphony could be listened to closely and even minor errors in intonation or ensemble, which might not be noticeable in a live performance, could be heard by critics. As recording technologies improved over the 20th and 21st centuries, eventually small errors in a recording could be "fixed" by audio editing or overdubbing. Some older conductors and composers could remember a time when simply "getting through" the music as best as possible was the standard. Combined with the wider audience made possible by recording, this led to a renewed focus on particular star conductors and on a high standard of orchestral execution.


title: Orchestra

text: The typical symphony orchestra consists of four groups of related musical instruments called the woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings. Other instruments such as the piano and celesta may sometimes be grouped into a fifth section such as a keyboard section or may stand alone, as may the concert harp and electric and electronic instruments. The orchestra, depending on the size, contains almost all of the standard instruments in each group.


title: Orchestra

text: In the history of the orchestra, its instrumentation has been expanded over time, often agreed to have been standardized by the classical period and Ludwig van Beethoven's influence on the classical model. In the 20th and 21st century, new repertory demands expanded the instrumentation of the orchestra, resulting in a flexible use of the classical-model instruments and newly developed electric and electronic instruments in various combinations.


title: Orchestra

text: The terms "symphony orchestra" and "philharmonic orchestra" may be used to distinguish different ensembles from the same locality, such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. A symphony or philharmonic orchestra will usually have over eighty musicians on its roster, in some cases over a hundred, but the actual number of musicians employed in a particular performance may vary according to the work being played and the size of the venue.


title: Orchestra

text: A "chamber orchestra" is usually a smaller ensemble; a major chamber orchestra might employ as many as fifty musicians, but some are much smaller. "Concert orchestra" is an alternative term, as in the BBC Concert Orchestra and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.


title: Orchestra

text: Apart from the core orchestral complement, various other instruments are called for occasionally. These include the flugelhorn and cornet. Saxophones and classical guitars, for example, appear in some 19th- through 21st-century scores. While appearing only as featured solo instruments in some works, for example Maurice Ravel's orchestration of Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" and Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Symphonic Dances", the saxophone is included in other works, such as Ravel's "Boléro", Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet Suites 1 and 2, Vaughan Williams' Symphonies No. 6 and No. 9, and William Walton's "Belshazzar's Feast", and many other works as a member of the orchestral ensemble. The euphonium is featured in a few late Romantic and 20th century works, usually playing parts marked "tenor tuba", including Gustav Holst's "The Planets", and Richard Strauss's "Ein Heldenleben". The Wagner tuba, a modified member of the horn family, appears in Richard Wagner's cycle "Der Ring des Nibelungen" and several other works by Strauss, Igor Stravinsky (as featured in The Rite of Spring), Béla Bartók, and others; it also has a notably prominent role in Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 7 in E Major. Cornets appear in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet "Swan Lake", Claude Debussy's "La Mer", and several orchestral works by Hector Berlioz. Unless these instruments are played by members "doubling" on another instrument (for example, a trombone player changing to euphonium or a bassoon player switching to contrabassoon for a certain passage), orchestras typically hire freelance musicians to augment their regular ensemble.


title: Orchestra

text: The 20th century orchestra was far more flexible than its predecessors. In Beethoven's and Felix Mendelssohn's time, the orchestra was composed of a fairly standard core of instruments, which was very rarely modified by composers. As time progressed, and as the Romantic period saw changes in accepted modification with composers such as Berlioz and Mahler; some composers used multiple harps and sound effect such as the wind machine. During the 20th century, the modern orchestra was generally standardized with the modern instrumentation listed below. Nevertheless, by the mid- to late 20th century, with the development of contemporary classical music, instrumentation could practically be hand-picked by the composer (e.g., to add electric instruments such as electric guitar, electronic instruments such as synthesizers, non-Western instruments, or other instruments not traditionally used in orchestra).


title: Orchestra

text: With this history in mind, the orchestra can be analysed in five eras: the Baroque era, the Classical era, early/mid-Romantic music era, late-Romantic era and combined Modern/Postmodern eras. The first is a Baroque orchestra (i.e., J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi), which generally had a smaller number of performers, and in which one or more chord-playing instruments, the basso continuo group (e.g., harpsichord or pipe organ and assorted bass instruments to perform the bassline), played an important role; the second is a typical classical period orchestra (e.g., early Beethoven along with Mozart and Haydn), which used a smaller group of performers than a Romantic music orchestra and a fairly standardized instrumentation; the third is typical of an early/mid-Romantic era (e.g., Schubert, Berlioz, Schumann, Brahms); the fourth is a late-Romantic/early 20th-century orchestra (e.g., Wagner, Mahler, Stravinsky), to the common complement of a 2010-era modern orchestra (e.g., Adams, Barber, Aaron Copland, Glass, Penderecki).


title: Orchestra

text: Among the instrument groups and within each group of instruments, there is a generally accepted hierarchy. Every instrumental group (or section) has a principal who is generally responsible for leading the group and playing orchestral solos. The violins are divided into two groups, first violin and second violin, with the second violins playing in lower registers than the first violins, playing an accompaniment part, or harmonizing the melody played by the first violins. The principal first violin is called the concertmaster (or orchestra "leader" in the U.K.) and is not only considered the leader of the string section, but the second-in-command of the entire orchestra, behind only the conductor. The concertmaster leads the pre-concert tuning and handles musical aspects of orchestra management, such as determining the bowings for the violins or for all of the string section. The concertmaster usually sits to the conductor's left, closest to the audience. There is also a principal second violin, a principal viola, a principal cello, and a principal bass.


title: Orchestra

text: The principal trombone is considered the leader of the low brass section, while the principal trumpet is generally considered the leader of the entire brass section. While the oboe often provides the tuning note for the orchestra (due to a 300 year-old convention), there is generally no designated principal of the woodwind section (though in woodwind ensembles, the flute is often the presumptive leader.) Instead, each principal confers with the others as equals in the case of musical differences of opinion. Most sections also have an assistant principal (or co-principal or associate principal), or in the case of the first violins, an assistant concertmaster, who often plays a tutti part in addition to replacing the principal in his or her absence.


title: Orchestra

text: A section string player plays in unison with the rest of the section, except in the case of divided ("divisi") parts, where upper and lower parts in the music are often assigned to "outside" (nearer the audience) and "inside" seated players. Where a solo part is called for in a string section, the section leader invariably plays that part. The section leader (or principal) of a string section is also responsible for determining the bowings, often based on the bowings set out by the concertmaster. In some cases, the principal of a string section may use a slightly different bowing than the concertmaster, to accommodate the requirements of playing their instrument (e.g., the double-bass section). Principals of a string section will also lead entrances for their section, typically by lifting the bow before the entrance, to ensure the section plays together. Tutti wind and brass players generally play a unique but non-solo part. Section percussionists play parts assigned to them by the principal percussionist.


