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SymphonyA symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra."Symphony" does not necessarily imply a specific form, though most are composed according to the sonataprinciple. Many symphonies are tonal works in four movements with the first in sonata form, which is oftendescribed by music theorists as the structure of a "classical" symphony, although many symphonies by theacknowledged classical masters of the form, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethovendo not conform to this model.

History of the form

OriginsThe word symphony is derived from Greek συμφωνία, meaning "agreement or concord of sound", "concert of vocalor instrumental music", from σύμφωνος, "harmonious" (Oxford English Dictionary). This Greek word was used todescribe an instrument mentioned in the Book of Daniel, once identified by scholars as a bagpipe—the word wasidentified, for example, as the root of the name of the Italian zampogna (Stainer and Galpin 1914 [1], 145–46).However, more recent scholarly opinion points out that the word in the Book of Daniel is siphonia (from Greeksiphon, reed), and concludes that the bagpipe did not exist at so early a time, though the name of the "zampogna"could still have been derived from this word (Marcuse 1975, 501 & 597). In late Greek and medieval theory, theword was used for consonance, as opposed to diaphonia, which was the word for dissonance (Brown 2001). In theMiddle Ages and later, the Latin form symphonia was used to describe various instruments, especially those capableof producing more than one sound simultaneously (Brown 2001). Isidore of Seville was the first to use the wordsymphonia as the name of a two-headed drum, and from ca. 1155 to 1377 the French form symphonie was the nameof the organistrum or hurdy-gurdy. In late medieval England, symphony was used in both of these senses, whereasby the 16th century it was equated with the dulcimer. In German, Symphonie was a generic term for spinets andvirginals from the late 16th century to the 18th century (Marcuse 1975, 501). In the sense of "sounding together," theword begins to appear in the titles of some works by 16th- and 17th-century composers including Giovanni Gabrieli'sSacrae symphoniae, and Symphoniae sacrae, liber secundus, published in 1597 and 1615, respectively; AdrianoBanchieri's Eclesiastiche sinfonie, dette canzoni in aria francese, per sonare, et cantare, op. 16, published in 1607;Lodovico Grossi da Viadana's Sinfonie musicali, op. 18, published in 1610; and Heinrich Schütz's Symphoniaesacrae, op. 6, and Symphoniarum sacrarum secunda pars, op. 10 , published in 1629 and 1647, respectively. Exceptfor Viadana's collection, which contained purely instrumental and secular music, these were all collections of sacredvocal works, some with instrumental accompaniment.In the 17th century, for most of the Baroque period, the terms symphony and sinfonia were used for a range ofdifferent compositions, including instrumental pieces used in operas, sonatas and concertos—usually part of a largerwork. The opera sinfonia, or Italian overture had, by the 18th century, a standard structure of three contrastingmovements: fast, slow, fast and dance-like. It is this form that is often considered as the direct forerunner of theorchestral symphony. The terms "overture", "symphony" and "sinfonia" were widely regarded as interchangeable formuch of the 18th century (Larue, Bonds, Walsh, and Wilson 2001).Another important progenitor of the symphony was the ripieno concerto—a relatively little-explored formresembling a concerto for strings and continuo, but with no solo instruments. The earliest-known ripieno concerti areGiuseppe Torelli's set of six, op. 5, published in 1698. Perhaps the best-known ripieno concerto is Johann SebastianBach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3.

