Symphony
Symphony(from the Greek. " consonance”) is a genre of symphonic instrumental music of a multi-part canonized form of fundamental worldview content.
A symphony is usually a piece for orchestra, usually consisting of several movements. This is one of the most important genres of European music. In the modern sense, the word "symphony" came into use relatively recently, in the 70s. XVIII century., But it is very ancient origin.
"Symphony" in Greek means "consonance". In ancient times, this was the name given to the singing of a choir or ensemble in unison, as well as any harmonious, harmonious combination of tones. In the Middle Ages, the word disappeared from use, and its new life began in the Renaissance. But now the word "symphony" has a different meaning. In the music of the Renaissance, polyphonic vocal compositions were common - madrigals, canzones. They usually opened with an instrumental introduction, which was called a symphony. When in the 17th century If an opera arose, it also began with a symphony - later such an introduction turned into an overture.
In the XVIII century. the symphony gradually separated from vocal music and began its independent existence. It acquired its classical form in the 1780s-1790s. in the work of the great Austrian composers J. Haydn and W. A. Mozart. Since that time, the brilliant path of the symphony in European and world music begins, it was then that it became the most important, central genre of musical creativity.
The symphony of the classical type consists of four contrasting movements. Together they form a sonata-symphonic cycle. The cyclic structure allows the composer to express a variety of feelings and moods, to create a musically generalized image of the era. The symphonies of Mozart, L. Beethoven, L. I. Tchaikovsky, I. Brahms, G. Mahler, D. D. Shostakovich give us the opportunity to feel the unique atmosphere of the time, just as a novel or a theatrical play does.
The first part of a classical symphony is energetic, active, at a fast pace, as a rule, occupies a dominant position in the cycle. For it, composers choose one of the most complex forms - the sonata. The sonata form makes it possible to compare contrasting, even conflicting images - heroic and lyrical, gloomy and bright, solemn and tender. These images then develop, change, and as a result acquire a new character, new features. The first part of the symphony is therefore distinguished by its special versatility and richness.
The second part is usually slow. Its character is determined by lyrical, contemplative moods, in it there are melodies close to a song, a romance. This is a respite after the turbulent events of the first part. But there are also retreats. For example, in one of Haydn's symphonies and in Beethoven's Heroic Symphony in the second part, a funeral march sounds, mournful and majestic.
The third movement in the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart is the minuet. Minuets in classical symphonies are like sketches, pictures from life. Haydn's minuets are full of folksy fun, close to peasant dances; in Mozart they are lyrical, sometimes with a touch of dramatic seriousness. Beethoven replaced the scherzo minuet with music of a swift, lively nature, often with a humorous coloring.
The fourth part is the final. Like the first, it is written at a fast pace, but internally it is not so contrasting. If the meaning of the first part lies in the conflicting juxtaposition of images and the dramatic development of the action, then in the finale, affirmation and summing up come to the fore. It is no coincidence that the finals are often written in the form of a rondo, based on the circular return of the same theme, i.e., on the proclamation of the same musical thought. Simultaneously with the sonata-symphony cycle, the orchestral composition for which the symphonies were created was formed - the symphony orchestra.
The pinnacle in the historical development of the symphony is considered to be the work of Beethoven. Each of his symphonies is a new, individual version of the genre, each of them contains a whole world of philosophical ideas, is the result of the composer's hard work of thought.
Beethoven's 9th symphony, crowning his career, opens a new page in the history of the genre. In its final part, the ode "To Joy" by F. Schiller sounds, affirming the idea of the universal brotherhood of mankind. This idea, central to Beethoven's work, is proclaimed in the powerful sound of the choir and orchestra. This is how the symphony becomes vocal. It was inherited by composers of subsequent generations: G. Berlioz, Mahler, A. N. Skryabin, I. F. Stravinsky, Shostakovich wrote vocal symphonies.
The poetic text makes the content of the symphony more specific, and such compositions belong to program music. A program symphony can also become a program if the composer simply prefaces it with a title. Haydn still had similar works, for example, the original "Farewell Symphony", ending with the gradual departure of the musicians. In Beethoven's 6th ("Pastoral") symphony, all five movements are titled. We see that the program design forced Beethoven to increase the number of parts in the symphony and move away from the classical construction of the cycle. Later composers deal with the form of the symphony even more freely, increasing the number of parts or, on the contrary, compressing the cycle to one-part. Each time it is connected with the idea of the composition, with an individual plan.
The largest symphonists after Beethoven are F. Schubert, Brahms, A. Bruckner, A. Dvorak, Mahler.
The symphonic heritage of Russian composers - Tchaikovsky, A.P. Borodin, A.G. Glazunov, Scriabin, S.V. Rachmaninov is of world importance. Their great traditions have received a rich and vivid development in the work of Soviet composers of all generations - N. Ya. Myaskovsky, S. S. Prokofiev. A. I. Khachaturian, T. N. Khrennikovaa, K. A. Karaev, Ya. A. Ivanov, F. M. Amirov and other masters. The greatest symphonist of our time was Shostakovich. His 15 symphonies are a real chronicle of the 20th century.