title: Orchestra

text: In modern times, the musicians are usually directed by a conductor, although early orchestras did not have one, giving this role instead to the concertmaster or the harpsichordist playing the continuo. Some modern orchestras also do without conductors, particularly smaller orchestras and those specializing in historically accurate (so-called "period") performances of baroque and earlier music.


title: Orchestra

text: The most frequently performed repertoire for a symphony orchestra is Western classical music or opera. However, orchestras are used sometimes in popular music (e.g., to accompany a rock or pop band in a concert), extensively in film music, and increasingly often in video game music. Orchestras are also used in the symphonic metal genre. The term "orchestra" can also be applied to a jazz ensemble, for example in the performance of big-band music.


title: Orchestra

text: In the 2000s, all tenured members of a professional orchestra normally audition for positions in the ensemble. Performers typically play one or more solo pieces of the auditionee's choice, such as a movement of a concerto, a solo Bach movement, and a variety of excerpts from the orchestral literature that are advertised in the audition poster (so the auditionees can prepare). The excerpts are typically the most technically challenging parts and solos from the orchestral literature. Orchestral auditions are typically held in front of a panel that includes the conductor, the concertmaster, the principal player of the section for which the auditionee is applying, and possibly other principal players.


title: Orchestra

text: The most promising candidates from the first round of auditions are invited to return for a second or third round of auditions, which allows the conductor and the panel to compare the best candidates. Performers may be asked to sight read orchestral music. The final stage of the audition process in some orchestras is a "test week", in which the performer plays with the orchestra for a week or two, which allows the conductor and principal players to see if the individual can function well in an actual rehearsal and performance setting.


title: Orchestra

text: There are a range of different employment arrangements. The most sought-after positions are permanent, tenured positions in the orchestra. Orchestras also hire musicians on contracts, ranging in length from a single concert to a full season or more. Contract performers may be hired for individual concerts when the orchestra is doing an exceptionally large late-Romantic era orchestral work, or to substitute for a permanent member who is sick. A professional musician who is hired to perform for a single concert is sometimes called a "sub". Some contract musicians may be hired to replace permanent members for the period that the permanent member is on parental leave or disability leave.


title: Orchestra

text: Historically, major professional orchestras have been mostly or entirely composed of men. The first women members hired in professional orchestras have been harpists. The Vienna Philharmonic, for example, did not accept women to permanent membership until 1997, far later than comparable orchestras (the other orchestras ranked among the world's top five by "Gramophone" in 2008). The last major orchestra to appoint a woman to a permanent position was the Berlin Philharmonic. In February 1996, the Vienna Philharmonic's principal flute, Dieter Flury, told "Westdeutscher Rundfunk" that accepting women would be "gambling with the emotional unity () that this organism currently has". In April 1996, the orchestra's press secretary wrote that "compensating for the expected leaves of absence" of maternity leave would be a problem.


title: Orchestra

text: In 1997, the Vienna Philharmonic was "facing protests during a [US] tour" by the National Organization for Women and the International Alliance for Women in Music. Finally, "after being held up to increasing ridicule even in socially conservative Austria, members of the orchestra gathered [on 28 February 1997] in an extraordinary meeting on the eve of their departure and agreed to admit a woman, Anna Lelkes, as harpist." As of 2013, the orchestra has six female members; one of them, violinist Albena Danailova, became one of the orchestra's concertmasters in 2008, the first woman to hold that position in that orchestra. In 2012, women made up 6% of the orchestra's membership. VPO president Clemens Hellsberg said the VPO now uses completely screened blind auditions.


title: Orchestra

text: In 2013, an article in "Mother Jones" stated that while "[m]any prestigious orchestras have significant female membership — women outnumber men in the New York Philharmonic's violin section — and several renowned ensembles, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony, and the Minnesota Symphony, are led by women violinists", the double bass, brass, and percussion sections of major orchestras "... are still predominantly male." A 2014 BBC article stated that the "... introduction of 'blind' auditions, where a prospective instrumentalist performs behind a screen so that the judging panel can exercise no gender or racial prejudice, has seen the gender balance of traditionally male-dominated symphony orchestras gradually shift."


title: Orchestra

text: Orchestras play a wide range of repertoire ranging from 17th-century dance suites, 18th century divertimentos to 20th-century film scores and 21st-century symphonies. Orchestras have become synonymous with the symphony, an extended musical composition in Western classical music that typically contains multiple movements which provide contrasting keys and tempos. Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. The conductor uses the score to study the symphony before rehearsals and decide on their interpretation (e.g., tempos, articulation, phrasing, etc.), and to follow the music during rehearsals and concerts, while leading the ensemble. Orchestral musicians play from parts containing just the notated music for their instrument. A small number of symphonies also contain vocal parts (e.g., Beethoven's Ninth Symphony).


title: Orchestra

text: Orchestras also perform overtures, a term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn began to use the term to refer to independent, self-existing instrumental, programmatic works that presaged genres such as the symphonic poem, a form devised by Franz Liszt in several works that began as dramatic overtures. These were "at first undoubtedly intended to be played at the head of a programme". In the 1850s the concert overture began to be supplanted by the symphonic poem.


title: Orchestra

text: Orchestras also play with instrumental soloists in concertos. During concertos, the orchestra plays an accompaniment role to the soloist (e.g., a solo violinist or pianist) and, at times, introduces musical themes or interludes while the soloist is not playing. Orchestras also play during operas, ballets, some musical theatre works and some choral works (both sacred works such as Masses and secular works). In operas and ballets, the orchestra accompanies the singers and dancers, respectively, and plays overtures and interludes where the melodies played by the orchestra take centre stage.


title: Orchestra

text: In the Baroque era, orchestras performed in a range of venues, including at the fine houses of aristocrats, in opera halls and in churches. Some wealthy aristocrats had an orchestra in residence at their estate, to entertain them and their guests with performances. During the Classical era, as composers increasingly sought out financial support from the general public, orchestra concerts were increasingly held in public concert halls, where music lovers could buy tickets to hear the orchestra. Aristocratic patronage of orchestras continued during the Classical era, but this went on alongside public concerts. In the 20th and 21st century, orchestras found a new patron: governments. Many orchestras in North America and Europe receive part of their funding from national, regional level governments (e.g., state governments in the U.S.) or city governments. These government subsidies make up part of orchestra revenue, along with ticket sales, charitable donations (if the orchestra is registered as a charity) and other fundraising activities. With the invention of successive technologies, including sound recording, radio broadcasting, television broadcasting and Internet-based streaming and downloading of concert videos, orchestras have been able to find new revenue sources.


