Adventures with Beethoven

Scene Four

History of the Symphony

The word symphony comes from a Greek word, symphonia, which means “agreement or concord of sound.” In Ancient Greece the word had multiple connotations, including the idea of consonance, or an agreement of sounds. It took a while for the word “symphony” to become the term we know today. In the 500s Archbishop Isidore of Seville used the word symphonia to refer to a two-headed drum. In the 1100-1300s a symphonie was the common name of an instrument we call the hurdy-gurdy, a string instrument which uses a crank to turn a wheel which rubs against the strings and sounds similar to a violin. In Medieval England, the term symphony could mean either a hurdy-gurdy or a dulcimer, which is a fretted string instrument whose strings are plucked to make a sound. In Germany symphonie referred to spinets and virginals, small versions of the harpsichord. Composers began utilizing the term symphony in the titles of their works in the late 1500s. Giovanni Gabrieli (1557-1612) completed Sacrai symphoniae (Sacred Symphony) in 1597 and Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672), a student of Gabrieli, wrote Symphoniae sacrae in 1629. These early symphonies were actually choral works, rather than instrumental, although some did feature instrumental accompaniment.

Baroque Period

In the Baroque period the words symphony and sinfonia were used interchangeably as the titles for a wide variety of instrumental compositions, usually a section within a larger work, such as an opera, concerto, or sonata. The form further developed into a specific genre called the Italian overture, which was usually labeled as a sinfonia, and was often used as the opening section of operas and oratorios. This work had three movements: an opening fast movement, a slow lyrical second movement, and a fast dance-like third movement. This format eventually developed into the symphony during the Classical era.

Throughout the Baroque period, composers often did not specify which instruments would play which part. This allowed more groups to play the works, since any combination of instrumentalists could get together to perform the piece. The bass line of the symphony or sinfonia was usually written for a basso continuo, a group of instruments which provided the chords and the underlying harmonic structure of the work. The basso continuo could be performed by simply a cello and a harpsichord or could feature a larger group of instrumentalists including lutes, bass viol, or serpents, an ancestor of the tuba.

In the 18th century the symphony became the most common and important genre of music. Symphonies were performed in concerts and as part of church services. Many aristocratic families, especially in and around Milan, Mannheim, and Vienna, employed their own orchestral musicians who could play newly composed symphonies. Franz Joseph Haydn became music director for the Morzin family in 1757. Haydn wrote his first few symphonies to be performed by the family’s orchestra.

Classical Period

The earliest symphonies from the Classical period often featured only strings, usually written in four parts: first and second violins, viola, and a bass line played by cellos and double basses. Sometimes these symphonies still included a basso continuo line, but this soon became less common. Composers eventually began to add other instruments to their symphonies, starting with horns, then oboes, flutes, clarinets, bassoons, and timpani. This combination of strings with pairs of woodwinds, horns, and timpani became the standard by the end of the 18th century. Since composers were now writing with this instrumentation in mind, their scores reflected this change. Compositions were no longer intended to be played by whatever instruments were available, the music was written with specific instruments and sounds in mind.

Three movement symphonies, based on the Italian overture, were standard for a time. Haydn’s first 30 symphonies are in three movements. Mozart’s first symphonies feature three movements as well. Eventually composers began adding a fourth movement which became the standard form. By the end of the Classical period, the symphony became the preeminent form of orchestral music. Composers wrote longer works with beautiful melodies, interesting harmonies, and showcased different instruments through intricate writing. Some of these symphonies feature specific techniques, such as Haydn’s Symphony No. 103, “Drumroll” or depicted something such as Haydn Symphony No. 101, “The Clock” or Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter”.

Beethoven wrote his first symphony in 1800 and his second in 1802. These first two symphonies each featured four movements and followed in the Classical traditions of Mozart and Haydn. Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 from 1804 was something completely new. It was the longest symphony ever written, taking around 45 minutes to play. Beethoven used unique and unexpected harmonies that varied greatly from previous harmonic structures. He also used different forms for some of the movements and used these forms in unexpected ways. Throughout the symphony, Beethoven used huge dynamic and tempo contrasts to further the drama of the work. Symphony No. 3 was also different because Beethoven originally dedicated the work to Napoleon Bonaparte, before becoming disillusioned and renaming the work “Eroica” (“Heroic”). Although the initial reaction to the work was mixed, this symphony marked the beginning of Beethoven’s expansion of the form.