Due to the similarity in structure with the sonata, the sonata and the symphony are combined under the general name "sonata-symphony cycle". In a classical symphony (in the form in which it is presented in the works of the Viennese classics - Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven) there are usually four parts. the 1st part, at a fast pace, is written in sonata form; 2nd, in slow motion, is written in the form of variations, rondo, rondo-sonata, complex three-part, less often in the form of a sonata; 3rd - scherzo or minuet - in a three-part da capo form with a trio (that is, according to the A-trio-A scheme); 4th movement, at a fast pace - in sonata form, in the form of a rondo or a rondo sonata.
A program symphony is one that is associated with a known content set forth in the program (expressed, for example, in the title or epigraph), for example, Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony, etc. The first to introduce the program into the symphony were Dittersdorf, Rosetti and Haydn.
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What is toccata
Toccata (Italian toccata from toccare - to touch, push) - originally any work for keyboard instruments, in the modern sense - an instrumental piece of fast, clear movement in equal short durations. Toccata is usually written for piano or organ, but there are also...
Word "symphony" translated from Greek as "consonance". Indeed, the sound of many instruments in an orchestra can only be called music when they are in tune, and do not make sounds each by itself.
In ancient Greece, this was the name given to a pleasant combination of sounds, joint singing in unison. In ancient Rome, the ensemble, the orchestra, was already called that. In the Middle Ages, secular music in general and some musical instruments were called symphonies.
The word has other meanings, but they all carry the meaning of connection, participation, harmonious combination; for example, the principle of the relationship between church and secular power, formed in the Byzantine Empire, is also called a symphony.
But today we will talk only about the musical symphony.
Varieties of the symphony
Classical symphony is a piece of music in cyclic sonata form, intended to be performed by a symphony orchestra.
A symphony (in addition to a symphony orchestra) may include a choir and vocals. There are symphonies-suites, symphonies-rhapsodies, symphonies-phantasies, symphonies-ballads, symphonies-legends, symphonies-poems, symphonies-requiems, symphonies-ballets, symphonies-dramas and theater symphonies as a kind of opera.
A classical symphony usually has 4 movements:
the first part is in fast pace(allegro ) , in sonata form;
second part in slow pace, usually in the form of variations, rondo, rondo-sonata, complex three-part, less often in the form of a sonata;
the third part - scherzo or minuet- in a three-part da capo form with a trio (that is, according to the A-trio-A scheme);
fourth part in fast pace, in sonata form, in rondo or rondo sonata form.
But there are symphonies with fewer (or more) parts. There are also one-movement symphonies.
Software symphony is a symphony with a certain content, which is stated in the program or expressed in the title. If there is a title in the symphony, then this title is the minimum program, for example, G. Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony.
From the history of the symphony
The creator of the classical form of symphony and orchestration is considered Haydn.
And the prototype of the symphony is the Italian overture(an instrumental orchestral piece performed before the start of any performance: opera, ballet), which took shape at the end of the 17th century. A significant contribution to the development of the symphony was made by Mozart and Beethoven. These three composers are called "Viennese classics". The Viennese classics created a high type of instrumental music, in which all the richness of figurative content is embodied in a perfect artistic form. The process of the formation of the symphony orchestra - its permanent composition, orchestral groups - also coincided with this time.
V.A. Mozart
Mozart wrote in all the forms and genres that existed in his era, attached particular importance to opera, but paid great attention to symphonic music. Due to the fact that throughout his life he worked simultaneously on operas and symphonies, his instrumental music is distinguished by the melodiousness of an opera aria and dramatic conflict. Mozart created over 50 symphonies. The most popular were the last three symphonies - No. 39, No. 40 and No. 41 ("Jupiter").
K. Schlosser "Beethoven at work"
Beethoven created 9 symphonies, but in terms of the development of symphonic form and orchestration, he can be called the greatest symphonic composer of the classical period. In his Ninth Symphony, the most famous, all its parts are merged into a single whole by a through theme. In this symphony, Beethoven introduced vocal parts, after which other composers began to do this. In the form of a symphony said a new word R. Schuman.
But already in the second half of the XIX century. the strict forms of the symphony began to change. Four-part became optional: appeared one-part symphony (Myaskovsky, Boris Tchaikovsky), symphony from 11 parts(Shostakovich) and even from 24 parts(Hovaness). The classical fast-paced finale was supplanted by a slow finale (P.I. Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony, Mahler's Third and Ninth Symphonies).
The authors of the symphonies were F. Schubert, F. Mendelssohn, I. Brahms, A. Dvorak, A. Bruckner, G. Mahler, Jan Sibelius, A. Webern, A. Rubinstein, P. Tchaikovsky, A. Borodin, N. Rimsky- Korsakov, N. Myaskovsky, A. Skryabin, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich and others.
Its composition, as we have already said, was formed in the era of the Viennese classics.
The basis of the symphony orchestra are four groups of instruments: bowed strings(violins, violas, cellos, double basses) woodwinds(flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone with all their varieties - the old recorder, shalmy, chalyumeau, etc., as well as a number of folk instruments - balaban, duduk, zhaleyka, pipe, zurna), brass(horn, trumpet, cornet, flugelhorn, trombone, tuba) drums(timpani, xylophone, vibraphone, bells, drums, triangle, cymbals, tambourine, castanets, tam-tam and others).
Sometimes other instruments are included in the orchestra: harp, piano, organ(keyboard and wind musical instrument, the largest type of musical instruments), celesta(a small keyboard-percussion musical instrument that looks like a piano, sounds like bells), harpsichord.
