The Italian operatic overture, called sinfonia, was standardized by Alessandro Scarlatti at the end of the 17th cent. into three sections, the first and last being fast and the middle one slower in tempo. Since these sinfonie had little musical connection with the operas they preceded, they could be played alone in concert. It became customary in the early 18th cent. to write independent orchestral pieces in the same style, which were the first real symphonies.
G. B. Sammartini wrote a number of works that influenced and partially defined symphonic form and style. Johann Stamitz, who was leader of the Mannheim group of composers, was one of the first to add a second lyrical theme in the first movement and to expand the symphony's three movements to four. Other important contributions to the development of the symphony were made by C. P. E. Bach, Johann Christian Bach, C. H. Graun, and F. J. Gossec.
It was Haydn and Mozart, however, who synthesized the techniques of all preceding schools into the Viennese classical symphony. This composition consisted of four movements—the first, a fast sonata-form movement; the second, a slow movement; the third, a dance, usually a minuet; and the fourth, a fast finale, usually a rondo and frequently a combination of sonata form and rondo. Beethoven expanded the dimensions of this form and intensified the element of personal expression far beyond the styles of Haydn and Mozart. He also initiated the use of a chorus in the symphony.
After Beethoven the classical ideal was continued in the symphonies of Schubert, Mendelssohn, and Schumann, although the classical elements are often overshadowed by romantic traits—repetition in place of actual thematic development, profusion of themes rather than severely limited thematic material, and concern for mood and atmosphere in orchestral color and tone painting. Mainly through the device of thematic transformation, Berlioz adapted the symphonic style and form to program music in his Symphonie fantastique, a procedure that was transformed by Liszt into the symphonic poem and brought to its height by Richard Strauss.
Reacting strongly to the romantic orchestral style, Brahms revived the classical model as defined by Beethoven. Although his harmony, melodic formulas, and use of orchestral color are romantic, Brahms's formal designs and developmental procedures carry on and elaborate on the classical style. Bruckner combined classical formal outlines with the chromatic harmonies and extended melodic structures of the Wagnerian style, and his symphonies influenced those of Mahler in their huge orchestral dimensions. Other important romantic symphonists were Dvořák and Tchaikovsky in the 19th cent. and Sibelius in the 20th cent.
The symphony has been treated with unprecedented freedom by contemporary composers, as illustrated by Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, Bloch's Israel, which includes voices, Webern's Symphony for nine solo instruments, Hindemith's Symphony for Concert Band, and Roy Harris's Folksong Symphony and Symphony for Voices. Other important American symphonists are Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, Walter Piston, Roger Sessions, Henry Cowell, Randall Thompson, and Howard Hanson.
See R. Simpson, ed., The Symphony (2 vol., 1972); D. F. Tovey, Essays in Musical Analysis: Symphonies (1935, repr. 1972); R. Nadeau, The Symphony (rev. ed. 1974); H. Chappell, Sounds Magnificent (1986).
The New York Symphony Orchestra—the other component of the merged Philharmonic-Symphony—was founded by Leopold Damrosch in 1878 and conducted by him until 1885. His son Walter, who succeeded him, pioneered the performance of new works and brought symphonic music to many American communities for the first time. In 1920 this orchestra toured Europe, the first American group to do so.
After the 1928 merger Toscanini conducted until he was succeeded by John Barbirolli (1937-43), Artur Rodzinsky (1943-47), Bruno Walter (1947-49), Leopold Stokowski (1949-50), and Dmitri Mitropoulos (1949-58). Leonard Bernstein became musical director in 1958, retiring in 1969. He was succeeded by Pierre Boulez in 1971, who was, in turn, succeeded by Zubin Mehta (1978-91), Kurt Masur (1991-2002), and Lorin Maazel (2002-).
Now commonly known as the New York Philharmonic, the orchestra plays summer concerts of a more popular nature in New York City's parks. It has made many recordings and toured in many parts of the world. In 1962 the orchestra moved into Philharmonic Hall, now Avery Fisher Hall, at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and it now plays some 200 concerts each year.
See H. Shanet, Philharmonia: A History of New York's Orchestra (1974).
See M. A. De Wolfe Howe, The Boston Symphony Orchestra (1931); H. E. Dickson, Gentlemen, More Dolce, Please (1969).
Long musical composition for orchestra, usually in several movements. The term (meaning “sounding together”) came to be the standard name for instrumental episodes, and especially overtures, in early Italian opera. The late-17th-century Neapolitan opera overture, or sinfonia, as established especially by Alessandro Scarlatti circa 1780, had three movements, their tempos being fast-slow-fast. Soon such overtures began to be performed by themselves in concert settings, like another forerunner of the symphony, the concerto grosso. The two merged in the early 18th century in the symphonies of Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700/01–75). In circa 1750 German and Viennese composers began to add a minuet movement. Joseph Haydn, the “father of the symphony,” wrote more than 100 symphonies of remarkable originality, intensity, and brilliance in the years 1755–95; since Haydn, the symphony has been regarded as the most important orchestral genre. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote about 35 original symphonies. Ludwig van Beethoven's nine symphonies endowed the genre with enormous weight and ambition. Later symphonists include Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms,
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