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    A Brief Look at The Evolution of The Classical Symphony: Music Terminology Reference

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    Ana Petrovic
    The document provides an overview of the evolution of the classical symphony. It describes how the symphony originated as a short orchestral work with three movements in the 1600s. By the mid-1700s, composers had expanded it to four movements. Major composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and others refined and transformed the symphony, expanding its scope and expression. Beethoven especially pushed boundaries with his later symphonies by adding voices and breaking conventions. The symphony continued to evolve with later composers throughout the 19th century.

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    A Brief Look at The Evolution of The Classical Symphony: Music Terminology Reference

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    Ana Petrovic
    44 views2 pages
    The document provides an overview of the evolution of the classical symphony. It describes how the symphony originated as a short orchestral work with three movements in the 1600s. By the mid-1700s, composers had expanded it to four movements. Major composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and others refined and transformed the symphony, expanding its scope and expression. Beethoven especially pushed boundaries with his later symphonies by adding voices and breaking conventions. The symphony continued to evolve with later composers throughout the 19th century.

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    klasicna muzika

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    Simfonija

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    The document provides an overview of the evolution of the classical symphony. It describes how the symphony originated as a short orchestral work with three movements in the 1600s. By the mid-1700s, composers had expanded it to four movements. Major composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and others refined and transformed the symphony, expanding its scope and expression. Beethoven especially pushed boundaries with his later symphonies by adding voices and breaking conventions. The symphony continued to evolve with later composers throughout the 19th century.

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    44 views2 pages

    A Brief Look at The Evolution of The Classical Symphony: Music Terminology Reference

    Uploaded by

    Ana Petrovic
    The document provides an overview of the evolution of the classical symphony. It describes how the symphony originated as a short orchestral work with three movements in the 1600s. By the mid-1700s, composers had expanded it to four movements. Major composers like Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and others refined and transformed the symphony, expanding its scope and expression. Beethoven especially pushed boundaries with his later symphonies by adding voices and breaking conventions. The symphony continued to evolve with later composers throughout the 19th century.

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    Music Terminology Reference

    A Brief Look at the Evolution of the Classical Symphony


    (Source: Oxford Dictionary of Music, Oxford Press)

    By Tom Heaton

    When you hear the word "symphony," what is conjured in your mind? Do you think of a serious, large-
    scale orchestral work, usually consisting of four distinct parts? If so, you're not alone. The word itself
    comes from Greek origins and it means, literally, "sounding together." In the 1600s, the term "sinfonia"
    was the equivalent of a modern-day overture: a short orchestral work often consisting of three short
    sections or movements in the fast-slow-fast form. This definition was still applicable in the early 1700s
    although Handel used the term to designate an orchestral interlude in oratorios (such as "Messiah"). By
    the mid-1700s, composers such as Johann Christian Bach, C. P. E. Bach, William Boyce and Karl Stamitz
    started adding a fourth movement, so that a symphony was comprised of an opening movement (usually
    fast), the second movement was slow, the third movement a rondo or minuet (between slow and fast)
    and the fourth movement, which could be a combination of slow and fast. These composers made
    innovations in dynamics and the exploration of themes and harmonic idioms.

    The symphony was about to undergo incredible refining over the next 150 years. Franz Josef Haydn is
    considered the "father of the symphony," certainly not because he invented the form but because he
    elevated the form to a lofty level over the course of his 104+ symphonies. He was unquestionably an
    influence on Mozart who then took the baton and carried the form forward, as witnessed in his final three
    symphonies (#39, #40 in G Minor and #41, "Jupiter," all of which were composed in an astonishingly
    short time of six weeks in 1788). Haydn proved that he still considered himself a student because Mozart's
    last works influenced him to the heights of his "London" symphonies (#92-104, written for his trips to
    England's capitol).

    Beethoven's first two symphonies exhibited the impact of the Haydn and Mozart years. Then, starting with
    his Third ("Eroica"), Beethoven began to break the mold, only to reform it and break it again and again!
    The music world had never heard the kind of symphony that he presented in his Third, Fifth, Sixth and
    Ninth! It was in the Ninth Symphony that human voices were added for the first time ever to a work of
    such serious and broad scope. The ripple of this development is still being felt today.

