Professor Wollman’s notes about THE SYMPHONY

Look at all these musicians and audience members attending the performance of a symphony! So old-school and
unhygienic of them! But I bet the music sounds pretty good.

A symphony is a musical composition for full orchestra, typically in four

movements (or separate sections), at least one of which is usually in sonata form.

More on sonata form in a minute.

The Symphony in the Classical Era

The popularity of the symphony grew from demands by the ever-growing middle
class, which was hungry for entertainment. The increase in the size and number
of concert halls led to new musical genres. The symphony was one of the most
popular and beloved genres of the time.

A few things that allowed for new popularity of the symphony:

String instruments were strung with metal strings instead of catgut.
They got louder and more powerful!
The clarinet was invented, and the wind and brass sections grew larger.
The piano was also invented and quickly replaced the harpsichord.

Fun fact: the original name for the piano was pianoforte, which literally
translates into “soft-loud.” The piano’s dynamic range was so important that the
instrument was named for it!
Concert Etiquette
In the Classical era, concert behavior was a lot wilder than it is now. Audiences
shouted and cheered, yelled requests at the performers, clapped in-between
movements, and generally had a loud, enthusiastic time. They probably didn’t
vape or toss beach balls or frisbees around, but I bet they totally would have if
those things had been invented yet.

This is a picture of a modern concert; Classical audiences looked a little like this too, but they all had powdered
wigs on, different clothing styles, and probably not the same choice of jewelry.

Nowadays, audiences at classical music concerts are quieter and more subdued;
clapping and making noise between movements of a piece of music is
discouraged. It’s worth knowing this: when you all graduate and become moguls
and get invited to a fancy concert by someone at your law-, accountancy-, or
business firm, you should keep attuned to the way everyone else behaves.

Here’s a funny clip made by some orchestral musicians about concert behavior.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxtmzqypZS0

The Sonata-Allegro form

Before we all had to flee from public spaces, we were talking about Classical form.
All the forms we’ve looked at —theme and variation, minuet and trio, and rondo
—can be used as a blueprint to compose a movement in a symphony. But at least
one movement in most symphonies uses a form we haven’t examined yet: the
sonata-allegro form.
 Yeah, I know this looks terrifying. Don’t worry, we’ll break it down.

A sonata-allegro form has three parts, plus an optional introduction and coda.

Following the optional introduction, there is an EXPOSITION.

Usually, an exposition goes like this: a melodic theme is played, and then there’s
a bridge (or transitional section) during which the key shifts (or “modulates”) and
then leads to a second melodic theme.

Once the exposition is played all the way through, it repeats. That’s what the
markings ||: :|| represent above. These symbols tell musicians to repeat
everything that occurs between them.

After the exposition is played twice, the development section occurs. In this
section, the two themes introduced in the exposition are….developed. The
composer varies them, messes with them, puts them in different keys, mushes
them up, and basically does what s/he wants with them.

Following the development is the recapitulation. Basically, the recapitulation is a

recap of the exposition, but with a few differences.
The first difference is that there is no repeat. The exposition is played
twice, but the recapitulation only gets played once.

The second difference is that instead of the bridge in the exposition

section, the recapitulation section has transitional music that does not
modulate (or change key). Theme I and II stay in the same key so the
movement can end on the same key in which it began.

The sonata-allegro form ends with an optional coda.

Visit the uploaded mini-lectures for demonstrations of the sonata-allegro form in

Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik I, Mozart’s Symphony #40 in G minor I, and
Beethoven’s Symphony no. 5 in C minor, I.