Several of Beethoven’s next six symphonies were also groundbreaking. His Symphony No. 5 features one of the most famous opening motifs in all of music and takes the listener on a journey from confusion and despair to triumph. The Sixth Symphony was based on bits of poetry that described scenes from the countryside. This programmatic work, an instrumental piece that tells a story without words, features instruments playing bird songs and imitating the sounds of a storm. The symphony is also unique since it features five movements, rather than the traditional four. Symphony No. 9 featured the biggest change. Beethoven included vocal soloists and chorus in the final movement. Never before had voices been a part of a symphony. In the soaring “Ode to Joy” Beethoven captures a feeling of universal joy in a work that is perhaps the best-known piece of classical music. Through his symphonic writing, Beethoven pushed the boundaries of the symphony, expanding the harmonic structure, the number of performers, and the basic idea of what a symphony could be. While this freed the next generation of composers to write their symphonies in a less structured manner, it also gave them a lot to live up to. Many composers in the next few decades held off writing symphonies because of the pressure to live up to the legacy of Beethoven’s inspired symphonies. (Learn more about Beethoven’s later symphonies in future Adventures!)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), and Robert Schumann (1810-1856) all wrote their symphonies in the shadow of Beethoven. Most of them continued to write symphonies in the Classical style featuring a four-movement structure. However, all of them used the more innovative harmonic language that Beethoven had employed. Several of these works are regularly performed by orchestras today, including Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, “The Unfinished” which features only two complete movements. As the Romantic period progressed, composers felt more freedom to expand the definition of the symphony. Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) wrote many programmatic symphonies which portrayed stories, often based on literature such as Roméo et Juliette (Romeo and Juliet) and Harold en Italie (Harold in Italy). By the mid-1850s tone poems or symphonic poems, single movement, typically programmatic symphonic works, were becoming more popular and some thought they might replace the symphony. Richard Wagner (1813-1883), the well-known opera composer, wrote that all symphonies written after Beethoven’s were simply “epilogues” that offered nothing new musically. Franz Liszt (1811-1886) first popularized tone poems, but also wrote symphonies as well, including Faust and Dante, both of which were programmatic, and like Beethoven’s Ninth, feature choruses.

The symphony wasn’t a dead form yet. A new generation of composers, including Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Anton Bruckner (1824-2896), Pytor Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), and Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904), took up the symphony, mostly writing absolute music, featuring no programmatic or story elements. These symphonies became widely popular and are some of the most regularly performed symphonic works. As the symphony continued to develop throughout the Romantic period, the orchestra itself continued to grow, often adding trombones and tuba as well as percussion instruments, such as bass drum, cymbals, and triangle. The number of string players also increased, creating an ensemble that could produce more sound and a wider variety of orchestral color.

The most important symphonic composer at the end of the 19th century was Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Mahler’s compositions were on a grand scale, the works were lengthy (Symphony No. 3 is around 100 minutes long) and required massive orchestral forces (Symphony No. 8 is nicknamed the “Symphony for a Thousand” because of the number of performers required). He was inspired by and incorporated a variety of musical ideas in his symphonies including folk songs, popular music, and his own songs. Mahler was also heavily inspired by poetry which lets listeners and scholars interpret different meanings from Mahler’s work. Over the course of his career Mahler completed nine symphonies and started a tenth.

The 20th century saw greater artistic freedom for composers and those who chose to write symphonies approached them in their own ways. Some composers, such as Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) and Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) continued to write traditional four-movement symphonies. Shostakovich did include many programmatic influences in his symphonies including references to poetry, Russian politics, and political struggles. Many of his works were celebrated, including Symphony No. 7 Leningrad, which was written while the composer survived the siege of the city during World War II. However, Shostakovich often dealt with the fickle nature of the Communist powers and some of his works were reviled for being too “western” or “decadent” to be proper music for the Soviet people. Despite these struggles, he did go on to write 15 symphonies over the course of his career. 

Other composers approached the symphony differently. Several composers tried to unify the symphony into a single musical idea. Instead of writing four connected movements, they wrote their symphonies in only one long movement. This idea started in Germany with Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) who wrote his one-movement Chamber Symphony in 1909. Other German composers followed his lead and wrote single-movement works. Some other examples of one-movement symphonies include Jean Sibelius’s (1865-1957) Symphony No. 7 and Richard Strauss’s (1864-1949) Alpine Symphony. Although this piece is in one movement it is broken into 22 smaller sections that portray an eleven hour mountain hike.