title: Orchestra

text: One of the "great unmentionable [topics] of orchestral playing" is "faking", the process by which an orchestral musician gives the false "... impression of playing every note as written", typically for a very challenging passage that is very high or very fast, while not actually playing the notes that are in the printed music part. An article in "The Strad" states that all orchestral musicians, even those in the top orchestras, occasionally fake certain passages. One reason that musicians fake is because there are not enough rehearsals. Another factor is the extreme challenges in 20th century and 21st century contemporary pieces; some professionals said "faking" was "necessary in anything from ten to almost ninety per cent of some modern works". Professional players who were interviewed were of a consensus that faking may be acceptable when a part is not written well for the instrument, but faking "just because you haven't practised" the music is not acceptable.


title: Orchestra

text: With the advent of the early music movement, smaller orchestras where players worked on execution of works in styles derived from the study of older treatises on playing became common. These include the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the London Classical Players under the direction of Sir Roger Norrington and the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood, among others.


title: Orchestra

text: In the United States, the late 20th century saw a crisis of funding and support for orchestras. The size and cost of a symphony orchestra, compared to the size of the base of supporters, became an issue that struck at the core of the institution. Few orchestras could fill auditoriums, and the time-honored season-subscription system became increasingly anachronistic, as more and more listeners would buy tickets on an "ad-hoc" basis for individual events. Orchestral endowments and — more centrally to the daily operation of American orchestras — orchestral donors have seen investment portfolios shrink, or produce lower yields, reducing the ability of donors to contribute; further, there has been a trend toward donors finding other social causes more compelling. While government funding is less central to American than European orchestras, cuts in such funding are still significant for American ensembles. Finally, the drastic drop in revenues from recording, related to changes in the recording industry itself, began a period of change that has yet to reach its conclusion.


title: Orchestra

text: U.S. orchestras that have gone into Chapter 11 bankruptcy include the Philadelphia Orchestra (April 2011), and the Louisville Orchestra (December 2010); orchestras that have gone into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and have ceased operations include the Northwest Chamber Orchestra in 2006, the Honolulu Orchestra in March 2011, the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra in April 2011, and the Syracuse Symphony in June 2011. The Festival of Orchestras in Orlando, Florida, ceased operations at the end of March 2011.


title: Orchestra

text: One source of financial difficulties that received notice and criticism was high salaries for music directors of US orchestras, which led several high-profile conductors to take pay cuts in recent years. Music administrators such as Michael Tilson Thomas and Esa-Pekka Salonen argued that new music, new means of presenting it, and a renewed relationship with the community could revitalize the symphony orchestra. The American critic Greg Sandow has argued in detail that orchestras must revise their approach to music, performance, the concert experience, marketing, public relations, community involvement, and presentation to bring them in line with the expectations of 21st century audiences immersed in popular culture.


title: Orchestra

text: It is not uncommon for contemporary composers to use unconventional instruments, including various synthesizers, to achieve desired effects. Many, however, find more conventional orchestral configuration to provide better possibilities for color and depth. Composers like John Adams often employ Romantic-size orchestras, as in Adams' opera "Nixon in China"; Philip Glass and others may be more free, yet still identify size-boundaries. Glass in particular has recently turned to conventional orchestras in works like the "Concerto for Cello and Orchestra" and the Violin Concerto No. 2.


title: Orchestra

text: Along with a decrease in funding, some U.S. orchestras have reduced their overall personnel, as well as the number of players appearing in performances. The reduced numbers in performance are usually confined to the string section, since the numbers here have traditionally been flexible (as multiple players typically play from the same part).


title: Orchestra

text: Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. The primary duties of the conductor are to set the tempo, ensure correct entries by various members of the ensemble, and "shape" the phrasing where appropriate. To convey their ideas and interpretation, a conductor communicates with their musicians primarily through hand gestures, typically (though not invariably) with the aid of a baton, and may use other gestures or signals, such as eye contact with relevant performers. A conductor's directions will almost invariably be supplemented or reinforced by verbal instructions or suggestions to their musicians in rehearsal prior to a performance.


title: Orchestra

text: The conductor typically stands on a raised podium with a large music stand for the full score, which contains the musical notation for all the instruments and voices. Since the mid-18th century, most conductors have not played an instrument when conducting, although in earlier periods of classical music history, leading an ensemble while playing an instrument was common. In Baroque music from the 1600s to the 1750s, the group would typically be led by the harpsichordist or first violinist (see concertmaster), an approach that in modern times has been revived by several music directors for music from this period. Conducting while playing a piano or synthesizer may also be done with musical theatre pit orchestras. Communication is typically non-verbal during a performance (this is strictly the case in art music, but in jazz big bands or large pop ensembles, there may be occasional spoken instructions, such as a "count in"). However, in rehearsals, frequent interruptions allow the conductor to give verbal directions as to how the music should be played or sung.


title: Orchestra

text: Conductors act as guides to the orchestras or choirs they conduct. They choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they may make certain adjustments (e.g., regarding tempo, articulation, phrasing, repetitions of sections, and so on), work out their interpretation, and relay their vision to the performers. They may also attend to organizational matters, such as scheduling rehearsals, planning a concert season, hearing auditions and selecting members, and promoting their ensemble in the media. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other sizable musical ensembles such as big bands are usually led by conductors.


title: Orchestra

text: In the Baroque music era (1600–1750), most orchestras were led by one of the musicians, typically the principal first violin, called the concertmaster. The concertmaster would lead the tempo of pieces by lifting his or her bow in a rhythmic manner. Leadership might also be provided by one of the chord-playing instrumentalists playing the basso continuo part which was the core of most Baroque instrumental ensemble pieces. Typically, this would be a harpsichord player, a pipe organist, or a lutist or theorbo player. A keyboard player could lead the ensemble with his or her head, or by taking one of the hands off the keyboard to lead a more difficult tempo change. A lutenist or theorbo player could lead by lifting the instrument neck up and down to indicate the tempo of a piece, or to lead a ritard during a cadence or ending. In some works which combined choirs and instrumental ensembles, two leaders were sometimes used: A concertmaster to lead the instrumentalists and a chord-playing performer to lead the singers. During the Classical music period (), the practice of using chordal instruments to play basso continuo was gradually phased out, and it disappeared completely by 1800. Instead, ensembles began to use conductors to lead the orchestra's tempos and playing style, while the concertmaster played an additional leadership role for the musicians, especially the string players, who imitate the bowstroke and playing style of the concertmaster, to the degree that is feasible for the different stringed instruments.


