History of the Symphony - Essay Example

Two Essays: Music 1010 Word Count: 570 Please compose and essay that traces the history of the Symphony as a form from Haydn to the present day.Please be sure to use the following terms and composers to ensure full credit: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, Berlioz, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Aaron Copland, Arnold Schoenberg, William Schuman, John Corigliano, John Adams. Sonata Form, Altered Symphonic Form, Expanded instrumentation, expanded form, Tone Poem, Programatic Symphony, Serialism, American Symphony, Pulitzer Prize winning works.

[1 page – 265 words] The origins of symphony date way back to the early 19th century, continuing through the 20th century, and on to the 21st century. Haydn was one of the foremost composers of the symphony in the 1800’s. Mozart expanded on the symphony by composing short tone poems. Sonata form was popular in this period. Beethoven made similar pieces to Mozart—however, Beethoven was much more orderly, fond of expanded form, and liked to write symphony pieces that were more reserved, in a sense.

Also in the late 1820’s, Robert Schumann attempted his first symphony, entitled “Spring.” Berlioz was fond of using expanded instrumentation and programmatic symphony. Mahler used altered symphonic form. Strauss later became a conductor. Aaron Copland was well-known for his symphonies as well, ushering in the 20th century—championing serialism, or twelve-tone music. Schoenberg ushered in the 21st century of American symphony. “[Schoenberg’s] early works, which were reminiscent of Johannes Brahms and Richard Strauss, are still disliked because they were written by his infamous hand.

His twelve-tone technique is the first attempts at atonality during his era and would be never developed and explored by later composers.”1 William Schuman wrote eight symphonies. John Corigliano was also a trendsetter. “[John] Corigliano's ambitious, extravagant, and grandly barbarous Symphony No. 3: Circus Maximus (2004) was commissioned [and written for] its New York premiere in 2005 at Carnegie Hall.”2 One of John Adams’s Pulitzer-prize winning works was On the Transmigration of Souls, written after the 9/11 tragedy.

Whether in the 19th, 20th, or 21st centuries, all these composers significantly contributed to the symphony as we know it today. WORKS CITED Composer John Corigliano: Biography. Accessed 17 June 2011 at: . Introduction: Arnold Schoenberg. Accessed 17 June 2011 at: . 2. Please write an essay detailing the history of music starting in the Medieval Period through the present day and how it influences sociopolitical, socioeconomic thought throughout the world. Please include the following: Feudal System, Opera and its History, Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring, Mahler, criticism, expressionism, impressionism, minimalism, Big Band Swing, Jazz, Rock n Roll, the 1960’s, today.

[1 page – 305 words] The Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque—coupled with the Classical and Romantic periods—ultimately led to 20th and 21st century music, the era in which we find ourselves today. During the Medieval and Renaissance periods, feudalism was still in effect. “The feudal system was a way of government based on obligations between the lord or king and vassal.”3 Very few people of lower stature went to the opera, as the opera and its history is a story inside itself. The Baroque period, like Baroque art, was music focusing upon the bourgeoisie—which led to the classical period.

Igor Stravinsky was born in 1882, about a hundred years after the High Baroque period had ended, and with his birth ushered in the era of Classical and Romantic music. “His Rite of Spring heralded the century.”4 About 30 years after Stravinsky was born, Mahler wrote his last symphony, Symphony No. 9. Much criticism in music still has its sway. With expressionism being in high demand in the 19th and 20th centuries, like in the art world, impressionism was a musical movement evocative of late 19th-century France.

Minimalism seemed to dominate the compositions of several composers in the 20th and 21st century. Big Band Swing came into popularity during the Harlem Renaissance; Jazz was formed as a result of improvisational musical stylings in the speak-easies and dance clubs of the 1920’s and 1930’s—setting the stage for after the Great Depression. With the advent of the 1950’s and 1960’s came Rock and Roll, and the usage of music to influence social policy and the abolition of segregation in the U.S. Today people listen to several types of music.

Certainly, whatever musical period that we have studied, there is something interesting to learn about each one—whether it be from the Medieval times, modern times, or every era in between. WORKS CITED The Feudal System. Accessed 17 June 2011 online at: . Glass, Philip. Igor Stravinsky. Published 1998. Accessed 17 June 2011 online at Time Magazine: .