Harpsichord
Big a symphony orchestra can include up to 110 musicians , small- no more than 50.
The conductor decides how to seat the orchestra. The location of the performers of a modern symphony orchestra is aimed at achieving a coherent sonority. In the 50-70s. 20th century spread "American Seating": the first and second violins are placed to the left of the conductor; on the right - violas and cellos; in the depths - woodwinds and brass, double basses; left - drums.
Seating arrangements for the musicians of the symphony orchestra
SYMPHONY
(from Greek - consonance) - a piece of music for a symphony orchestra, written in sonata cyclic form. usually consists of 4 parts. the symphony was formed over several centuries and in the 18th century. turned into an independent concert genre; its development was influenced by other genres of orchestral music.
Dictionary of musical terms. 2012
See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is SYMPHONY in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:
- SYMPHONY in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
(from the Greek symphonia - consonance) a piece of music for a symphony orchestra, written in cyclic sonata form; the highest form of instrumental music. Usually … - SYMPHONY in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, TSB:
(from Greek symphonia - consonance, from syn - together and phone - sound), a piece of music in sonata cyclic form, intended ... - SYMPHONY in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron:
Symphony (Greek consonance) is the name of an orchestral composition in several parts. S. is the most extensive form in the field of concerto-orchestral music. Due to similarities,... - SYMPHONY in the Modern Encyclopedic Dictionary:
- SYMPHONY
(Latin symphonia, from Greek symphonia - consonance, agreement), a work for a symphony orchestra is one of the main genres of instrumental music. A symphony of classical... - SYMPHONY in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
and, well. 1. Great piece of music for orchestra. S. Shostakovich. Symphonic - associated with the form of a symphony, with the performance of large musical ... - SYMPHONY in the Encyclopedic Dictionary:
, -i, f. 1. A large (usually four movements) piece of music for orchestra. 2. trans. Harmonic connection, a combination of something. (book). … - SYMPHONY in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
SYMPHONY (from Greek symphonia - consonance), music. work for symphony orchestra, written in the form of a sonata cycle; the highest form of instr. music. … - SYMPHONY in Collier's Dictionary:
a piece of music for orchestra, usually in three or four movements, sometimes including voices. Origin. At the end of the Baroque era, a number of ... - SYMPHONY in the Full accentuated paradigm according to Zaliznyak:
symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, symphony, ... - SYMPHONY in the Popular Explanatory-Encyclopedic Dictionary of the Russian Language:
-and, well. 1) A large piece of music for a symphony orchestra, written in cyclic sonata form. Symphonies of Sibelius. 2) trans. , what … - SYMPHONY in the New Dictionary of Foreign Words:
(gr. symphonia consonance) 1) the highest kind of instrumental music, ch. arr. for symphony orchestra; with. usually consists of 4 parts; … - SYMPHONY in the Dictionary of Foreign Expressions:
[ 1. the highest kind of instrumental music, ch. arr. for symphony orchestra; with. usually consists of 4 parts; 2. *harmonic... - SYMPHONY in the Dictionary of synonyms of Abramov:
see harmony, ... - SYMPHONY in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language:
harmony, symphonietta, ... - SYMPHONY in the New explanatory and derivational dictionary of the Russian language Efremova:
and. 1) a) A large piece of music for the orchestra, usually consisting of 3-4 parts, differing from each other in the nature of the music and ... - SYMPHONY in the Dictionary of the Russian Language Lopatin:
Symphony, -i (dictionary-index to the Sacred ... - SYMPHONY in the Complete Spelling Dictionary of the Russian Language:
symphony, and... - SYMPHONY in the Spelling Dictionary:
symphony, -i (dictionary-index to the sacred ... - SYMPHONY in the Spelling Dictionary:
symphony, -and ... - SYMPHONY in the Dictionary of the Russian Language Ozhegov:
a large (usually four-movement) piece of music for orchestra a symphony a harmonic combination of something Lib S. colors. C. colors. WITH. … - SYMPHONY in the Dahl Dictionary:
female , Greek , music harmony, consonance of sounds, polyphonic consonance. | A special kind of polyphonic musical composition. Hayden Symphony. | Symphony… - SYMPHONY in the Modern Explanatory Dictionary, TSB:
(from the Greek symphonia - consonance), a piece of music for a symphony orchestra, written in sonata cyclic form; the highest form of instrumental music. Usually …
Symphony(from the Greek. " consonance”) is a genre of symphonic instrumental music of a multi-part canonized form of fundamental worldview content.
A symphony is usually a piece for orchestra, usually consisting of several parts. This is one of the most important genres of European music. In the modern sense, the word "symphony" came into use relatively recently, in the 70s. XVIII century., But it is very ancient origin.
"Symphony" in Greek means "consonance". In ancient times, this was the name given to the singing of a choir or ensemble in unison, as well as any harmonious, harmonious combination of tones. In the Middle Ages, the word disappeared from use, and its new life began in the Renaissance. But now the word "symphony" has a different meaning. In the music of the Renaissance, polyphonic vocal compositions were common - madrigals, canzones. They usually opened with an instrumental introduction, which was called a symphony. When in the 17th century If an opera arose, it also began with a symphony - later such an introduction turned into an overture.
