Symphony

To the layperson classical music can only mean one thing: the Symphony, (usually Beethoven`s Fifth). For the past 300 hundred years the Symphony has been the pre-eminent form in orchestral music. The word 'symphony' means 'to play in concert' i.e. with more than one musical voice or part and is not necessarily an instrumental work. An example of this is Heinrich Schutz's Symphoniae sacrae which are scored for a capella choir. Nevertheless ever since the 18th century the term Symphony has been more widely applied to orchestral works and that is how we principally understand the term today. The Symphony has its origins in the Sinfonia, or Overture, of Opera. Eventually they acquired a life of their own in concert performance and in the process developed a sequence of movements (at the beginning usually three) similar to the orchestral suite which followed the typical plan of quick-slow-quick. Haydn is usually called the 'father' of the Symphony (although he did not actually invent it) and was a major catalyst in its development from an entertainment to a form that could carry a composer's weightest artistic statements. This process happened at the same time as the development of the sonata form and enabled the composer to create more sophisticated musical arguments. Under Haydn's influence the Symphony split into four movements - Allegro, Slow, Minuet (a type of dance, later replaced by the more frenetic Scherzo) and concluding Allego/Rondo. Through the work of Haydn, Mozart and especially Beethoven the Classical Symphony became one of the greatest achievements in Western Music. Beethoven's nine Symphonies (especially the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Ninth) were one of the major catalysts of the Romantic movement in music. In the Romantic era the Symphony assumed the musical hegemony it would retain right through to the late twentieth century. As the nineteenth century progressed the Symphony typically became grander in concept .Ultimately a split would appear between those who still adhered to classical restraint (Brahms) and those who conceived their music on an altogether more epic scale (Bruckner). Mahler and Sibelius' Symhphonies were the summation of the Romantic Symphony and the beginnings of the Modern. After Mahler the Symphony became ever more diverse, reflecting the pluralistic nature of the music-making in the 20th Century. The most dominant symphonic voices of the twentieth century were Mahler and Shostakovich; while in America Aaron Copland, Roy Harris and Willian Schuman created a whole new symphonic tradition. At the beginning of the twenty-first century symphonies are still being composed but the Symphony form itself is no longer seen as a priority by many key composers despite its continuing popularity in the concert hall which, it must be said, is unlikely to ever fade.