The Word Symph Nia - 1251 Words

The word symphÃ… nia was used by the Greeks in reference to notes sounding together in harmony and by extension meant an â€Å"ensemble† or â€Å"band† rather than a musical form. The word implies a pleasant concord of different notes and has been used in fields other than music to denote a pleasing combination of various elements. In the New Testament Gospel According to Luke (King James Version), symphÃ… nia is translated as â€Å"musick,† as distinct from choroi, â€Å"dancing.† In the Middle Ages the name was given to several musical instruments, among them a double-headed drum, bowed stringed instruments, a large hurdy-gurdy, and bagpipes. Mention is made in 1582 of eine Symphonie, evidently a stringed keyboard instrument. From the mid-16th century,†¦show more content†¦His countryman Samuel Scheidt’s 70 Symphonien auf Konzerten-Manier (1644) likewise combine instrumental and vocal ensembles to enrich the texture and heighten the drama of his music. Symphonies for instruments alone during the early Baroque era (c. 1600–30) occur as independent pieces and as introductions or interludes in theatrical productions. The Italian Biagio Marini’s sinfonia La Orlandia (1617) is a duet for violin or cornetto (a wind instrument with finger holes and cup-shaped mouthpiece) and continuo in five brief contiguous sections, distinguished by contrasting metres and new melodic material in each section. (The continuo is a harmonic accompaniment improvised over the written bass line, usually played on a keyboard instrument and a bass viol or other bass melody instrument.) Early operas often include instrumental symphonies. Jacopo Peri’s Euridice (first performed 1600) includes a sinfonia for three flutes; Claudio Monteverdi’s lavish musical drama Orfeo (1607) is punctuated with five richly scored sinfonias, while a sinfonia da guerra (â€Å"sinfonia of war†) accompanies a staged battle in his Il ritorno d’U lisse in patria (The Return of Ulysses to his Country; 1641). Each act of Stefano Landi’s opera Il Sant’Alessio (1632) opens with a sectional sinfonia. Many other opera and oratorio composers used short descriptive or introductory sinfonias, often of sectional form with contrasting metres and tempos. It remained for a Neapolitan,