virtual my ass. If this is going to happen it demands as much Effeminate as possible, thus live orchestra. Or at least pre-recorded parts mixed.
Live orchestra == mucho expensive. Pre-recorded/mixed is impractical.
Of course, that's not to say that I would
mind a live 120-piece orchestra, preferably with a full choir dramatically singing nonsense in Latin.
Hell, we could just adopt Berlioz's Requiem.
Instrumentation
The Requiem is scored for
* 20 woodwinds: 4 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 English horns, 4 clarinets, 8 bassoons
* 12 horns
* 4 cornets and 4 tubas (in the orchestra)
* 4 brass choirs
o Choir 1 to the North: 4 cornets, 4 trombones, 2 tubas
o Choir 2 to the East: 4 trumpets, 4 trombones
o Choir 3 to the West: 4 trumpets, 4 trombones
o Choir 4 to the South: 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, 4 ophicleides[citation needed]
* a huge battery of percussionists
o 16 timpani played by 10 timpanists
o 2 bass drums
o 4 tam-tams
o 10 pairs of cymbals
* more than a hundred strings
o 25 First violins
o 25 Second violins
o 20 violas
o 20 violoncellos
o 18 double basses
* Chorus
o 80 sopranos
o 60 tenors
o 70 basses
* Tenor soloist
In relation to the number of singers and strings, Berlioz indicates in the score that, "The number [of performers] indicated is only relative. If space permit, the chorus may be doubled or tripled, and the orchestra be proportionally increased. But in the event of an exceptionally large chorus, say 700 to 800 voices, the entire chorus should only be used for the Dies Irae, the Tuba Mirum, and the Lacrymosa, the rest of the movements being restricted to 400 voices."