title: Orchestra

text: In 1922, the idea of a conductor-less orchestra was revived in post-revolutionary Soviet Union. The symphony orchestra Persimfans was formed without a conductor, because the founders believed that the ensemble should be modeled on the ideal Marxist state, in which all people are equal. As such, its members felt that there was no need to be led by the dictatorial baton of a conductor; instead they were led by a committee, which determined tempos and playing styles. Although it was a partial success within the Soviet Union, the principal difficulty with the concept was in changing tempo during performances, because even if the committee had issued a decree about where a tempo change should take place, there was no leader in the ensemble to guide this tempo change. The orchestra survived for ten years before Stalin's cultural politics disbanded it by taking away its funding.


title: Orchestra

text: In Western nations, some ensembles, such as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, based in New York City, have had more success with conductorless orchestras, although decisions are likely to be deferred to some sense of leadership within the ensemble (for example, the principal wind and string players, notably the concertmaster). Others have returned to the tradition of a principal player, usually a violinist, being the artistic director and running rehearsal and leading concerts. Examples include the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta & Candida Thompson and the New Century Chamber Orchestra. As well, as part of the early music movement, some 20th and 21st century orchestras have revived the Baroque practice of having no conductor on the podium for Baroque pieces, using the concertmaster or a chord-playing basso continuo performer (e.g., harpsichord or organ) to lead the group.


title: Orchestra

text: Some orchestral works specify that an offstage trumpet should be used or that other instruments from the orchestra should be positioned off-stage or behind the stage, to create a haunted, mystical effect. To ensure that the offstage play in time, sometimes a sub-conductor will be stationed offstage with a clear view of the principal conductor. Examples include the ending of "Neptune" from Gustav Holst's "The Planets". The principal conductor leads the large orchestra, and the sub-conductor relays the principal conductor's tempo and gestures to the offstage musician (or musicians). One of the challenges with using two conductors is that the second conductor may get out of synchronization with the main conductor, or may mis-convey (or misunderstand) the principal conductor's gestures, which can lead to the offstage instruments being out of time. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, some orchestras use a video camera pointed at the principal conductor and a closed-circuit TV set in front of the offstage performers, instead of using two conductors.


title: Orchestra

text: The techniques of polystylism and polytempo music have led a few 20th and 21st century composers to write music where multiple orchestras or ensembles perform simultaneously. These trends have brought about the phenomenon of polyconductor music, wherein separate sub-conductors conduct each group of musicians. Usually, one principal conductor conducts the sub-conductors, thereby shaping the overall performance. In Percy Grainger's "The Warriors" which includes three conductors: the primary conductor of the orchestra, a secondary conductor directing an off-stage brass ensemble, and a tertiary conductor directing percussion and harp. One example in the late-century orchestral music is Karlheinz Stockhausen's "Gruppen", for three orchestras, which are placed around the audience. This way, the "sound masses" could be spatialized, as in an electroacoustic work. "Gruppen" was premiered in Cologne, in 1958, conducted by Stockhausen, Bruno Maderna and Pierre Boulez. It has been performed in 1996 by Simon Rattle, John Carewe and Daniel Harding.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in "The Brave and the Bold" #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, created by John Ostrander, debuted in "Legends" #3 (January 1987).


title: Suicide Squad

text: Various incarnations of the Suicide Squad have existed throughout the years as depicted in several self-titled comic book series, from its origins in the Silver Age to its modern-day Post-"Crisis" reimagining, to the current version that was introduced in 2016. The current incarnation of the team appears in the sixth volume of the "Suicide Squad" comic series, and the recurring members include Enchantress, Katana, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot and Harley Quinn.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The original Suicide Squad appeared in six issues of "The Brave and the Bold". Although this early incarnation of the team (created by writer Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru) did not have the espionage trappings of later Squads, it laid much of the groundwork for squad field leader Rick Flag Jr.'s personal history. The team's administrator Amanda Waller was introduced in the "Legends" miniseries, with the original Silver Age Squad's backstory fleshed out further in "Secret Origins" (vol. 2) #14.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The Suicide Squad was revived in the "Legends" miniseries with writer John Ostrander at the helm. The renewed concept involved the government employing a group of supervillains to perform missions that were suicide runs, a concept popular enough for an ongoing series titled simply "Suicide Squad". The squad was often paired together with DC's other government agency, Checkmate—culminating in the Janus Directive crossover.


title: Suicide Squad

text: While the Squad is often depicted as succeeding on their missions, they did fail some as well. Ostrander remarked on how Squad stories sometimes purposefully brought in characters to be killed off. The team's very name, Suicide Squad relates to the idea that this group of characters is sent on dangerous and difficult missions called suicide missions.


title: Suicide Squad

text: "Suicide Squad" (vol. 1) lasted 66 issues, along with one "Annual" and one special ("Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special" #1). After the series' cancellation in 1992, the Squad went on to make several guest appearances in titles such as "Superboy", "Hawk & Dove", "Chase", and "Adventures of Superman".


title: Suicide Squad

text: "Suicide Squad" (vol. 2) was published in 2001, written by Keith Giffen, with art by Paco Medina. Though the series' first issue featured a Squad composed entirely of Giffen's Injustice League members, the roster was promptly slaughtered, save for Major Disaster and Multi-Man. These developments prompt Sgt. Rock, who is by now written into the role of squad leader, to recruit new members—many of whom die during the missions.


title: Suicide Squad

text: "Suicide Squad" (vol. 3) (initially subtitled "Raise the Flag" in DC's solicitations) was an eight-issue miniseries published in 2007. It featured the return of writer John Ostrander with art by Javier Pina. The story focused on the return of Rick Flag Jr. and the formation of a new Squad to attack a corporation responsible for developing a deadly bio-weapon.


title: Suicide Squad

text: "Suicide Squad" (vol. 4) debuted as part of DC Comics' line-wide New 52 continuity reboot in 2011. The relaunched book was written by Adam Glass, with art by Federico Dallocchio and Ransom Getty. Amanda Waller once again directs the group from behind the scenes; Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and King Shark feature prominently in this version of the Squad. This series concluded in 2014, with issue #30.


