Symphony

I

Introduction

Symphony (Greek, syn, “together”; phōnē,”sound”; hence, “a sounding together”), in music, orchestral composition consisting usually of four contrasting sections, or movements. The term was first applied in the 16th century to the instrumental interludes in such musical forms as the cantata, opera, and oratorio. A noteworthy example is the “Pastoral Symphony” from Handel's Messiah (1742). The symphony in the modern sense of the term arose in the early 18th century.

II

Italy

About 1700, Italian opera overtures (called sinfonias) were stabilized in the format of three movements in the order fast-slow-fast, with the last movement often being a minuet. Not thematically related to the operas they introduced, these overtures were often performed as concert pieces, and Italian composers such as Tomaso Albinoni, Giovanni Battista Sammartini, and Antonio Vivaldi began writing independent sinfonias in the same format. Because symphonies soon came to use sonata form in the first movement and often in others as well, the various precursors of sonata form also figured in the development of the symphony. A third important influence came from Neapolitan intermezzos (short comic operas), in which, for clarity of text, melodies consisted of combinations of short, clear motifs supported melodies by uncomplicated harmonies (as opposed to the elaborate and harmonically complex accompaniment often found in earlier music). This development provided the composer with raw material to recombine, reharmonize, and otherwise develop within sonata form.

III

Germany and Austria

By 1740 the symphony had become the principal genre of orchestral music, and important centres of composition arose in Mannheim, Berlin, and Vienna. The Bohemian composer Johann Stamitz brought the orchestra at Mannheim to internationally acclaimed brilliance and used its resources to the fullest in his symphonies. He was one of the earliest to add a fourth movement, a rapid finale following the minuet, and in his sonata-form movements second themes are often of sharply contrasting character to first themes.

In Berlin the composers Johann Gottlieb Graun and C. P. E. Bach (son of J. S. Bach) wrote three-movement symphonies with few sharp thematic contrasts but with strong emphasis on development and emotional expressiveness.

Four-movement symphonies predominated in Vienna, with the first movement being given special prominence. Wind instruments were more fully exploited, and special care was given to melodic integration; for example, a transition between themes might make use of short segments from a main theme. Among important Viennese composers were Georg Matthias Monn and Georg Christoph Wagenseil. Also influential was another of J. S. Bach's sons, J. C. Bach, who studied in Italy and worked in London and whose symphonies are full of graceful Italian melody.

IV

Haydn and Mozart

The Austrian composer Joseph Haydn, the first of the great Viennese symphonists, experimented continually with new devices and techniques in orchestral composition. He composed 107 symphonies in which he greatly lengthened and expanded the symphonic form. Slow introductions often precede first movements; sonata movements often avoid thematic contrast; finales, either in sonata or rondo form, have a vigour and weight not found in the works of earlier composers. He frequently used counterpoint (interwoven melodic lines), integrating it into symphonic style. These characteristic traits predominate even in symphonies known for a special feature, such as the gradual departure of the musicians in the Farewell (1772).

Haydn and his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart considerably influenced each other in symphonic technique. One of the greatest masters of the symphony, Mozart displayed in his 41 symphonies unsurpassed richness of imagination. Among the most famous are the Linz (No. 36, 1783), Prague (No. 38, 1786), and Haffner (No. 35, 1782); his last three, the E-flat Major, G Minor, and Jupiter (all 1788), raised the symphony from an entertainment genre to a vehicle for profound expression.