The Symphony

• If the central musical form for solo instruments during the Classical period was the sonata, its orchestral counterpart was the symphony.
• symphony

  • the most obvious predecessor to the symphony as we know it now is the ‘sinfonia,’ the Italian opera overture of previous centuries.
  • the symphony has various origins according to historians
• Opera overtures


  written around 1700 had musical material independent

  of the opera they were meant to introduce and were often written in such a way that they could be performed as individual pieces, without the orchestra.
• symphony

  • The form originated in Italy around the year 1730.
  • Many of the first symphonies were written by composers working in Milan and the surrounding parts of northern Italy.
  • From Italy, the form spread throughout the rest of Europe, reaching as far as Germany and England.
  • Most notable of these developments outside of Italy was that in Mannheim.
• Giovanni Battista Sammartini


  Most prominent composer of symphonies

  
• Mannheim

  • is a city in southwest Germany
  • it was home to the Mannheim orchestra.
• Johann Stamitz

  • Bohemian composer
  • Under his baton, the Mannheim orchestra became known all over Europe for its discipline, as well as its unprecedented use of dynamics.
  • The orchestra was able to produce the cleanest pianissimi and fortissimi, and used crescendi to such great effect that they became known for the Mannheim crescendo.
  • Stamitz was the first known composer to have consistently composed in what is now the standard structure for symphonies.

  
• Stamitz’s symphonies

  • all contained four movements
  • The third movements of his symphonies were all composed in minuet and trio form.
  • The last movements, furthermore, were all written in fast tempi, most often using the tempo marking “presto.”