title: Suicide Squad

text: "New Suicide Squad" was launched in July 2014. Written by Sean Ryan with art by Jeremy Roberts, the new series continues to feature Deadshot and Harley Quinn, with Deathstroke, Black Manta, and Joker's Daughter added to the mix.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The original Suicide Squad first appears in "The Brave and the Bold" #25. Team members appearing in the debut issue include physicist Jess Bright; astronomer Dr. Hugh Evans; Rick Flag Jr., the team leader; and Karin Grace (Davies in #25), flight medic. The characters have follow-up appearances in issues #26, #27 and #37-#39. The team's introductory story depicts them being called in to deal with a super-heated red-hued object, called the "Red Wave", which was heading toward a seaside resort and boiling the ocean along the way. They travel in a plane equipped with a testing and analysis lab. Follow-up appearances show the team dealing with a variety of challenges: a meteor storm (the radiation from which causes them to shrink), a giant serpent in the Paris subway tunnels, a giant monster that captures Karin, and a nuclear bomb. Issues #38 and #39 show the team encountering dinosaurs and meeting the leader of the Cyclops.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In the midst of Darkseid's attempt to turn humanity against Earth's superheroes via his minion Glorious Godfrey, Amanda Waller assigns Rick Flag Jr. leadership of a reformed Task Force X. Blockbuster, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, and Enchantress make up Task Force X at Belle Reve. The squad's first mission is to eliminate Darkseid's rampaging fire elemental Brimstone; Blockbuster dies during the conflict and Deadshot takes down the creature with an experimental laser rifle. Waller dismisses the group, though they soon reconvened to rescue Captain Boomerang after Godfrey captures him.


title: Suicide Squad

text: During World War II, a number of Army riffraff are assembled into a unit that is highly expendable, and therefore nicknamed the Suicide Squadron (shortened to Suicide Squad). Several such teams existed, but their history in comics is only scarcely recorded before Rick Flag, Sr. becomes the leader of the team (and even then, only a few adventures of this Squad are shown). After the war ends, the team (together with the Argent group) is put under the umbrella organization of Task Force X. After his father's death, Rick Flag Jr. goes on to lead the group that is featured in "The Brave and the Bold" (vol. 1). A deadly encounter with a Yeti during a mission in Cambodia ends with Evans and Bright dead and sends Flag back to the U.S. with a wounded Karin Grace. After a stint with the Forgotten Heroes, Flag is drafted into the Squad that Waller assembles in "Legends".


title: Suicide Squad

text: "A Princess' Story" from "Secret Origins" (vol. 2) #28 sheds light on Nightshade's origin, revealing that her mother hailed from the Land of the Nightshades. An ill-fated trip to this world ends with Nightshade's mother died and her brother abducted, and Nightshade spends the following years honing her shadowy powers and building a reputation as a crimefighter. She falls in with King Faraday at the C.B.I.; Faraday eventually introduces her to Amanda Waller, who agrees to help her rescue her brother in exchange for Nightshade's participation in the Squad.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The World War II Squad of "Secret Origins" (vol. 2) #14 was a means of tying the Silver Age Suicide Squad to the war-era Suicide Squad (also called the Suicide Squadron) created by Robert Kanigher for his "The War that Time Forgot" tales in the pages of "Star Spangled War Stories". This Suicide Squadron is described as a "top-secret Ranger outfit" whose members were trained to tackle missions from which ordinary volunteers were not expected to return alive. It is unclear whether this team is part of the modern Suicide Squad canon or if the Squad introduced in "Secret Origins" was intended as a replacement for them in DC continuity.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Another classic version of the Squad (Rick Flag Jr., Karin Grace, Jess Bright, and Dr. Hugh Evans) appears in the non-canon 2004 miniseries "" by Darwyn Cooke. The group is briefly shown undertaking the sorts of dangerous missions the Squad is known for, and Flag eventually drafts Hal Jordan onto the team to assist in preparing a crewed space flight to Mars. The experimental rocket's test runs quickly goes south and the group (sans Jordan) dies in the explosion.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In the "DC Comics Bombshells" continuity, the World War II-era Suicide Squad is led by Francine Charles and consists of Killer Croc, Enchantress, Rose Wilson, and Barbara Gordon (who in this setting is a vampire). In the final issue of the comic, it is revealed that after the end of the war, this Suicide Squad became a "Dark Justice League" defending the world against magical threats.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The first volume of "Suicide Squad", written by modern Squad creator John Ostrander, launched in May 1987, shortly after the team was introduced in the "Legends" crossover storyline. It lasted for 66 monthly issues, along with one annual and one special ("Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad Special" #1), both published in 1988.


title: Suicide Squad

text: This series details the covert operations of the modern Post-"Crisis" Squad, created (in-universe) and directed by Amanda Waller. It is notable for bringing obscure characters such as Captain Boomerang and Deadshot to prominence; the latter received his own tie-in miniseries in 1988, co-written by Ostrander and Kim Yale. The Suicide Squad also presents a modern context for field team leader Rick Flag Jr.'s modern-day activities and his involvement in the Silver-Age Suicide Squad. Former Batgirl Barbara Gordon makes her first appearance as the information-broker Oracle, and serves as the Squad's remote radio support, a vocation she adopted after being shot by the Joker. She uses a wheelchair as a result of being shot.


title: Suicide Squad

text: "Suicide Squad" (vol. 1) takes pains to humanize its relatively obscure ensemble cast, partly via an in-house chaplain and psychiatric staff at the Squad's Belle Reve headquarters. These staff members are frequently seen interviewing various Squad operatives or providing evaluations of their mental states; several full issues are dedicated to examining prominent characters' personal lives and motivations.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Throughout 66 issues, this incarnation of the Suicide Squad undertook numerous high-risk missions for the U.S. government.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The team's first mission in the "Suicide Squad" title set them up against their recurring enemies, the Onslaught. They infiltrate their headquarters (the fortress known as Jotunheim, situated in Qurac) and proceed to defeat and kill most of the Onslaught members. Elements from this first story arc return over the series, such as the death of Mindboggler, Captain Boomerang's cowardly and treacherous nature, Nightshade's attraction to Rick Flag Jr., a rivalry between Rustam and Flag, and Ravan's defeat at the hands of the Bronze Tiger.


title: Suicide Squad

text: On orders of Derek Tolliver (the team's liaison with the UNSC), the Suicide Squad is sent to Moscow in order to free the captive Zoya Trigorin, a revolutionary writer. Although the mission is largely successful in its first half, the team finds that Zoya does not want to be freed at all, causing friction among the team as they must plan their escape.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In the end, the mission ends with the Squad having to travel across a tundra to reach safety, but come face to face with the People's Heroes, the Russian's own group of metahumans. In the conflict, Trigorin dies, and Nemesis (Tom Tresser) is captured. It turns out Tolliver never even considered the possibility of Trigorin wishing to become a martyr, automatically leaping at the conclusion she would be eager to leave the Soviet Union, and thus risked Waller's wrath upon the mission's end.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Nemesis eventually escapes thanks to a collaboration between the Suicide Squad and the Justice League International, although the two teams fight one another first. This conflict is primarily the result of Batman's investigation into the Suicide Squad, his confrontation with Waller, and his being forced to drop the investigation when she reveals that she can easily figure out his secret identity if need be.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In this story arc, building on subplots from previous issues, Rick Flag goes after Senator Cray in order to assassinate him. Previously, Senator Cray had been blackmailing Amanda Waller in order for her to ensure Cray's reelection, threatening her with the exposure of the Suicide Squad to the public.


