When it comes to Symphony, a lot of people are not sure what exactly it means: Let’s try to learn a bit more about symphony.
The word symphony can mean two things in classical music (for those who are not sure if it refers to an orchestra or music):
- Symphony refers to large-scale musical work written with a certain structure.
- Symphony could also refer to a symphony orchestra, a group of musicians who perform symphonies.
Example: “We went to the symphony last night” (refers to an orchestra that mostly plays symphonies) and “they played a wonderful symphony” (refers to the musical work).
Symphony – Piece of Music
In Western classical music, a symphony is a lengthy (extended) musical composition written by music composers for the orchestra.
Here are some of its main characteristics.
- A Symphony consists of multiple sections or movements (usually four), with the first movement being in the sonata form (music theorists refer to this structure as a “classical” symphony, although classical masters like Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, did deviate from this structure for some of their compositions.)
A symphony will typically have the following movements: First movement: Brisk and lively. Second movement: Slow and lyrical. Third movement: Dancy and rhythmic (usually written in 3/4 time). Final movement: Fast and furious
Read: What is a Concerto in classical music.
- Around 30–100 musicians are used to play Symphonies, which are scored for string (violin, viola, cello and double bass), brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.
- Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their instrument.
- Some symphonies may use vocal parts as well (e.g., Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony).
Read: All about Ludwig Van Beethoven’s niine symphonies.
About the Orchestra
A symphony orchestra on the other hand (often referred to as “a symphony” for short) is an orchestra that performs symphonies; it has the requisite number of players and types of instruments (wind, string, brass and percussion) needed to play a symphony.
And what does philharmonic mean?
It just means “music-loving” and is often used to differentiate between two orchestras that perform in the same city (for example,.the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra).
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