What is a symphony?

Question

and how is it different from say a

Suite "The Firebird Suite"

Fugue "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor"

Orchestral Work "Theme on a Japanese Landscape"

Concerto "Warsaw concerto, for piano and orchestra"

Answer 1

The snide answer is that a symphony is whatever a composer says it is (e.g., Nam June Paik's "Young Penis Symphony"). More seriously, the word comes from the Italian "sinfonia", which implied an instrumental portion of an otherwise vocal work, such as the overture to an opera or oratorio. Italian opera overtures during the Baroque period tended to be fast-slow-fast, and this format gradually got extended in length with pauses placed between the sections making them into distinct movements. It was this development that led to the "sinfonias" (symphonies) of Haydn and others that were conceived as a multi-movement standalone work.

This symphony form was developed through the Classical and Romantic periods, with the model being the extended four movement work for large orchestra as typified by Beethoven, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Bruckner, Mahler, Dvorak and many others.

In the 20th Century, the term continued to connote a large-scale orchestral work, but of a variety of different forms, and anywhere from one to many movements (e.g., Sibelius, Harris, Stravinsky, Hovhaness). The term and the form were increasingly considered archaic as the 20th Century developed, and the musical languages of Modernism and then Postmodernism expanded. After World War II, in fact, the term was often used mainly to imply a certain broad scope or seriousness of absolute (non-programmatic) music intent, the symphony having previously been considered the pinnacle of musical accomplishment in the Western art music tradition (e.g., Branca, Schnittke, Lutoslawski or the more sarcastic example I cited at the start). Nevertheless, throughout the 20th and 21st Centuries, conservative composers have continued to write more-or-less traditional symphonies (multi-movement works for orchestra) in imitation of earlier models (e.g., Vaughan Williams, Shostakovich, Pettersson).

And so for the symphony. I'll let others go into the other forms (suite, concerto), techniques (fugue) and media (orchestra) that you mention.

Answer 2

A suite is a set of pieces, usually NOT a symphony but some other arrangement. The firebird suite is a ballet, so this is presumably why it's called a suite.

A fugue is a musical form where differing voices (usually three but sometimes more) imitate and weave in between each other

An orchestral work is essentially what it says on the tin - symphonies are also orchestral works

A concerto is basically using an orchestra as a backing track for a solo instrument (usually just one, though not always). So the Warsaw concerto will feature a piano soloist and the orchestra will essentially act as an accompaniment.

Classically speaking a symphony will consist of 4 movements, and the first will be in sonata form (ABA). This is by no means the case any more, and even some classical symphonies by Haydn and Beethoven don't conform to this.

Answer 3

A suite is an organized set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed at a single sitting, as a separate musical performance, not accompanying an opera, ballet, or theater-piece.

A Suite is short and sweet. In the eighteenth century, suites were also known as concert overtures or ouvertures. Later included "tone poems".

The term Concerto usually refers to a musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.

Fugue is a composition, or compositional technique, in which a theme (or themes) is extended and developed mainly by imitative counterpoint. The exposition is the only essential for the definition of a piece as a fugue!

A composition for a FULL compliment of strings, brass, percusion and woodwind instrument families is called a SYMPHONY, if it's of SUFFICIENT LENGTH.

Symphonies are cpmposed for a full size orchestra (about 100 players), sometimes called a "symphony orchestra" or "philharmonic orchestra".

A smaller orchestra (of about forty players or less) is called a chamber orchestra.

Answer 4

A melody composed by a classic musician.