a string section on one note

One pitch in, forty-eight bowed strings out. THRENODY opens a single V/OCT from unison into a cluster two octaves wide, sends every player sliding on a path of its own, and presses the bow until it scrapes. Its name is Penderecki's, from the piece whose score drew clusters as black bands. The voices spread across a stereo pair, so it fills a room.

https://daylightnoise.com/threnody/