title: Suicide Squad

text: At first, there is also the threat of Waller being usurped by Derek Tolliver, the now-former liaison between the Squad and NSC, who conspires with Cray against Waller. Waller deals with the situation by engaging in counter-blackmail with help of Checkmate, but refrains from informing Flag. The Squad's existence is in danger, and he decides to deal with the problem himself.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In order to stop him, the Squad is sent after Flag, and it is eventually Deadshot who confronts Flag shortly before he can shoot Cray, but too late to prevent Tolliver's murder in "Suicide Squad" (vol. 1) #21. As a result of these developments, the Suicide Squad is exposed to the public, contrary to Flag's intentions. Flag flees the scene, while Deadshot is shot by the arriving police officers. Unfortunately for Deadshot, who has a death wish, he does not die from the injuries.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Resulting from the exposure, Amanda Waller is replaced by an actor named Jack Kale so that she can continue to run the Squad. The team then goes on a public relations offensive, becoming, for a time, a prominent heroic team by saving a renowned nun from a repressive regime. Rick Flag travels to Jotunheim, where the Onslaught is still headquartered, and finishes the mission his father could not, blowing up Jotunheim with a prototype nuclear Nazi weapon but gives up his life to do so.


title: Suicide Squad

text: "The Janus Directive" is a crossover storyline involving an interagency war between Checkmate, the Suicide Squad, and Project Atom, who are manipulated by Kobra in order to distract the United States intelligence community from his activities. During the crossover, the headquarters of Checkmate and the Suicide Squad are destroyed as the war between the agencies worsens, and the lives of all members of the Force of July are lost except for Major Victory. In the end, with the defeat of Kobra, the various government agencies are made autonomous, to be overseen by Sarge Steel.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In this issue, the character known as Duchess regains her memory after suffering from amnesia and recalls her true identity as Lashina, of the Female Furies. With help from Shade the Changing Man, Lashina kidnaps several members of the Squad and takes them to Apokolips to win back her place among the Furies. Along with Dr. Light, Squad support members Briscoe (helicopter pilot) and computer specialist/Waller aide Flo Crowley are killed in an attack by parademons. Prevented by Steel from going, Bronze Tiger recruits Deadshot and others and joins with the Forever People to journey to Apokolips. Darkseid arrives to destroy Lashina for bringing humans to his world and allows the rest of the Squad return to Earth with their dead. Shade is returned to his home dimension as the Squad mourns Flo.


title: Suicide Squad

text: This issue details the plan of a group called LOA to raise a zombie army with drugs spread across the world. To ensure the Squad doesn't interfere, they reveal how Waller is still in charge and the White House decide to wash their hands of her. With the Suicide Squad on the verge of being disbanded by her superiors, Waller gathers Ravan, Poison Ivy, and Deadshot in an assassination mission of the LOA. The deal for the villains is simple: the three will be set free after helping Waller kill the LOA. While the villains run after the assassination, Waller allows herself to be put into custody.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The storyline running through "Suicide Squad" (vol. 1) #40–43 reassembles a scattered Suicide Squad after a year of imprisonment for Amanda Waller. She receives a presidential pardon, courtesy of Sarge Steel, as well as money in the bank and her old privileges concerning the use of imprisoned villains.


title: Suicide Squad

text: This is done so that Waller can reassemble her Squad and prevent a confrontation between American and Soviet forces in the war-torn country of Vlatava. As the Suicide Squad succeeds and finishes their mission, they go in a new direction, free from the government as freelance operatives per the terms negotiated by Waller. Under the leadership of Waller, who now also goes into the field as an operative, they are a mercenary squad open to the highest bidder.


title: Suicide Squad

text: This storyline ran through "Suicide Squad" (vol. 1) #45–47. Amanda Waller and the Squad covertly sneak into Jerusalem seeking to capture or kill Kobra. However, the squad's arrival is detected by the Hayoth, and their Mossad liaison Colonel Hacohen takes Waller and Vixen into custody in order to show them that the Hayoth has already captured Kobra. Amanda figures out that Kobra allowed the Hayoth to capture him but is unsure of why. Judith follows Vixen to a meeting with the Bronze Tiger and Ravan, critically wounds Vixen, and is nearly killed by the Bronze Tiger. Meanwhile, the Atom discovers Kobra's true plan all along was to corrupt Dybbuk the Hayoth's artificial intelligence team member. Kobra "corrupted" Dybbuk through a series of philosophical conversations about the nature of good and evil; he then attempts to use Dybbuk to start World War III. The day is saved by Ramban, the team's kabbalistic magician, who has a lengthy conversation with Dybbuk about the true nature of good and evil, choice, and morality. Meanwhile, Ravan and Kobra have their final battle which results in Ravan's supposed death via poisoning.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Batman is working to solve the murder of Ray Palmer, The Atom. He hears that Waller possibly knew about the explosion that killed him. Superman is told by a CBI agent that the Suicide Squad would be attempting to rescue Qurac's former President Marlo. Adam Cray confronts Deadshot about killing his father, Senator Cray. Golem, of the Hayoth enters the facility holding Marlo on Blood Island. The Hayoth mistakenly believe they would be allowed to take President Marlo into custody. This misunderstanding caused the Hayoth to become embroiled in a four-way conflict with the Justice League (Superman, Batman, and Aquaman), who were there searching for Ray Palmer (the Atom), as well as the Suicide Squad, and the Onslaught. After a series of skirmishes, Superman ends the free-for-all with a shockwave caused by clapping both his hands together. The League confronts Ray Palmer, and he tells them about Micro Force and their murder of Adam Cray, the man who had been impersonating him as a member of the Suicide Squad.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The series concludes in issues #63–66, in which the Suicide Squad travels to Diabloverde to depose a seemingly invulnerable and invincible dictator calling himself Guedhe. This despot has his own personal bodyguards, a group of villains calling themselves the Suicide Squad. Insulted by the rival team usurping the Suicide Squad name, Waller accepts the mission to liberate Diabloverde at the price of one peso, paid by an exiled resident, Maria.