In the XVIII century. the symphony gradually separated from vocal music and began its independent existence. It acquired its classical form in the 1780s-1790s. in the work of the great Austrian composers J. Haydn and W. A. Mozart. Since that time, the brilliant path of the symphony in European and world music begins, it was then that it became the most important, central genre of musical creativity.
The symphony of the classical type consists of four contrasting movements. Together they form a sonata-symphonic cycle. The cyclic structure allows the composer to express a variety of feelings and moods, to create a musically generalized image of the era. The symphonies of Mozart, L. Beethoven, L. I. Tchaikovsky, I. Brahms, G. Mahler, D. D. Shostakovich give us the opportunity to feel the unique atmosphere of the time, just as a novel or a theatrical play does.
The first part of a classical symphony is energetic, active, at a fast pace, as a rule, occupies a dominant position in the cycle. For it, composers choose one of the most complex forms - the sonata. The sonata form makes it possible to compare contrasting, even conflicting images - heroic and lyrical, gloomy and bright, solemn and tender. These images then develop, change, and as a result acquire a new character, new features. The first part of the symphony is therefore distinguished by its special versatility and richness.
The second part is usually slow. Its character is determined by lyrical, contemplative moods, in it there are melodies close to a song, a romance. This is a respite after the turbulent events of the first part. But there are also retreats. For example, in one of Haydn's symphonies and in Beethoven's Heroic Symphony in the second part, a funeral march sounds, mournful and majestic.
The third movement in the symphonies of Haydn and Mozart is the minuet. Minuets in classical symphonies are like sketches, pictures from life. Haydn's minuets are full of folksy fun, close to peasant dances; in Mozart they are lyrical, sometimes with a touch of dramatic seriousness. Beethoven replaced the scherzo minuet with music of a swift, lively nature, often with a humorous coloring.
The fourth part is the final. Like the first, it is written at a fast pace, but internally it is not so contrasting. If the meaning of the first part lies in the conflicting juxtaposition of images and the dramatic development of the action, then in the finale, affirmation and summing up come to the fore. It is no coincidence that the finals are often written in the form of a rondo, based on the circular return of the same theme, i.e., on the proclamation of the same musical thought. Simultaneously with the sonata-symphony cycle, the orchestral composition for which the symphonies were created was formed - the symphony orchestra.
The pinnacle in the historical development of the symphony is considered to be the work of Beethoven. Each of his symphonies is a new, individual version of the genre, each of them contains a whole world of philosophical ideas, is the result of the composer's hard work of thought.
Beethoven's 9th symphony, crowning his career, opens a new page in the history of the genre. In its final part, the ode "To Joy" by F. Schiller sounds, affirming the idea of the universal brotherhood of mankind. This idea, central to Beethoven's work, is proclaimed in the powerful sound of the choir and orchestra. This is how the symphony becomes vocal. It was inherited by composers of subsequent generations: G. Berlioz, Mahler, A. N. Skryabin, I. F. Stravinsky, Shostakovich wrote vocal symphonies.
The poetic text makes the content of the symphony more specific, and such compositions belong to program music. A program symphony can also become a program if the composer simply prefaces it with a title. Haydn still had similar works, for example, the original "Farewell Symphony", ending with the gradual departure of the musicians. In Beethoven's 6th ("Pastoral") symphony, all five movements are titled. We see that the program design forced Beethoven to increase the number of parts in the symphony and move away from the classical construction of the cycle. Later composers deal with the form of the symphony even more freely, increasing the number of parts or, on the contrary, compressing the cycle to one-part. Each time it is connected with the idea of the composition, with an individual plan.
The largest symphonists after Beethoven are F. Schubert, Brahms, A. Bruckner, A. Dvorak, Mahler.
The symphonic heritage of Russian composers - Tchaikovsky, A.P. Borodin, A.G. Glazunov, Scriabin, S.V. Rachmaninov is of world importance. Their great traditions have received a rich and vivid development in the work of Soviet composers of all generations - N. Ya. Myaskovsky, S. S. Prokofiev. A. I. Khachaturian, T. N. Khrennikovaa, K. A. Karaev, Ya. A. Ivanov, F. M. Amirov and other masters. The greatest symphonist of our time was Shostakovich. His 15 symphonies are a real chronicle of the 20th century.
Due to the similarity in structure with the sonata, the sonata and the symphony are combined under the general name "sonata-symphony cycle". In a classical symphony (in the form in which it is presented in the works of the Viennese classics - Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven) there are usually four parts. the 1st part, at a fast pace, is written in sonata form; 2nd, in slow motion, is written in the form of variations, rondo, rondo-sonata, complex three-part, less often in the form of a sonata; 3rd - scherzo or minuet - in a three-part da capo form with a trio (that is, according to the A-trio-A scheme); 4th movement, at a fast pace - in sonata form, in the form of a rondo or a rondo sonata.
A program symphony is one that is associated with a known content set forth in the program (expressed, for example, in the title or epigraph), for example, Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony, etc. The first to introduce the program into the symphony were Dittersdorf, Rosetti and Haydn.
Among the numerous musical genres and forms, one of the most honorable places belongs to the symphony. Originating as an entertainment genre, from the beginning of the 19th century to the present day, it most sensitively and fully, like no other form of musical art, reflects its time. The symphonies of Beethoven and Berlioz, Schubert and Brahms, Mahler and Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich are large-scale reflections on the era and personality, on the history of mankind and the ways of the world.
