Symphonic
Stylistically assigned to the symphony.
What it means
Symphonic means what belongs to the symphony or corresponds to its layout and effect. The symphony is the multi-movement large form for orchestra that took shape in the eighteenth century and became the most esteemed genre of instrumental music in the nineteenth. “Symphonic” therefore designates not only membership of this genre but also a particular way of composing and making music.
Musical use
Features counted as symphonic composing are the scale of the layout, thinking in wide tension arcs, and the working-out of few themes over long stretches. A symphonic movement builds itself up from its material, instead of stringing together details; motivic-thematic work is the preferred procedure for this. Added to this is an orchestral texture in which the instruments do not merely accompany but take part in the thematic events in changing roles.
The term is also used outside the symphony. One speaks of the symphonic poem, a single-movement orchestral work relating to an extra-musical model; of symphonic wind-band music, when a wind orchestra plays works of this ambition; and, in a figurative sense, of symphonic traits in chamber music or piano music, when these are conceived orchestrally.
Bear in mind that the expression is often used as a value judgement — in the sense of grand, serious, demanding. As a style designation it is therefore imprecise.
The adjective describes music that recalls the symphony in layout and sound: a large orchestral texture, expansive forms, motivic working-out. One also speaks of symphonic wind-band music for large wind orchestras. In rock music, symphonic designates pieces with an orchestral arrangement or a large layout.
Performance practice
In symphonic music, think in long arcs: climaxes are prepared over many bars, and restraint at the right point is often more important than force. In the orchestra, listen to whichever voice is currently carrying the thematic material, and hold back if it is not yours. And get an overview of the score, even if you play only one part.