Composers throughout the 20th century approached the symphony in their own way. Charles Ives (1874-1954) quoted a variety of popular songs and hymn tunes, often combining them together in a highly dissonant fashion. Edward Elgar (1857-1934) and Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) wrote symphonies in a more classical style which featured beautiful tuneful melodies. Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971) used these ideas in his neoclassical Symphony in C which was based on the forms and harmonic structures of symphonies from the Classical period. Sergei Prokofiev’s (1891-1953) Symphony No. 1, “Classical” used these influences as well. Stravinsky wrote other symphonies that featured different influences and styles including Symphonies of Wind Instruments, a nine-minute work featuring only woodwinds and brass, and Symphony of Psalms which featured a chorus.

Since its development, most symphonies were written by European composers. A few American composers wrote symphonies in the late 19th century, including Amy Beach (1867-1944). More were written by prominent American composers in the 20th century, including Aaron Copland (1900-1990), Roy Harris (1898-1979), William Schuman (1910-1992), Walter Piston (1894-1976), and Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990). William Grant Still (1895-1978) was a prominent African American composer, writing five symphonies among his other works. His Afro-American Symphony was the most performed American symphony until 1950. Since the time of Wagner, who said in 1849 that “the last symphony (Beethoven’s Ninth) had already been written,” people have written about the demise of the symphony; however, the form is still the epitome of classical music and now is being embraced by a wider variety of composers from diverse and unique backgrounds.

Contemporary symphonists, like their predecessors, have played with scale and influence. Some symphonies are very short including a one-minute symphony written for a Dutch orchestra. Others are incredibly long such as Symphony No. 1, “Gothic” by Havergal Brian (1876-1972), an English composer. The work is almost two hours long and requires massive orchestral forces, including two full orchestras, with many extra wind and percussion instruments, an off-stage brass and percussion section, vocal soloists, four complete choirs, and a children’s choir. The “Jami” Symphony by Kaikhosru Sorabji (1892-1988), at 4 1/2 hours, and Dimitrie Cuclin’s (1885-1978) Symphony No. 12, at almost 6 hours, have never been performed.

Some composers have written multi-movement symphonic works and have simply not called them symphonies, even though they fit all the characteristics. This is possibly due to the weight the word “symphony” can carry with all its expectations. Also some orchestras aren’t willing to premiere a new symphony for many reasons. There are a variety of titles given to orchestral works that are symphonies in all but name, such as the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra, which is basically a symphony and not a concerto in the traditional sense of the term. Other composers go with the title “sinfonia” such as George Walker who wrote five Sinfonias and was the first Black composer to win a Pulitzer Prize. Missy Mazzoli also titled her work Sinfonia. Other composers have titled their works as symphonies when they actually aren’t such as the Jazz Symphony by George Antheil (1900-1959).

More composers are also using the term symphony when they write a multi-movement work to be performed by a concert band rather than an orchestra. Although a few earlier examples exist, such as Berlioz’s Grand Funeral and Triumphal Symphony, written for military band in 1840, symphonies for band became more popular around 1900. From 1900-1950 some well-known composers of orchestral music also wrote symphonies for band such as Roy Harris, Vincent Persichetti (1915-1987), Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), and Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000).  From 1950 on composers have focused on writing high-quality symphonies for wind bands that feature the same complex writing and technical requirements as those for orchestra. Some notable composers include James Barnes (b 1949), John Barnes Chance (1932-1972), Frank Ticheli (b 1958), and David Maslanka (1943-2017). Like orchestral music, some of these symphonies are programmatic, such as those by Johan de Meij (b 1953) who has written two symphonies based on The Lord of the Rings. Julie Giroux (b 1961) has written works evoking Scotland, Japan, and folk stories. Robert W. Smith (b 1958) used classic works of literature, such as, The Divine Comedy, The Odyssey, and Don Quixote as inspirations. Symphonies for band have over the last century become more common and feature colorful writing, lovely melodies, difficult technique, and enjoyable moments.

Composers always find ways to innovate and say something new with each composition they complete. The symphony is a foundational genre in western classical music that was developed into an expected form over the decades. However, all composers approach the symphony with their own new ideas and find ways to make it their own. Although we may expect certain conventions when we listen to a symphony, there is always something new and surprising in whatever symphony we listen to, whether it was written in 1722 or 2022.