SYMPHONY, in music. (1 ) The term was used by the Greeks, first, to denote concord, in general, whether in successive or simultaneous sounds ; secondly, in the special sense of concordant pairs of successive sounds (i.e., the "perfect" interval of modern music; the 4th, 5th and octave) ; and thirdly, as dealing with apncl)c.wov, the concord of the octave, thus meaning the art of singing in octaves, or magadizing, as op posed to 6,uo0covia, or singing and playing in unison. In Roman times the word appears in the general sense, which still survives in poetry, viz., as a harmonious concourse of voices and instru ments. It also appears to mean a concert. In St. Luke xv. 25, it is distinguished from x6pot and translated as signifying "music and dancing." Polybius and others seem to use it as the name of a musical instrument.
(2) In the i7th century the term is used, like "concerto," for certain vocal compositions accompanied by instruments, e.g., the Symphoniae sacrae of Schutz. The modern use of the word symphony for the instrumental ritornello of a song is also found in Schiitz's Kleine geistliche Concerte.
(3) The principal modern meaning of the word is a sonata for orchestra (see SONATA FORMS). The orchestral symphony originated in the operatic overture (q.v.), which in the middle of the ilith century began to assimilate the essentials of the sonata style. Mozart's overture to his early opera, La Finta
Giardiniera, marks the breaking-point between three-movement symphony and operatic overture, since it contains the usual first movement and slow movement, and the curtain rises with what sounds like the beginning of its third movement.
Though the sonata style is dramatic the stiffness of its early forms did not help Gluck towards his ideal of an overture that should prepare the listener for the drama. Hence the over tures of Gluck are based on the contrast of loosely knit passages of various textures in vague forms which he learned from San Martini. These are no less evident in the symphonies of Philipp Emmanuel Bach.
The differentiation between symphony and overture raised the dignity of the symphony; but the style was more essential than the form ; and in Mozart's and Haydn's mature works we find the sonata form as firmly established in the overture as in the symphony, while the styles are quite distinct. Mozart's most elaborate overture, that of Die Zauberflote, could not possibly be the first movement of one of his later symphonies; nor could the finale of his "Jupiter" symphony be taken for a prelude to an opera.
See also Music ; SONATA FORMS ; INSTRUMENTATION ; OVERTURE ;