title: Suicide Squad

text: During that mission, they face off against and defeat the other Suicide Squad. Each Squad member travels through the mystic jungle to Guedhe's fortress and along the way, faces their personal demons, except for Deadshot. Amanda Waller tricks the despot, actually Maria's husband, into a form of suicide. The despot believes himself to be immortal, when in actuality, he was a formidable psychic whose consciousness kept animating his remains. Waller convinced him that her touch brought death and thus, he died. Afterward, Waller disbands the Suicide Squad, and the series ends.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Though John Ostrander's "Suicide Squad" (vol. 1) series was canceled in 1992 with issue #66, the concept lived on in various DC storylines throughout the years. What follows is a breakdown of the Squad's various odd appearances over the years.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The Squad resurfaces in a three-issue "Superboy" (vol. 3) arc, with a lineup consisting of Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, King Shark, Knockout, Sam Makoa, and Sidearm (who meets his death in the following issue). Superboy himself joins the Squad to assist in taking out a Pacific Rim crime cartel called the Silicon Dragons. Writer Karl Kesel claims to have come very close to killing Captain Boomerang during this arc.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In the "Hawk & Dove" (vol. 4) miniseries, superheroes Hawk and Dove (Sasha Martens and Wiley Wolverman) are targeted by the government who assemble a new Suicide Squad to subdue the pair. Squad members at the time include Bronze Tiger, Count Vertigo, Deadshot, Flex, Quartzite, Shrapnel, and Thermal.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Amanda Waller reforms the Squad once again in "Chase" (vol. 1) #2. D.E.O. agent Cameron Chase joins Bolt, Copperhead, Killer Frost, and Sledge on a mission to take out a South American military base, only to be betrayed by the villains.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The brief story "Resources" (one of several in the issue) depicts Amanda Waller assembling the Squad that is seen in the "Adventures of Superman" arc.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Lex Luthor organizes another Suicide Squad during his term as President of the United States so that they can recruit Doomsday to battle the alien Imperiex. This version of the Squad consists of Chemo, Mongul, Plasmus, and Shrapnel; it is led by Manchester Black, under the supervision of Steel. Doomsday seemingly kills most of the Squad upon his release, but all of the characters turn up alive in later comics.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Keith Giffen's short-lived "Suicide Squad" run (which began in November 2001 and lasted 12 issues) is something of a darkly humorous analog to the writer's former work on Justice League International, and follows a new version of the Squad, designated Task Force Omega, and run by Sgt. Frank Rock. Together with his right-hand man Bulldozer, Rock taps new characters Havana and Modern to round out the team's mobile HQ. President Lex Luthor and Secretary of Metahuman Affairs Amanda Waller are shown to be supplying the Squad's assignments.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Rock is thought by several other characters to have been deceased since the end of World War II, and they are surprised to see him alive and well. Two flashback stories provide some context for Rock's current-day activities, but the series' final issue strongly implies that Rock is an (as-yet-unidentified) impostor.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The First issue details the former Injustice League's terminally botched attempt to extract a kidnapped scientist from an Icelandic facility. With all but one team member (Major Disaster) presumed dead by issue's end, Sgt. Rock forms a new Suicide Squad for the missions ahead. Major Disaster, Deadshot, and Killer Frost are mainstays of the field team. For his part, Rock is every bit as ruthless as Amanda Waller was (though far more affable), remorselessly sending his agents to die for the good of their country.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The Squad's missions involve eliminating an out-of-control colony of bio-engineered army ants, and investigating the mysterious island of Kooey Kooey Kooey to discourage its telepathic inhabitants from declaring war on Earth. Havana is revealed to be Amanda Waller's daughter, and the final story arc revolves around an all-out attack on the Squad by the members of Onslaught, led by the son of longtime Squad enemy Rustam. Onslaught kills Modem and captures Rock, Havana, and Waller.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Upon learning that the Squad has been compromised, Waller's office drafts the Justice Society of America to counterattack Onslaught alongside the Squad, but they arrive too late to save Havana from Rustam's wrath. Deadshot discovers a discarded Sgt. Rock mask inside an empty holding cell, which prompts Bulldozer (who is monitoring the situation remotely via Deadshot's video camera) to stand from his wheelchair and announce "Oh, boy!" before leaving. Back in her office, Amanda Waller reviews Bulldozer's file, and states that he and Sgt. Rock died in 1945.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad were heavily involved in the events and fallout of "52". During much of this time, Waller ran the Squad covertly because of her station as the White Queen of Checkmate. This inter-faction tension is a recurring theme throughout many Squad stories of this era.


title: Suicide Squad

text: A Squad composed of Deadshot, Killer Frost, and Solomon Grundy goes after Lois Lane in order to silence her investigation into Lex Luthor's presidency.


title: Suicide Squad

text: A mystery agent sends Captain Boomerang, Double Down, Killer Frost, and Killer Shark to (unsuccessfully) assassinate an imprisoned Amanda Waller as she awaits trial. Nemesis also appears.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Amanda Waller assembles a short-lived Suicide Squad, led by Atom Smasher, to take on an out-of-control Black Adam. Atom Smasher's team ambushes the Black Marvel Family, getting Waller the evidence that she needs to expose their threat to the world. As Waller reviews future potential Squad members, Atom Smasher quits the team, threatening to inform Checkmate of Waller's unauthorized field ops unless she grants him a full pardon. Later, as World War III rages, Waller informs Bronze Tiger that Rick Flag Jr. is alive.


title: Suicide Squad

text: As part of DC's "One Year Later" event, Greg Rucka penned the two-part "Rogue Squad" arc for "Checkmate" (vol. 2). After Bronze Tiger finds Rick Flag Jr. alive, Amanda Waller (now the White Queen of Checkmate) taps the pair to track down a rogue Squad that is out to expose her off-the-books activities. The Squad is led by Mirror Master, and includes Icicle, Javelin, Plastique, Tattooed Man, Punch, and Jewelee.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Beginning in the pages of "Countdown", the Squad makes various one-off appearances where they are seen rounding up the world's villains for an unknown purpose. This culminates in the seven-issue "Salvation Run" miniseries (written by Bill Willingham), where the Squad sends the apprehended villains to a remote prison world via boom tube. Squad members seen rounding up villains include Rick Flag Jr., Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Count Vertigo, the General, King Faraday, Multiplex, Nightshade, Plastique, Bane, Chemo, and Deadshot (the latter three are betrayed by the Squad and sent to the prison planet with the other villains).


title: Suicide Squad

text: John Ostrander returned to the Suicide Squad for an eight-issue miniseries that began in November 2007. The series takes place between the squad's appearance in "Checkmate" (vol. 2) #6–7 and the events of "Salvation Run". It is functionally a sequel to the "Checkmate" arc, detailing how Rick Flag Jr. survived his apparent death before returning to Waller's Suicide Squad.


