Status Updates From The Encyclopedia of Music: ...

The Mannheim orchestra (1742) consisted of 50 virtuoso players, making it the largest regular ensemble in Europe at that time. 'It's forte was like thunder, its crescendos like mighty waterfalls, its diminuendos like a gentle river disappearing into the distance, its pianos like a breath of spring.' When a long crescendo began it was not unknown for the audience gradually to rise from their seats.