Symphony

Symphony, in Music, a form of orchestral composition. The name was originally applied to the purely instrumental portions of works primarily vocal, under it being included overtures to operas and oratorios as well as ritornelli and the introductions to choruses and arias. It received its first restrictive meaning towards the end of the 17th century when, under Lulli and Alessandro Scarlatti, the various instrumental pieces in the operas began to grow in importance: it was then reserved for the opening section or overture, which consisted of a series of contrasted movements without definite rule as to their number or arrangement. Subsequently a plan, attributed to Lulli and known as the 'ouverture à la manière française,' prescribed three movements, the first and third slow and the middle one quick and bright. Its place was eventually taken by the 'Italian overture,' in which the three movements were retained but in inverse order, the first and last being quick and the second slow. This form was identical with that of the clavier-sonata, to which, however, the overture long remained inferior in respect of the internal structure of its movements, few composers caring to show themselves at their best in pieces to which talkative audiences paid little heed. As a further result of such inattention it seemed to be forgotten that the overture should fitly foreshadow the work which it preceded: its material, consequently, became distinct and independent, so that it was only natural that the best examples should in course of time find their way into the concert-room, where they met with a more courteous reception. A new outlet being thus provided, original works were soon forthcoming; and with the liberation of the symphony from its operatic surroundings its development as an abstract form of art may be said to have begun. Meanwhile the reinforcement of the ordinary stringed orchestra by certain wind-instruments introduced fresh possibilities of expression which reacted on the material of which the movements were composed. In some of Stamitz' symphonies a fourth movement is also found in the shape of a minuet and trio; and with this the external outline reaches completion. It was not, however, until 1788, the year in which Mozart wrote his greatest examples, that the symphony attained the rank of an important work of art. In these three works, the E flat, G minor, and C major symphonies, an extraordinary advance is visible both in expression and in richness of instrumental effect. Haydn, though born nearly twenty years before Mozart, wrote his most important symphonies during the eighteen years he survived his younger contemporary. But the symphony was brought to its most perfect stage of development by Beethoven. Not only did he determine the constitution of the orchestra and expand and elaborate the existing features of the different movements (see BEETHOVEN, Vol. II. p. 40), but to all this he added in his subject-matter a depth of human emotion such as hitherto had never come within the scope of musical expression. The essential qualities of his music are nobility of thought allied to perfection of detail, and a true balance between material and form. The Eroica, C minor, and A major stand as the most perfect examples of the classical symphony, and also mark the close of the classical period. For, as the perfection of the symphony was due to the increased value of the subject-matter, it was natural when the emotional domain of music became still more extended that composers should find themselves somewhat circumscribed by the limitations of the old form. Beethoven himself is an instance of this, for in the 9th Symphony he substitutes for the usual finale an elaborate choral setting of one of Schiller's odes. Succeeding writers have mostly aimed at a compromise between their poetical instincts and their regard for conventional rule. Among such may be mentioned Schubert, Spohr, Berlioz, Raff, and Schumann, the work of the last being the most important. Mendelssohn was content with the true classical form. The same may be said of Brahms, who, however, has enriched it with so many interesting and characteristic features as to constitute an important departure. See the article by Dr C. Hubert H. Parry in Grove's Dictionary of Music.