Composing a piece about the morning, what instrumentation to use?

So, I just got this idea to write a piece about the morning. I already have a bit pre-planned, like I know that I want to start with a nocturne theme and have it get more full and bright until the piece ends to represent the sun coming up. I also know that I will probably want some birdcall passages. But I don't know what instrumentation to use. I don't think a piano solo would do this piece justice, but a trio might. So I decided to post a poll about this. Here are some details about each option.

Trio

This would definitely include a flute and would probably also include a piano. Whether it includes a violin or cello though, that's harder to decide on.

Quartet

Assuming that I still have the flute and piano in this ensemble, the question here would be whether to have more woodwinds or to have more strings. If I have more woodwinds, then I could have more than 1 bird communicating one after the other or at the same time. If I have more strings, then it would mean more fullness.

Quintet

This would most likely be flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano if I go with this option.

Octet

This would likely be a string quartet + a woodwind quartet.

Symphony Orchestra

Here, I have everything I could possibly need to get across the morning, all the strings, all the woodwinds, all the brass. I could add harp here, since that would probably go well with especially the nocturne theme. Sometimes the piano is used as an integral instrument in the orchestra as well. And I am getting into writing orchestral pieces, so maybe this could work as the first movement of an orchestral suite?

What option do you think I should go with? Or do you think that I should use a different instrumentation like maybe piano duet?

21 hours ago, caters said:

I don't think a piano solo would do this piece justice,

Why?

I revisited this topic quite a few times, and I never know what to answer.

I think you have to decide this. See what formation provide you with the actual tools you need to make this into what you have in mind.

6 minutes ago, Jean Szulc said:

I think you have to decide this. See what formation provide you with the actual tools you need to make this into what you have in mind.

My thoughts too. It's quite difficult to pick an instrumentation with no idea of what the piece will sound like. That said, I do like an string + wind Octet...

13 minutes ago, Monarcheon said:

Why?

 

Well, the timbre of the piano is very homogeneous outside of the octave extremes. Plus, there is only so much distance that each hand can cover if doing simultaneous melodies as would likely be the case. I mean, the nocturne theme would probably work well on the piano but what about the birdcall passages? Those would likely have a quieter countermelody at the same time and possibly even within the same register. And then of course you would have the bass line and harmony lower down. 2 melodies in the same register is hard to get to not sound like a single melody being embellished if you have solo piano as the instrumentation and it isn't a fugue or canon, especially when you also have the bass line and harmony to consider. And what if the birdcall melodies and countermelody form wide intervals like tenths and twelfths at certain points? I can barely even play a ninth for certain notes(like playing a ninth with Bb as the lower note is hard for me) and I can't play tenths at all, not without the help of the sustain pedal, and in some cases using the sustain pedal isn't .

In short, it would be a very hard piece to play piano solo, like easily Liszt level or even Rachmaninoff level, which is pretty doggone hard.

On the other hand, getting those same things across with a trio is much easier.