Symphony

What it means

The symphony is a multi-movement work for orchestra. Since the eighteenth century it has been regarded as one of the central and most demanding genres of instrumental music.

The word comes from the Greek “symphonia” (“sounding together”) and at first denoted quite various combinations of sounds and instrumental pieces; only later did it become a genre name.

Musical use

In the Viennese Classical era, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven developed the four-movement layout: a fast first movement, usually in sonata form, a slow second movement, a minuet or scherzo as the third, and a fast finale. This layout is a common pattern, not a law, and many works depart from it.

In the nineteenth century the symphony grew larger and more expressive, for instance in Brahms, Bruckner, and Mahler; sometimes voices are added, as in Beethoven’s Ninth. Alongside these arose programmatic symphonies that tell an extra-musical story, as in Berlioz.

The symphony should be distinguished from the concerto, in which a solo instrument faces the orchestra, from the sonata, which is written for one or a few instruments, and from the symphonic poem, which is in one movement and follows a program.

Performance practice

When you play a symphony in an orchestra, know the layout of the movements and where your part carries and where it accompanies. Listen to a recording beforehand to recognize connections between the movements.