    Franz Schubert, himself no slouch when it came to composition, felt that none of his music could be
    compared to that of Beethoven - yet the "Unfinished" (Sym. #8) and "Great C Major" (Sym. #9) turned
    heads throughout Europe and announced that the symphonic form had not been thoroughly explored.

    Felix Mendelssohn and Johannes Brahms would continue the exploration with respected compositions of
    their own. The "Symphonie Fantastique" by Berlioz owes its existence to Beethoven's Sixth ("Pastoral"). It
    also smashed the then existing boudaries for what most thought a symphony could or should be. The
    floodgates were literally flung wide open and through those gates came Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Vaughan
    Williams, Shostakovich and Gustav Mahler, the scale of whose mammoth works dwarfs the symphony of
    the Baroque era.

    If it is anything, music is fluid and constantly changing. It should therefore be no surprise that some of its
    terms change over time, transforming themselves into something completely unlike what it was before -
    like a caterpillar changes into a butterfly. The only difference is that the symphonic butterfly may still
    evolve and probably will!

    Music Terminology Reference

    Types of musical compositions


    (Source: Classical Music, Phil J. Goulding)
    Type of Definition
    composition

    Concerto Literallly means "large concert". This was perhaps the most popular instrumental form of
    Grosso the Baroque era. The typical concerto grosso involved four instruments: two violins, a
    viola and a cello. There might be another instrument that would be given a solo role,
    such as a trumpet or harpsichord.

    Examples of a concerto grosso: The Brandenburg Concertos by Bach.

    Concerto The traditional concerto consists of a string ensemble, larger than that of a concerto
    grosso, and that features a solo instrument. The Classical period began to include other
    instrumental sections in addition to strings. By the time the Romantic period was in full
    bloom, entire orchestras were used in conjunction with the solo instrument.

    Examples of a concerto: Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5 (Emperor); Mozart: Piano


    Concerto #21 (Elvira Madigan); Haydn: Trumpet Concerto in E Flat; Brahms: Violin
    Concerto.

    Sonata This term usually denotes work for solo instrument (e.g., piano) although you will find
    pieces for violin and piano that are also called sonata. The sonata form enjoyed
    tremendous popularity during the Classical period. Sonatas are typically three
    movements in length, with a fast first and third movements. The second movement is
    generally slow and in a different key from the other two movements.

    Examples of a sonata: Beethoven: Piano Sonata #14 (Moonlight); Mozart: Piano


    Sonata in C, K. 545.

    Symphony Although its definition has evolved over the last hundred years, the Classical symphony
    is a large-scale orchestral work which usually consisted of four distinct and separate
    movements. The first and last movements would have a relatively fast tempo; the
    second would be slow and the third would in the form of a minuet or scherzo (both
    dances). Orchestral demands increased from the Baroque period: indeed, Mozart was
    the first to prepare a separate score for the woodwinds. By Mahler's time, a symphony
    might utilize a chorus and a full array of percussion instruments as well as the usual
    strings, brass and woodwinds.

    Examples of Classical period symphonies: Any of Haydn's London Symphonies (Nos.


    94-104), Mendelssohn's Third, Fourth and Fifth Symphonies, Mozart's mature
    symphonies (Nos. 25-41) or Beethoven's First or Second.

    Examples of Romantic period symphonies: Beethoven's 6th and 9th, the Symphonie
    Fantastique by Berlioz or Tchaikovsky's 6th.

    Tone Poem Also known as a symphonic poem, this is a work for orchestra which attempts to tell
    some type of story in one movement but with contrasting sections. These types of pieces
    are almost always based upon some literary work such as Victor Hugo, Goethe, Dante
    and Shakespeare. Tone poems, as such, did not exist until the Romantic period.

    Examples of a tone poem: Smetana's "Ma Vlast", Liszt's "Les Preludes", Tchaikovsky's
    "Romeo and Juliet"

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