The symphonic cycle, as we know it from many classical and contemporary examples, took shape approximately two hundred and fifty years ago. However, during this historically short period, the symphony genre has come a long way. The length and significance of this path was determined precisely by the fact that the symphony absorbed all the problems of its time, was able to reflect the complex, contradictory, full of colossal upheavals of the era, to embody the feelings, suffering, struggles of people. It is enough to imagine the life of society in the middle of the 18th century - and remember Haydn's symphonies; the great upheavals of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and the symphonies of Beethoven that reflected them; reaction in society, disappointment - and romantic symphonies; finally, all the horrors that mankind had to endure in the 20th century - and compare Beethoven's symphonies with Shostakovich's symphonies in order to clearly see this vast, sometimes tragic path. Now few people remember what the beginning was like, what were the origins of this most complex of purely musical genres not related to other arts.
Let's take a quick look at the musical Europe of the middle of the 18th century.
In Italy, the classical country of art, the trendsetter of all European countries, opera reigns supreme. The so-called opera seria (“serious”) dominates. There are no bright individual images in it, there is no genuine dramatic action. The opera series is an alternation of various mental states embodied in conditional characters. Its most important part is the aria in which these states are transmitted. There are arias of anger and revenge, arias-complaints (lamento), mournful slow arias and joyful bravura ones. These arias were so generalized that they could be transferred from one opera to another without any damage to the performance. In fact, composers often did this, especially when they had to write several operas a season.
Melody became the element of the opera seria. The celebrated art of Italian bel canto is here at its highest level. In arias, composers have reached the true heights of the embodiment of a particular state. Love and hate, joy and despair, anger and sorrow were conveyed by the music so vividly and convincingly that it was not necessary to hear the lyrics to understand what the singer was singing about. By this, in essence, the ground was finally prepared for textless music, designed to embody human feelings and passions.
From the interludes - insert scenes performed between the acts of the opera seria and the content not related to it - its cheerful sister arose, the comic buff opera. Democratic in content (its protagonists were not mythological heroes, kings and knights, but ordinary people from the people), she deliberately opposed herself to court art. Opera-buff was distinguished by naturalness, liveliness of action, immediacy of the musical language, often directly related to folklore. It contained vocal tongue twisters, comic parodic coloratura, lively and light dance melodies. The finals of the acts unfolded like ensembles, in which the actors sang sometimes all at once. Sometimes such finals were called "tangle" or "confusion", the action rolled into them so quickly and the intrigue turned out to be confusing.
Instrumental music also developed in Italy, and above all the genre most closely associated with opera - the overture. As an orchestral introduction to an opera performance, it borrowed bright, expressive musical themes from the opera, similar to the melodies of arias.
The Italian overture of that time consisted of three sections - fast (Allegro), slow (Adagio or Andante) and fast again, most often the Minuet. They called it sinfonia - translated from Greek - consonance. Over time, overtures began to be performed not only in the theater before the opening of the curtain, but also separately, as independent orchestral compositions.
At the end of the 17th and beginning of the 18th centuries, a brilliant galaxy of virtuoso violinists appeared in Italy, who were at the same time gifted composers. Vivaldi, Yomelli, Locatelli, Tartini, Corelli and others, who perfectly mastered the violin - a musical instrument that can be compared with the human voice in its expressiveness - created an extensive violin repertoire, mainly from pieces that were called sonatas (from the Italian sonare - sound). In them, as in the clavier sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, Benedetto Marcello and other composers, some common structural features developed, which then passed into the symphony.
The musical life of France was shaped differently. Music associated with word and action has long been loved there. Ballet art was highly developed; a special type of opera was cultivated - a lyrical tragedy, akin to the tragedies of Corneille and Racine, which had an imprint of the specific life of the royal court, its etiquette, its festivities.
The composers of France gravitated towards the plot, the program, the verbal definition of music when creating instrumental plays. “Flying Cap”, “Reapers”, “Tambourine” - the so-called harpsichord pieces, which were either genre sketches or musical portraits - “Graceful”, “Gentle”, “Hardworking”, “Flirty”.
Larger works, consisting of several parts, traced their origins to dance. The strict German allemande, the movable, like a sliding French chime, the majestic Spanish sarabande and the swift gigue - the fiery dance of English sailors - have long been known in Europe. They were the basis of the instrumental suite genre (from the French suite - sequence). Often other dances were included in the suite: minuet, gavotte, polonaise. Before the allemande, an introductory prelude could sound; in the middle of the suite, the measured dance movement was sometimes interrupted by a free aria. But the backbone of the suite - four diverse dances of different nations - was certainly present in the same sequence, outlining four different moods, leading the listener from the calm movement of the beginning to the exciting impetuous finale.
Suites were written by many composers, and not only in France. The great Johann Sebastian Bach also gave them a significant tribute, with whose name, as well as with the German musical culture of that time as a whole, many musical genres are associated.
In the countries of the German language, that is, numerous German kingdoms, principalities and episcopates (Prussian, Bavarian, Saxon, etc.), as well as in various areas of the multinational Austrian Empire, which then included the "people of musicians" - the Czech Republic enslaved by the Habsburgs - instrumental music has long been cultivated. In any small town, town or even village there were violinists and cellists, in the evenings solo and ensemble pieces played with enthusiasm by amateurs sounded. Music-making centers usually became churches and schools attached to them. The teacher was, as a rule, also a church organist, who performed musical fantasies on holidays to the best of his ability. In large German Protestant centers, such as Hamburg or Leipzig, new forms of music were also taking shape: organ concerts in cathedrals. In these concerts, preludes, fantasies, variations, choral arrangements and, most importantly, fugues sounded.
