A symphony is an extended composition usually for orchestra and usually comprising several movements.

The main characteristics of the classical symphony, as it existed by the end of the 18th century in the German-speaking world were:

• 4 movements, of which the first would usually be a fast movement in sonata form, the second a slow movement, the third either a minuet and trio or a ternary dance-like (scherzo) movement in "simple triple" metre, finishing with a fourth, fast movement in rondo and/or sonata form.
• Instrumental, to be played by an orchestra of the relatively moderate size customary at the time.

After Beethoven started experimenting with the movement structure and with programmatic features in his Sixth Symphony, and later added singers to the last movement of his Ninth Symphony, the possibilities for moulding the symphony format appeared unlimited, starting from the early Romantic era, for example:

• More variation in the movement structure: More movements and/or multi-layered movement structure (Berlioz, Roméo et Juliette; Mahler, Second and Third Symphonies); Single-movement structure and/or movements succeeding without interruption (Sibelius, Seventh Symphony; Richard Strauss, Eine Alpensinfonie)
• More variation in the instrumentation: Large full-blown romantic orchestras (Berlioz, Mahler, Bruckner); Solo and/or choral singing extended to several movements of a symphony (Mendelssohn, Second Symphony; Berlioz, Roméo et Julliette; Shostakovich, 14th Symphony); Unusual or new instruments (cowbells in Mahler's Sixth Symphony; Ondes Martenot in the Turangalîla-Symphonie by Olivier Messiaen); Symphonies not for a symphony orchestra (Widor's symphonies to be played on a single organ)
• Extend the programmatic layer: even after the tone poem had split from the symphony genre as such, symphonies were published with extended programs, explicit (as in Berlioz' Roméo et Juliette, after Shakespeare, as well as in his Symphonie Fantastique) with clearly described literary/poetic devices (as in John Kenneth Graham's symphony cycle, or more implicit, like a succession of sentiments (as in Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony), Carl Nielsen's The Four Temperaments

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Baby, iHear an iPhone symphony: The "Building an iPhone Ensemble" class, taught by Georg Essl, a comp.. http://bit.ly/92SClU
andreabaker2 (andrea baker) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:03:38 -0000
Baby, iHear an iPhone symphony: The "Building an iPhone Ensemble" class, taught by Georg Essl, a comp.. http://bit.ly/92SClU
#listeningto "Muse, Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Redemption)" ... ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫ http://tuneupmedia.com
Jerry6565 (Von Putzer Ivo) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:01:28 -0000
#listeningto "Muse, Exogenesis: Symphony Part 3 (Redemption)" ... ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫ http://tuneupmedia.com
#listeningto "Muse, Exogenesis: Symphony Part 2 (Cross-Pollination)" ... ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫ http://tuneupmedia.com
Jerry6565 (Von Putzer Ivo) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:57:32 -0000
#listeningto "Muse, Exogenesis: Symphony Part 2 (Cross-Pollination)" ... ♫♪ ♫♪ ♫ http://tuneupmedia.com
Holding on my last breath, the symphony of the dead, playing out of nowhere, pretending to be someone, the apocalypse. http://myloc.me/205c4
adityadyan (aditya dyan pratama) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:57:07 -0000
Holding on my last breath, the symphony of the dead, playing out of nowhere, pretending to be someone, the apocalypse. http://myloc.me/205c4
Poulenc's Gloria, then Stravinsky's Symphony Of Psalms.
ClassicalReview (FK) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:56:19 -0000
Poulenc's Gloria, then Stravinsky's Symphony Of Psalms.
Paying Attention Sets Off Symphony Of Cell Synchronization - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061220143736.htm
MarquisBureau (Marquis Bureau) Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:56:00 -0000
Paying Attention Sets Off Symphony Of Cell Synchronization - http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061220143736.htm

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