Search results
Ludwig van Beethoven and the piano were two of the most exciting new qualities of music in the 18th century and both are showcased in his Sonata Op.13 No.8 in C minor, Pathétique, first movement....
They were based on: strings - violin, viola, cello, double bass, and sometimes guitar. woodwind - recorder or wooden flute, oboe, bassoon and clarinet. brass - trumpet, horns (with valves by the...
- Overview
- The concept of symphony before c. 1750
symphony, a lengthy form of musical composition for orchestra, normally consisting of several large sections, or movements, at least one of which usually employs sonata form (also called first-movement form).
Symphonies in this sense began to be composed during the so-called Classical period in European music history, about 1740–1820. The early part of this period and the decade immediately preceding it are sometimes called pre-Classical, as are the symphonies written before about 1750. During the 19th century, which included the Romantic period, symphonies grew longer, and composers concerned themselves with ways of unifying the movements; extramusical programs and new approaches toward tonality (the major-minor system of chord progressions) were among the solutions to the problems of large-scale symphonic form. Late in the century, symphonies—and orchestras—had grown to such an extent that reaction set in, culminating in the Neoclassical movement of the early 20th century, in which composers turned again toward principles of balance and formal discipline, using new techniques to achieve dynamic coherence. Economic considerations forced a reduction in the size of orchestras and amount of rehearsal time available to mid-20th-century composers, further justifying a return to less extravagant symphonic thinking.
The word symphōnia was used by the Greeks in reference to notes sounding together in harmony and by extension meant an “ensemble” or “band” rather than a musical form. The word implies a pleasant concord of different notes and has been used in fields other than music to denote a pleasing combination of various elements. In the New Testament Gospel According to Luke (King James Version), symphōnia is translated as “musick,” as distinct from choroi, “dancing.” In the Middle Ages the name was given to several musical instruments, among them a double-headed drum, bowed stringed instruments, a large hurdy-gurdy, and bagpipes. Mention is made in 1582 of eine Symphonie, evidently a stringed keyboard instrument.
From the mid-16th century, symphonia (and related spellings) is a term often found in titles in which it simply indicated ensemble music, whether for instruments with voices or either alone. A collection of madrigals published in Antwerp in 1585 is entitled Symphonia angelica…raccolta per Huberto Waelrant. Later notable examples are the Sacrae symphoniae of the Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli (Book I, 1597; Book II, 1615), collections of elaborate instrumental and vocal music, often for multiple choirs; and the Symphoniae sacrae of his celebrated German pupil, Heinrich Schütz (1629, 1647, 1650). Schütz’s collection reveals his debt to the colourful and brilliantly orchestrated Italian style in works ranging from several voices to large polychoral compositions with solo parts and instruments. His countryman Samuel Scheidt’s 70 Symphonien auf Konzerten-Manier (1644) likewise combine instrumental and vocal ensembles to enrich the texture and heighten the drama of his music.
Symphonies for instruments alone during the early Baroque era (c. 1600–30) occur as independent pieces and as introductions or interludes in theatrical productions. The Italian Biagio Marini’s sinfonia La Orlandia (1617) is a duet for violin or cornetto (a wind instrument with finger holes and cup-shaped mouthpiece) and continuo in five brief contiguous sections, distinguished by contrasting metres and new melodic material in each section. (The continuo is a harmonic accompaniment improvised over the written bass line, usually played on a keyboard instrument and a bass viol or other bass melody instrument.) Early operas often include instrumental symphonies. Jacopo Peri’s Euridice (first performed 1600) includes a sinfonia for three flutes; Claudio Monteverdi’s lavish musical drama Orfeo (1607) is punctuated with five richly scored sinfonias, while a sinfonia da guerra (“sinfonia of war”) accompanies a staged battle in his Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to his Country; 1641). Each act of Stefano Landi’s opera Il Sant’Alessio (1632) opens with a sectional sinfonia. Many other opera and oratorio composers used short descriptive or introductory sinfonias, often of sectional form with contrasting metres and tempos.
Special offer for students! Check out our special academic rate and excel this spring semester!
Learn More
It remained for a Neapolitan, Alessandro Scarlatti (1660–1725), to formalize the overture to his operas as a fast–slow–fast sinfonia avanti l’opera, as in his opera Dal male il bene (1681; “Good from Evil”). The so-called Italian overture of this and later works, scored for strings and continuo, has been widely considered to contain the germ of the later three-movement symphony. In contrast with the more contrapuntal (based on interwoven melodic lines) French overture, which begins with a pompous slow movement and continues in a fugal section (involving imitation of a melody among several voices), the Italian style is immediately tuneful and predominantly homophonic (chordal) in texture. The first fast movement may be trivial; its symmetrical phrasing is unexpressive. The contrasting second movement may be more lyrical, perhaps anticipating tunes heard later in the opera. The last movement, sometimes a minuet, is an exuberant curtain raiser. This format spread quickly outside Italy, even to France. Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Zoroastre (1749), for example, includes such a fast–slow–fast overture. Rameau, indeed, was considered an exponent of the Italian style, particularly in his lucid harmonic treatment. This late Baroque concern with tonal clarity prefigured the attitudes of early Classical symphonists. Among the devices used to assure clarity are melodies constructed of arpeggiated (“harplike,” or broken) chords and passages in unison or in parallel thirds or sixths (sequences of harmonies formed by thirds, such as C–E or D–F, or sixths, such as C–A or D–B). These features are not common in Baroque music that is strictly contrapuntal in texture.
The piano really came into its own as a source of interesting sonorities; the orchestra expanded in size and scope; new instruments were added; and old instruments were improved and made more versatile. The Romantic period saw the appearance of the first textbook on the subject of orchestration.
Apr 11, 2024 · First movement: Presto or allegro; brisk and lively. Second movement: Lento or adagio; slow and lyrical. Third (and final) movement: Allegrissimo or allegro vivace; fast and furious. Today, concert orchestras are often performed by younger musicians. A smaller group of instruments are called a concertino.
A lot of the features of the Baroque period carried over into the Classical period, but certain things changed. Instruments became better quality, meaning performers could play more complex pieces. New instruments were invented and added to the orchestra and a new section was added to the concerto.
People also ask
What instruments were used in classical music?
What type of music is a symphony?
What type of music was used in the classical era?
What is a movement in music?
When did symphonies start?
What are the different types of chamber music?
Analyze symphonies by Joseph Boulogne and Joseph Haydn. Summarize the sonata form procedure and explain how the individual sections (exposition, development, recapitulation) relate to the whole. Compare and contrast sonata form symphonic movements by Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven.
