symphony

views updated

symphony Large-scale, musical work for orchestra. It evolved steadily from the 18th century, when it received its first classical definition in the works of Haydn and Mozart. A symphony usually has four movements and, in the classical tradition, has its first movement in sonata form. The first symphonies were scored almost exclusively for stringed instruments of the violin family, but in the early 19th century, the use of large brass and woodwind sections became more common. Later composers of symphonies include Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Bruckner, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Sibelius, and Shostakovich.

More From encyclopedia.com