Estimated reading time 4 minutes
Table of Contents
Symphony Meaning and Definition #1: Tons of Fun Pieces
Do you want to know the symphony definition and meaning? Would you like a quick guide on where to start listening? The orchestra has a rich history spanning hundreds of years with tons of fun pieces to listen to and enjoy. Keep reading Symphony Meaning: Definition, Videos, and a Quick Guide to dip your toes in the orchestral waters.
This article uses musical terms. For definitions, see the Glossary at the end of the post.
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Symphony Meaning and Definition #2: What Does the Term Symphony Mean?
Symphony Meaning and Definition:
- A symphony is a composition written for a large ensemble of musical instruments called an orchestra and usually contains four or more movements.
What’s an orchestra?
- Depending on the historical period, an orchestra can contain as few as forty instruments and as many as one hundred or more.
- It typically has woodwind, brass, string, and percussion instruments and sometimes other instruments such as piano, harp, or celesta.
- Because of its size, a conductor leads the ensemble, helping to keep time and shape the dynamics.
What’s a movement?
- A movement is essentially a distinct composition within the structure of the larger work.
- However, all the movements are related by key, and normally each movement will have a predetermined tempo, form, and time signature.
- Sometimes movements will also be related by motifs. For example: Beethoven’s fifth symphony.
For information on motifs: click here.
Video: Beethoven Symphony No. 5
Symphony Meaning and Definition #3: Do You Want a Quick Listening Guide?
Now that we’ve covered the symphony’s meaning and definition, let’s take a quick look at how it developed.
Baroque Period (1600 - 1750):
The orchestra’s beginnings date back to baroque period opera overtures. Later, Bach and Handel would both help to lay the groundwork for what would become orchestral music.
Video: Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2
Classical Period (1750 - 1820):
Video: Haydn Symphony No. 104
Multimovement works, such as you’ll find in orchestral music, grew out of dance suites:
- A dance suite was a collection of dances that would be played at balls and other social gatherings of the nobility and landed gentry.
- One of the early multimovement works was the sonata, which had three movements that had the tempos: allegro (fast), andante (slower), allegro.
- The first movement’s form (known as the sonata-allegro form) was particularly influential. It is used in symphonies, concertos, quartets, and even in contemporary film scoring.
- For more on the sonata-allegro form: click here.
- Conversely, a symphony has four movements: Allegro, Andante or Adagio (slow), Minuet or Scherzo, Allegro. Also, they’re usually in closely related keys.
Typical orchestration:
Woodwinds:
- 2 flutes
- 2 oboes
- 2 clarinets
- 2 bassoons
Brass:
- 2 horns
- 2 trumpets
Percussion:
- 2 timpani
Strings:
- 14 violins
- 6 violas
- 4 cellos
- 2 double basses
Want to see these instruments? Click here to do a search.
Noteworthy composers:
- Franz Joseph Haydn: Known as the “Father of the Symphony,” he composed over one hundred symphonies, helping to establish their form and structure.
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: He took what Haydn had started and built on it, refining the classical orchestral style.
- Ludwig van Beethoven: He pushed boundaries and paved the way for the romantic period orchestral style. For example, one of his innovations was to add a chorus to the last movement of his Ninth symphony.
- Carl Czerny
- Carl Maria von Weber
- Luigi Cherubini
- Michael Haydn
Hint: Try searching for these composers on YouTube.
Video: Beethoven Symphony No. 9, Mvt. 4
Romantic Period (1820 - 1910):
Video: Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique, Mvt. 4
In the romantic period, orchestras became larger, and symphonies became longer.
- Composers started to relax tonality (the music’s sense of key center) which was an important aspect of classical period music.
- In addition, they used a greater variety of instrumental tone-colors.
- Moreover, programmatic music became common.
What’s programmatic music?
- It’s music that tells a story. Hector Berlioz did this in his groundbreaking Symphonie Fantastique where he literally wrote the story in the concert program (thus the name).
- However, programmatic elements can also be suggested by the title of the piece, like with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. Or be suggested by vocal text, as you’ll find in Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn.
- Programmatic stand-alone overtures and symphonic tone poems became popular at this time.
Typical orchestration:
Woodwinds:
- 1 piccolo
- 3 flutes
- 3 oboes
- 1 English horn
- 3 clarinets
- 1 bass clarinet
- 3 bassoons
- 1 contrabassoon
Brass:
- 4 horns
- 4 Wagner tubas/baritone horns
- 4 trumpets
- 3 trombones
- 1 bass trombone
- 1 tuba
Percussion:
- 1 gong
- 1 tubular bells
- 2 cymbals
- 1 glockenspiel
- 1 xylophone
- 1 bass drum
- 1 snare drum
- 2 timpani
Strings:
- 30 violins
- 12 violas
- 10 cellos
- 8 double basses
Optional:
- 2 harps
- 1 piano
- 1 celesta
Noteworthy composers:
- Antonin Dvorak
- Bedrich Smetana
- Camille Saint-Saens
- Felix Mendelssohn
- Franz Schubert
- Gustav Holst
- Gustav Mahler
- Johannes Brahms
- Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
- Richard Strauss
- Richard Wagner
- Robert Schumann
Video: Mahler Des Knaben Wunderhorn
20th and 21st Centuries:
Video: Copland Symphony No. 3
Diverse musical styles:
- Modern orchestral music’s most common feature is its staggering level of diversity. No two composers were doing the exact same thing, because everyone wanted to be the next Beethoven.
- However, the compositions generally started to strain or even break the limits of tonality. Conversely, some composers, such as Aaron Copeland and Igor Stravinsky, later revisited tonality in a modified neoclassical format.
- In the modern period, the orchestras didn’t grow any larger and, in many cases, even shank in size.
Noteworthy composers:
- Aaron Copland
- Benjamin Britten
- Charels Ives
- Claude Debussy
- Erich Wolfgang Korngold
- George Gershwin
- Igor Stravinsky
- John Williams
- Leonard Bernstein
- Maurice Ravel
- Philip Glass
- Quincy Jones
- Sergei Prokofiev
Video: Britten The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Symphony Meaning and Definition #4: Final Thoughts
Here’s a summary of Symphony Meaning: Definition, Videos, and a Quick Guide:
- A symphony is a large work for orchestra.
- It usually has four or more movements, though shorter overtures and tone poems evolved out of the symphonic tradition.
- Across the span of “recent” music history, orchestral music has been an important compositional medium. However, it has changed considerably to conform to the trends of each music period.
Related Posts:
- Exploring the Music Themes and Leitmotifs of Star Wars
- Cadence Meaning and Definition (Examples for Music and Language)
- D’you Want Some Music Tips and Tricks I’ve Learned Over the Years?
© 2024 Geoffrey Keith
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