title: Suicide Squad

text: DC Comics' official solicitations consistently referred to the miniseries as "Suicide Squad: Raise the Flag", though this nomenclature is never used within any individual issue or collected edition of the miniseries.


title: Suicide Squad

text: After he is believed dead, Rick Flag Jr. resurfaces on the dinosaur-infested island of Skartaris alongside his enemy Rustam. The pair works together to survive. Unfortunately, Flag is forced to kill Rustam once they discover a way home. Afterward, he becomes a prisoner of war in Qurac for four years. Flag rejoins the Suicide Squad after he is rescued by Bronze Tiger.


title: Suicide Squad

text: After reviewing several new recruits, Amanda Waller briefs the Squad on the latest target: a Dubai-based global conglomerate called Haake-Bruton, whose new viral weapon is to be destroyed, and its board of directors eliminated. The Squad airdrops onto Haake-Bruton's island stronghold, where Flag encounters Rustam's revenge-seeking father. Eiling compromises the mission, conspiring with Thinker to betray the Squad to Haake-Bruton's board in exchange for asylum. The Squad suffers heavy casualties in the sudden internal conflict. Despite numerous setbacks, Deadshot carries out the assassination, while Waller confronts the General personally. Eiling demonstrates control over Flag via psychological conditioning; Flag subdues him after revealing the cooperation as a ruse, and the Squad returns to Belle Reve. Flag is unfazed by Waller's revelation that his own identity and memories are implanted, asserting to Nightshade that he is still Rick Flag Jr.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The Squad made prominent appearances in a four-issue "Manhunter" (vol. 4) arc and during the "Blackest Night" crossover event. In his multiverse-spanning adventures, Booster Gold briefly cooperated with a version of the Silver Age Squad. These issues mark the Squad's final appearances prior to DC Comics' New 52 continuity reboot in 2011.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The Suicide Squad has a run-in with Manhunter after she unknowingly compromises their months-long undercover investigation into the Crime Doctor's metahuman genetic experiments in collaboration with Vestech Industries. Manhunter backs off of the trail at the insistence of the Squad and the Birds of Prey, but goes rogue in an effort to bring down the Crime Doctor, who futilely attempts to restrain the Squad after becoming aware of their deep-cover duplicity. The operation is dismantled, and Manhunter goes public with the takedown.


title: Suicide Squad

text: On one of his adventures throughout the DC multiverse, Booster Gold winds up in an alternate 1952, where Karin Grace drafts him into a Squad led by Frank Rock. The team infiltrates a U.S. military compound to root out a Soviet double-agent, who ultimately turns out to be the creator of the Rocket Reds' combat armor.


title: Suicide Squad

text: In the three-issue "Blackest Night" tie-in arc "Danse Macabre" (written by Gail Simone and John Ostrander), several deceased Suicide Squad members are reanimated as Black Lanterns (unofficially known as the "Homicide Squad"), led by Fiddler. They attack the Squad and the Secret Six, who are engaged in simultaneous conflicts at their respective headquarters, owing to Amanda Waller's plans to shut down the Six. The two teams join forces to wipe out the Homicide Squad; with the immediate threat resolved, the Six assert their independence, and Deadshot places a bullet mere centimeters from Waller's heart to punctuate the point. As she recovers at Belle Reve, she reveals that she is secretly Mockingbird, the Secret Six's mysterious benefactor.


title: Suicide Squad

text: A new "Suicide Squad" title, written by Adam Glass with art by Federico Dallocchio and Ransom Getty, launched in September 2011 as part of The New 52 (a reboot of the DC Comics universe). Amanda Waller once again directs a crew of black ops agents on covert government missions, with Deadshot serving as the field team's leader. The ongoing series is notable as serving as something of a showpiece for "Batman" villain Harley Quinn, and it has crossed over with other New 52 titles, including "Resurrection Man", "Grifter", and "Justice League of America's Vibe".


title: Suicide Squad

text: After a botched government mission forces her to execute an injured teammate, Amanda Waller sets out to assemble an expendable field team, prompting the formation of a new Suicide Squad. Waller forces dozens of Belle Reve's death row inmates into a series of rigorous tests and torture scenarios to evaluate their loyalty and value as potential Squad members. The finalists—notably including Deadshot, King Shark, and Harley Quinn—are outfitted with micro-bomb implants, and inducted into the Squad.


title: Suicide Squad

text: The Suicide Squad's missions typically involve the elimination or retrieval of high-value targets. At one point, the team must track down an AWOL Harley Quinn; in another mission, the Squad goes after Resurrection Man. The Basilisk terrorist group serves as a recurring villain (echoing the Onslaught organization from John Ostrander's original "Suicide Squad" series), and several issues delve into the twisted relationship between Harley Quinn and the Joker.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Eventually, Waller recruits serial killer James Gordon Jr. to act as Belle Reve's in-house psychiatric adviser—but unbeknownst to her, Gordon quickly develops a twisted infatuation with her. One ongoing and unresolved plot point involves the Samsara serum—a medical treatment that Belle Reve's doctors use to resurrect dead Squad members (including Deadshot and Voltaic). It is eventually discovered that the serum will permanently kill anyone to whom it is administered; Waller is implied to be one such subject.


title: Suicide Squad

text: During the Forever Evil crossover event, the Crime Syndicate of America emerges as the new threat which the Suicide Squad must avert. After the destruction of Belle Reve and the release of its inmates, Waller recruits Deadshot to a new Suicide Squad team. He, in turn, recruits Harley Quinn. Amanda Waller later reveals to James Gordon Jr. that the current Suicide Squad is but one version of the Task Force; she calls out Task Force Y to assist in battling the Crime Syndicate.


title: Suicide Squad

text: This 2014 relaunch, from writer Sean Ryan and artist Jeremy Roberts, sees Deadshot and Harley Quinn teaming up with new Squad members Black Manta, Joker's Daughter, the Reverse Flash and Deathstroke.


title: Suicide Squad

text: Using the end of the New 52 initiative as a launching point, DC Comics began a second relaunch of its entire line of titles called DC Rebirth in 2016, written by Rob Williams and shifting between Jim Lee, John Romita, Jr., and Tony S. Daniel for art. "Suicide Squad" (vol. 5) #1 (August 2016) was the debut bimonthly relaunch of the team's comic book title which consisted of Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Katana & Enchantress. The Suicide Squad was given a new look, reflecting the team's appearance in the DC Extended Universe. The title would crossover with "Justice League" in "Justice League vs. Suicide Squad", written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Jason Fabok, Tony S. Daniel, and Howard Porter.