Symphony Orchestra Analysis

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According to Greenberg (2009), the word symphony is derived from the Greek sumphonos, translated means: “sounding together, in agreement or in concordance with” (L26, 5:22), which evolved to the Roman or Latin word symphonia later becoming sinfonia in Italian. During the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, sinfonia began its use referring to instrumental sections in vocal compositions such as introductions, episodes and interludes. By the late seventeenth century, sinfonia became a Baroque Italian term used for an overture for a particular type of opera which is now known as an Italian overture. As the Baroque era evolved into the Classical era, sinfonia became symphony. With this evolution and composers such as Mozart and Haydn “the Classical era symphony became a transcendent art form” (L26, 7:07). In today’s terms, a symphony is an elaborate musical work composed specifically for an orchestral performance typically in four movements…show more content…
Greenberg remarked, “if I said to you we're going to listen to a multi-movement work for string orchestra in which the first violins play the principal melodic material, you might very well be tempted to say, well, that sounds like a symphony to me” (L16, 12:07). Greenberg then makes the distinction “a symphony is a Classical era construct, with all the attendant stylistic elements that identify it as being a Classical era construct; a Baroque ripieno concerto is not a Classical era symphony. Its themes, its harmonic language, its musical structure and expressive content are entirely Baroque” (L16, 1243). During the High Baroque era, the single most important genre of orchestral music was the concerto, dating approximately

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