Fugue is the most complex type of polyphonic music, reaching its peak in the work of J.S. Bach and Handel. Its name comes from the Latin fuga - running. It is a polyphonic piece based on a single theme that moves (runs!) from voice to voice. In this case, each melodic line is called a voice. Depending on the number of such lines, the fugue can be three-, four-, five-part, etc. In the middle section of the fugue, after the theme has sounded completely in all voices, it begins to be developed: either its beginning appears and disappears again, then it will expand (each of the notes that make it up will become twice as long), then it will shrink - this is called the theme in increase and the theme in decrease. It may happen that within a theme, descending melodic moves become ascending and vice versa (a theme in circulation). Melodic movement moves from one key to another. And in the final section of the fugue - the Reprise - the theme again sounds unchanged, as at the beginning, returning to the main tone of the play.
Recall once again: we are talking about the middle of the XVIII century. An explosion is brewing in the bowels of aristocratic France, which will very soon sweep away the absolute monarchy. A new time will come. In the meantime, revolutionary moods are only implicitly being prepared, French thinkers oppose the existing order. They demand the equality of all people before the law, proclaim the ideas of freedom and brotherhood.
Art, reflecting the shifts in social life, is sensitive to changes in the political atmosphere in Europe. An example of this is the immortal comedies of Beaumarchais. This also applies to music. It is now, in a difficult period fraught with events of colossal historical significance, in the depths of old, long-established musical genres and forms, a new, truly revolutionary genre, the symphony, is being born. It becomes qualitatively, fundamentally different, because it embodies a new type of thinking.
One must think that it is no coincidence that, having prerequisites in different regions of Europe, the genre of the symphony was finally formed in the countries of the German language. In Italy, opera was the national art. In England, the spirit and meaning of the historical processes taking place there were most fully reflected in the oratorios of Georg Handel, a German by birth who became a national English composer. In France, other arts came to the fore, in particular, literature and theater, more concrete, directly and intelligibly expressing new ideas that excited the world. The works of Voltaire, Rousseau's "New Eloise", Montesquieu's "Persian Letters" in a veiled but quite intelligible form presented readers with caustic criticism of the existing order, offered their own versions of the structure of society.
When, after several decades, it came to music, the song entered the ranks of the revolutionary troops. The most striking example of this is the Song of the Army of the Rhine, created overnight by officer Rouger de Lisle, which became world famous under the name of the Marseillaise. Following the song, the music of mass festivities and mourning ceremonies appeared. And, finally, the so-called "opera of salvation", which had as its content the persecution of a hero or heroine by a tyrant and their salvation in the finale of the opera.
The symphony, on the other hand, required completely different conditions both for its formation and for full perception. The "center of gravity" of philosophical thought, which most fully reflected the deep essence of the social shifts of that era, turned out to be in Germany, far from social storms.
There they created their new philosophical systems, first Kant, and later Hegel. Like philosophical systems, the symphony - the most philosophical, dialectically procedural genre of musical creativity - was finally formed where only the distant echoes of the coming thunderstorms reached. Where, moreover, stable traditions of instrumental music have developed.
Mannheim, the capital of the Bavarian electorate of the Palatinate, became one of the main centers for the emergence of a new genre. Here, at the brilliant court of Elector Karl Theodor, in the 40-50s of the 18th century, an excellent, perhaps the best orchestra in Europe at that time, was kept.
By that time, the symphony orchestra was just taking shape. And in the court chapels and in the cathedrals, orchestral groups with a stable composition did not exist. Everything depended on the means at the disposal of the ruler or magistrate, on the tastes of those who could command. The orchestra at first played only an applied role, accompanying either court performances or festivities and solemn ceremonies. And it was considered, first of all, as an opera or church ensemble. Initially, the orchestra included viols, lutes, harps, flutes, oboes, horns, and drums. Gradually the composition expanded, the number of stringed instruments increased. Over time, violins supplanted the ancient viol and soon occupied a leading position in the orchestra. Woodwind instruments - flutes, oboes, bassoons - united into a separate group, and copper ones appeared - pipes, trombones. The harpsichord, which creates the harmonic basis of the sound, was an obligatory instrument in the orchestra. He was usually followed by the leader of the orchestra, who, while playing, at the same time gave instructions for the entry.
At the end of the 17th century, instrumental ensembles that existed at the courts of nobles became widespread. Each of the numerous petty princes of fragmented Germany wanted to have his own chapel. The rapid development of orchestras began, new methods of orchestral playing arose.
The Mannheim Orchestra included 30 string instruments, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 trumpets, 4 horns, timpani. This is the backbone of the modern orchestra, the composition for which many composers of the subsequent era created their works. The orchestra was led by the outstanding Czech musician, composer and virtuoso violinist Jan Vaclav Stamitz. Among the orchestra's artists were also the greatest musicians of their time, not only virtuoso instrumentalists, but also talented composers Franz Xaver Richter, Anton Filz and others. They determined the excellent level of performing mastery of the orchestra, which became famous for its amazing qualities - previously unattainable evenness of violin strokes, the finest gradations of dynamic shades that were not previously used at all.