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18th centuryEarly symphonies, in common with both overtures and ripieno concertos, have three movements, in the tempiquick-slow-quick. However, unlike the ripieno concerto, which uses the usual ritornello form of the concerto, at leastthe first movement of these symphonies is in binary form. They are distinguishable from Italian overtures in that theywere written to stand on their own in concert performances, rather than to introduce a stage work, although a pieceoriginally written as an overture was sometimes later used as a symphony, and vice versa.Symphonies at this time, whether for concert, opera, or church use, were not considered the major works on aprogram: often, as with concerti, they were divided up between other works, or drawn from suites or overtures.Vocal music was dominant, and symphonies provided preludes, interludes, and postludes.The "Italian" style of symphony, often used as overture and entr'acte in opera houses, became a standardthree-movement form: a fast movement, a slow movement, and another fast movement. Haydn and Mozart, whoseearly symphonies were in this form, eventually replaced it with a four-movement form through the addition of anadditional middle movement (Prout 1895, 249). The four-movement symphony became dominant in the latter part ofthe 18th century and most of the 19th century. This symphonic form was influenced by Germanic practice, andwould come to be associated with the classical style of Haydn and Mozart. "Normative macro-symphonic form maybe defined as the four-movement form, in general, employed in the later symphonies of Haydn and Mozart, and inthose of Beethoven" (Jackson 1999, 26).The normal four-movement form became (Jackson 1999, 26; Stein 1979, 106):1. an opening sonata or allegro2. a slow movement, such as adagio3. a minuet with trio or "Beethoven four-movement solo sonata": scherzo4. an allegro, rondo, or sonataVariations on this layout were common, for instance the order of the middle two movements, or the addition of aslow introduction to the first movement. Older composers such as Haydn and Mozart restricted their use of thefour-movement form to orchestral or multi-instrument chamber music such as quartets, though since Beethoven solosonatas are as often written in four as in three movements (Prout 1895, 249). Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony has afive-movement form through the addition of an "Alla tedesca" 'movement' between the first and the second (Jackson1999, 26).The composition of early symphonies was centred on Vienna and Mannheim. Early exponents of the form in Viennaincluded Georg Christoph Wagenseil, Wenzel Raimund Birck and Georg Monn, while the Mannheim schoolincluded Johann Stamitz.Later significant Viennese composers of symphonies include Johann Baptist Vanhal, Karl Ditters von Dittersdorfand Leopold Hoffmann. The most important symphonists of the latter part of the 18th century are Joseph Haydn,who wrote at least 108 symphonies over the course of 36 years (Webster and Feder 2001), and Wolfgang AmadeusMozart, who wrote at least 56 symphonies in 24 years (Eisen and Sadie 2001).

19th centuryWith the rise of established professional orchestras, the symphony assumed a more prominent place in concert lifebetween approximately 1790 and 1820.Beethoven dramatically expanded the symphony. His Symphony No. 3 (the Eroica), has a scale and emotional range that sets it apart from earlier works. His Symphony No. 5 is arguably the most famous symphony ever written. His Symphony No. 9 takes the unprecedented step (for a symphony) of including parts for vocal soloists and choir in the last movement, making it a choral symphony (however, a minor composer, Daniel Steibelt had written a piano concerto with a choral finale four years earlier, in 1820). Hector Berlioz, who coined the term "choral symphony", built on this concept in his "dramatic symphony" Roméo et Juliette while explaining his intent in the five-paragraph

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introduction in that work's score (Berlioz 1857, 1). In Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, a program work, thecomposer inserted a "storm" section before the final movement; Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, a work famous forits exceptional orchestration is also a programme work and has both a march and a waltz and five movements insteadof the customary four.Notable early-romantic symphonists include Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Schumann. Late-romanticsymphonists include Bruckner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns, Franck, and Dvořák.By the end of the 19th century, some French organists (e.g., Charles-Marie Widor and his students CharlesTournemire and Louis Vierne) named some of their organ compositions symphony: Their instruments (many built byAristide Cavaillé-Coll) allowed an orchestral approach (Kaye 2001; Smith 2001; Thomson 2001).

20th centuryAt the beginning of the 20th century, Gustav Mahler wrote long, large-scale symphonies. His Eighth Symphony, forexample, was composed in 1906 and is nicknamed the "Symphony of a Thousand" because of the forces required toperform it. The 20th century also saw further diversification in the style and content of works that composers labeledsymphonies (Anon. 2008). Some composers, including Dmitri Shostakovich, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Carl Nielsen,continued to write in the traditional four-movement form, while other composers took different approaches: JeanSibelius' Symphony No. 7, his last, is in one movement, whereas Alan Hovhaness's Symphony No. 9, SaintVartan—originally op. 80, changed to op. 180—composed in 1949–50, is in twenty-four.There remained, however, certain tendencies: symphonies were still almost always orchestral works. Designating awork a "symphony" still implied a degree of sophistication and seriousness of purpose. The word sinfonietta cameinto use to designate a work that was "lighter" than a symphony, such as Sergei Prokofiev's Sinfonietta.There has also been diversification in the size of orchestra required. While Mahler's symphonies call for extravagantresources, Arnold Schoenberg's two Chamber Symphonies, opp. 9 and 38a, and the Chamber Symphonies by FranzSchreker, George Enescu, and John Adams, composed in 1906, 1906–39, 1916, 1954, and 1992, respectively, arescored for chamber groups.The English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji wrote, alongside orchestral and orchestral-choral symphonies(none of which had been performed by the end of the century), symphonies for organ in the French tradition, as wellas seven symphonies for solo piano: six numbered ones and a Symphonie nocturne (Rapoport 2001).In the 20th and early 21st century symphonies have been written for wind ensemble and band. Notable examples arePaul Hindemith's Symphony in B-flat for Band from 1951 (Hansen 2005, 95), and Alan Hovhaness's SymphoniesNos. 4, op. 165, 7, "Nanga Parvat", op. 175, 14, "Ararat", op. 194, and 23, "Ani", op. 249—composed in 1958, 1959,1961, and 1972, respectively—which are symphonic works for school and college wind bands.

