What is a Symphony?
A symphony is an extensive work for an orchestra that typically consists of 3 to 4 movements that flourished during the classical and romantic periods of Western classical music. The actual term 'symphony' is derived from the Greek words' syn '(together) and' phone '(sounding), which perfectly describes what you hear when listening to, for example, the famous Beethoven symphonies.
Symphony
The symphony as we know it today originated from the 18th-century opera 'sinfonia', a style of music consisting of a fast movement, a slow movement and a dance-like movement used in operas. A movement is a self-contained work, separated by silence within a larger work. Usually each movement can be distinguished by the pace, key, rhythmic patterns and harmonization. Movements are not just symphonic, they exist in a variety of classical music forms including concerts, sonatas, chamber music, and more. Given their purpose, most of the 'sinphonies' were composed with shortness in mind. Where a sinfonia can be played in ten minutes or less, a classical symphony can take more than thirty minutes to perform in its entirety.Â
Difference between classical and romantic symphony