According to a contemporary critic of Bossler, “the exact observance of the piano, forte, rinforzando, the gradual growth and intensification of the sound and then again the decrease in its strength down to a barely audible sound - all this could only be heard in Mannheim.” An English music lover who made a trip to Europe in the middle of the 18th century, Bernie, echoes him: “This extraordinary orchestra has enough space and facets to show all its capabilities and produce a great effect. It was here that Stamitz, inspired by the works of Yomelli, for the first time went beyond the usual operatic overtures ... all the effects that such a mass of sounds can produce were tried. It was here that the crescendo and diminuendo were born, and the piano, which was previously used mainly as an echo and was usually its synonym, and forte were recognized as musical colors that have their own shades ... "
It was in this orchestra that four-part symphonies sounded for the first time - compositions that were built according to one type and had common patterns that absorbed many features of pre-existing musical genres and forms and melted them into a qualitatively different one; new unity.
The first chords are resolute, full-sounding, as if calling for attention. Then wide, sweeping moves. Again chords, replaced by arpeggiated movement, and then - a lively, elastic, like an unfolding spring, melody. It seems that it can unfold endlessly, but leaves faster than the rumor wants it: like a guest introduced to the owners of the house during a big reception, moves away from them, giving way to others following. After a moment of general movement, a new theme appears - softer, feminine, lyrical. But it does not sound long, dissolving in passages. After some time, we again have the first theme, slightly changed, in a new key. The musical stream flows rapidly, returning to the original, main key of the symphony; the second theme organically merges into this flow, now approaching the first in character and mood. The first part of the symphony ends with full-sounding joyful chords.
The second part, andante, unfolds slowly, melodiously, revealing the expressiveness of stringed instruments. This is a kind of aria for orchestra, in which lyricism and elegiac meditation dominate.
The third movement is an elegant gallant minuet. It creates a feeling of relaxation, relaxation. And then, like a fiery whirlwind, the incendiary final bursts. Such, in general terms, is the symphony of that time. Its origins are traced very clearly. The first part is most reminiscent of an opera overture. But if the overture is only the threshold of the performance, then here the action itself unfolds in sounds. Typically operatic musical images of the overture - heroic fanfares, touching lamentos, stormy merriment of buffoons - are not associated with specific stage situations and do not carry characteristic individual features (recall that even the famous overture to Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" has nothing to do with the content of the opera and in general, it was originally written for another opera!), broke away from the opera performance and began an independent life. They are easily recognized in the early symphony - the resolute courageous intonations of heroic arias in the first themes, called the main ones, the gentle sighs of the lyrical arias in the second - the so-called side - themes.
Opera principles also affect the texture of the symphony. If earlier in instrumental music polyphony dominated, that is, polyphony, in which several independent melodies, intertwined, sounded simultaneously, then polyphony of a different type began to develop here: one main melody (most often violin), expressive, significant, accompanied by an accompaniment that sets it off emphasizes her individuality. This type of polyphony, called homophonic, completely dominates the early symphony. Later, techniques borrowed from the fugue appear in the symphony. However, in the middle of the 18th century it could rather be contrasted with the fugue. There was, as a rule, one theme (there are double, triple and more fugues, but in them the themes are not opposed, but are compared). She repeated herself many times, but nothing contradicted her. It was, in essence, an axiom, a thesis that was repeatedly asserted without requiring proof. The opposite is in the symphony: disputes and contradictions are heard in the appearance and further changes of various musical themes and images. Perhaps this is the most striking sign of the times. Truth is no longer a given. It needs to be sought, proved, substantiated by comparing different opinions, clarifying different points of view. This is what the encyclopedists do in France. German philosophy is built on this, in particular, Hegel's dialectical method. And the very spirit of the era of search is reflected in the music.
So, the symphony took a lot from the opera overture. In particular, the principle of alternating contrasting sections was outlined in the overture, which in the symphony turned into independent parts. In its first part - different sides, different feelings of a person, life in its movement, development, changes, contrasts and conflicts. In the second part - reflection, concentration, sometimes - lyrics. In the third - relaxation, entertainment. And, finally, the finale - pictures of fun, jubilation, and at the same time - the result of musical development, the completion of the symphonic cycle.
This is how the symphony will develop by the beginning of the 19th century, this, in the most general terms, it will be, for example, by Brahms or Bruckner. And at the time of her birth, she apparently borrowed the many parts from the suite.
Allemande, courante, sarabande and gigue are four obligatory dances, four different moods, which are easily traced in the early symphonies. The danceability in them is expressed very clearly, especially in the finals, which often resemble a jig by the nature of the melody, tempo, even time signature. True, sometimes the finale of a symphony is closer to the sparkling finale of an opera-buffa, but even then its kinship with a dance, for example, a tarantella, is undeniable. As for the third part, it is called the minuet. Only in Beethoven's work will the scherzo come to replace the gallant courtier or the rude common folk dance.