Sources• Anon. 2008. "Symphony [2]." The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev., edited by Michael Kennedy,

associate editor Joyce Bourne. Oxford Music Online (Accessed 24 July 2008) (Subscription access)• Berlioz, Hector. 1857. Roméo et Juliette: Sinfonie dramatique: avec choeurs, solos de chant et prologue en

récitatif choral, op. 17. Partition de piano par Th. Ritter. Winterthur: J. Rieter-Biedermann.• Brown, Howard Mayer. 2001. "Symphonia". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition,

edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.• Bukofzer, Manfred F. 1947. Music in the Baroque Era: From Monteverdi to Bach. New York: W. W. Norton.• Eisen, Cliff, and Stanley Sadie. 2001. "Mozart (3): (Johann Chrysostum) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart". The New

Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London:Macmillan.

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• Hansen, Richard K. 2005. The American Wind Band: A Cultural History. Chicago, Ill: GIA Publications. ISBN1579994679.

• Jackson, Timothy L. 1999. Tchaikovsky, Symphony no. 6 (Pathétique). Cambridge Music Handbooks. Cambridgeand New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052164111X (cloth); ISBN 0521646766 (pbk).

• Kaye, Nicholas. 2001. "Tournemire, Charles (Arnould)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians,second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.

• Larue, Jan, Mark Evan Bonds, Stephen Walsh, and Charles Wilson. 2001. "Symphony". The New GroveDictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: MacmillanPublishers.

• Marcuse, Sybil. 1975. Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary. Revised edition. The Norton Library.New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-00758-8.

• Newman, William S. 1972. The Sonata in the Baroque Era. New York: W. W. Norton.• Prout, Ebenezer. 1895. Applied Forms: A Sequel to 'Musical Form', third edition. Augener's Edition, no. 9183.

London: Augener. Facsimile reprint, New York: AMS Press, 1971. ISBN 0404051383• Rapoport, Paul. 2001. "Sorabji, Kaikhosru Shapurji [Leon Dudley]". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and

Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.• Schubert, Giselher. 2001. "Hindemith, Paul." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition,

edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.• Smith, Rollin. 2001. "Vierne, Louis(-Victor-Jules)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second

edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.• Stainer, John, and Francis W Galpin. 1914. "Wind Instruments - Sumponyah; Sampunia; Sumphonia; Symphonia

[3]". In The Music of the Bible, with Some Account of the Development of Modern Musical Instruments fromAncient Types, new edition. London: Novello and Co.; New York: H.W. Gray Co.

• Stein, Leon. 1979. Structure & Style: The Study and Analysis of Musical Forms, expanded edition. Princeton,N.J.: Summy-Birchard Music. ISBN 0874871646.

• Thomson, Andrew. 2001. "Widor, Charles-Marie(-Jean-Albert)", 2. Works. The New Grove Dictionary of Musicand Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.

• Webster, James, and Georg Feder. 2001. "Haydn, (Franz) Joseph". The New Grove Dictionary of Music andMusicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.

External links• A Chronology of the Symphony 1730-2005 [4] A list of selected major symphonies composed 1800-2005, with

composers of 18th century symphonies• The Symphony - Interactive Guide [5]

• A fairly detailed list of symphonists, mostly active after 1800 - Part 1 [6]

• A fairly detailed list of symphonists, mostly active after 1800 - Part 2 [7]

• A fairly detailed list of symphonists, mostly active after 1800 - Part 3 [8]

• A fairly detailed list of symphonists, mostly active after 1800 - Part 4 [9]

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References[1] http:/ / www. oldandsold. com/ articles22/ music-bible-8. shtml[2] http:/ / www. oxfordmusiconline. com/ subscriber/ article/ opr/ t237/ e10019[3] http:/ / www. oldandsold. com/ articles22/ music-bible-7. shtml[4] http:/ / www. kylegann. com/ Symphony. html[5] http:/ / library. thinkquest. org/ 22673/ index. html[6] http:/ / ttle. perso. neuf. fr/ Symphonies/ symphonistes_a-d. htm[7] http:/ / ttle. perso. neuf. fr/ Symphonies/ symphonistes_e-j. htm[8] http:/ / ttle. perso. neuf. fr/ Symphonies/ symphonistes_k-o. htm[9] http:/ / ttle. perso. neuf. fr/ Symphonies/ symphonistes_p-z. htm

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