The newborn symphony thus absorbed the features of many musical genres, moreover, genres born in different countries. And the formation of the symphony took place not only in Mannheim. There was the Vienna School, represented, in particular, by Wagenseil. In Italy, Giovanni Battista Sammartini wrote orchestral works, which he called symphonies and intended for concert performance, not connected with an opera performance. In France, a young composer, a Belgian by birth, François-Joseph Gossec, turned to the new genre. His symphonies did not meet with a response and recognition, since French music was dominated by programming, but his work played a role in the development of French symphony, in the renewal and expansion of the symphony orchestra. The Czech composer Frantisek Micha, who at one time served in Vienna, experimented a lot and successfully in search of a symphonic form. His famous countryman Josef Myslevichka had interesting experiments. However, all these composers were loners, and a whole school was formed in Mannheim, which, moreover, had at its disposal a first-class "instrument" - the famous orchestra. Thanks to the happy occasion that the Elector of the Palatinate was a great lover of music and had enough funds to afford the huge expenses for it, great musicians from different countries gathered in the capital of the Palatinate - Austrians and Czechs, Italians and Prussians - each of whom contributed his own contribution to the creation of a new genre. In the works of Jan Stamitz, Franz Richter, Carlo Toeschi, Anton Filz and other masters, the symphony arose in its main features, which then passed into the work of the Viennese classics - Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven.
So, over the course of the first half century of the existence of the new genre, a clear structural and dramatic model has developed, capable of accommodating a diverse and very significant content. The basis of this model was the form, which was called the sonata, or sonata allegro, since it was most often written at this tempo, and was later typical of both the symphony and the instrumental sonatas and concertos. Its peculiarity is the juxtaposition of various, often contrasting musical themes. The three main sections of the sonata form - exposition, development and reprise - are reminiscent of the beginning, development of the action and the denouement of a classical drama. After a brief introduction or directly at the beginning of the exposition, the “characters” of the play pass before the listeners.
The first musical theme, which sounds in the main key of the work, is called the main one. More often - the main theme, but more correctly - the main part, because within the main part, that is, a certain segment of the musical form, united by one key and figurative community, over time, not one, but several different themes-melodies began to appear. After the main batch, in the early samples by direct comparison, and in the later ones through a small connecting batch, a side batch begins. Its theme or two or three different themes contrast with the main one. Most often, the side part is more lyrical, soft, feminine. It sounds in a different, than the main, secondary (hence the name of the party) key. There is a sense of instability, and sometimes conflict. The exposition ends with the final part, which is either absent in the early symphonies, or plays a purely auxiliary role of a kind of point, a curtain after the first act of the play, and subsequently, starting with Mozart, acquires the significance of an independent third image, along with the main and secondary.
The middle section of sonata form is development. As the name shows, in it the musical themes that listeners got acquainted with in the exposition (that is, exhibited earlier) are developed, subjected to changes, and development. At the same time, they are shown from new, sometimes unexpected sides, modified, separate motives are singled out from them - the most active, which later collide. Development is a dramatic effective section. At the end of it comes the climax, which leads to a reprise - the third section of the form, a kind of denouement of the drama.
The name of this section comes from the French word reprendre - to renew. It is a renewal, a repetition of the exposition, but modified: both parties now sound in the main key of the symphony, as if brought into harmony by the events of development. Sometimes there are other changes in the reprise. For example, it can be truncated (without any of the themes that sounded in the exposition), mirrored (first the side part sounds, and only then the main part). The first part of the symphony usually ends with a coda - a conclusion that affirms the main key and the main image of the sonata allegro. In the early symphonies, the coda is small and is, in essence, a somewhat developed final part. Later, for example, with Beethoven, it acquires significant proportions and becomes a kind of second development in which affirmation is achieved once again in the struggle.
This form turned out to be truly universal. Since the days of the symphony and to the present, it successfully embodies the deepest content, conveys an inexhaustible wealth of images, ideas, problems.
The second movement of the symphony is slow. Usually this is the lyrical center of the cycle. Its form is different. Most often it is three-part, that is, it has similar extreme sections and a middle section contrasting with them, but it can also be written in the form of variations or any other, up to a sonata, which differs structurally from the first allegro only in a slower pace and less effective development.
The third part - in the early symphonies, the minuet, and from Beethoven to the present - the scherzo - as a rule, a complex three-part form. The content of this part has been modified and complicated over the decades from everyday or court dance to monumental powerful scherzos of the 19th century and beyond, to formidable images of evil, violence in the symphonic cycles of Shostakovich, Honegger and other symphonists of the 20th century. Starting from the second half of the 19th century, the scherzo increasingly changed places with the slow part, which, in accordance with the new concept of the symphony, becomes a kind of spiritual reaction not only to the events of the first part, but also to the figurative world of the scherzo (in particular, in Mahler's symphonies).
The finale, which is the result of the cycle, in the early symphonies is more often written in the form of a rondo sonata. The alternation of cheerful episodes sparkling with merriment with the constant dance refrain - such a structure naturally followed from the nature of the images of the finale, from its semantics. Over time, with the deepening of the problems of the symphony, the regularities of the structure of its finale began to change. Finales began to appear in sonata form, in the form of variations, in free form, and finally - with features of oratorio (with the inclusion of a choir). His images have also changed: not only life-affirmation, but sometimes a tragic outcome (Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony), reconciliation with cruel reality or escape from it into a dream world, illusions have become the content of the finale of the symphonic cycle in the last hundred years.
But back to the beginning of the glorious path of this genre. Appearing in the middle of the 18th century, it reached classical perfection in the work of the great Haydn.
