Ripieno Concerto

The Symphony

The symphony, as we know it, started out in the 17th and 18th centuries. The most direct ancestor of the symphony would the Baroque ripieno concerto. The ripieno concerto, however, is is not really a concerto at all. A concerto would normally have a soloist or soloists play over the ensemble, but the ripieno concerto does not have any soloists at all. Oxforddictionaries.com defines “ripieno” as, “The body of instruments accompanying the concertino in baroque concerto music. ” Using that definition in the context of the ripieno concerto, the ripieno concerto is a piece consisting of only the concerto accompaniment. These pieces of music were scored for the same ensemble as early symphonies, string orchestra plus continuo, and

also followed the same movement cycle as early symphonies, a fast-slow-fast pattern. Also, the ripieno concerto was performed for the same people, venues, and occasion as the early symphony. The only large difference between the two is that the ripieno concerto used ritornello form in the first movement, a form of writing in which there is a use of a solo section followed by ensemble.
The first large change from ripieno concerto to a symphony happened in the 1680s when Alessandro Scarlotti first composed the three-movement Italian opera sinfonia or overture. Not only did this provide the symphony’s namesake, but they were also able to be performed outside of the opera they were composed for. The most noticeable changes from this piece of work are the expanded instrumentation with the inclusion of winds, the reasons for the performance, and the function.
In the 18th century, the early symphonies were more common and performed for various occasions.

One of the most notable composers at the start of this time was Giovanni Battista Sammartini from Lambardy, Italy. His symphonies from 1720-1740 were still mostly of the style of the ripieno concerto, but his adoption of the rounded binary or early sonata form for the faster movements provided one of the main changes from the ripieno concerto in writing style. From Naples, several composers, like Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, began writing for a more powerful orchestra including oboes, horns, flutes, and often trumpets and timpani. They began experimenting with homophonic texture, block-like treatment of treatment of winds, slow harmonic rhythm, use of pedal point, dynamic contrast, and thematic contrast in first movements. Around mid-1740s, the court of Mannheim introduced a fourth movement by inserting a minuet and trio before the finale. However, the later Mannheim composers returned to the standard three-movement styled symphony. A style change in individual movements during this time would be the use of sonata form with only a partial recapitulation as opposed to the full until the 1770s.

In Vienna, the earliest composers of this style, like Mathias Georg Monn (1717-1750), were fairly conservative, but like Sammartini, favored the use of the binary form with a full recapitulation. The next generation favored a more clarity of structure in their sonata forms. Most of the symphonies

at this time were in four movements and featured a slow introduction and rondo finale.
In the 19th century, the composer believed to encapsulate the total progress of expansion of ideas of the symphony would be Ludwig van Beethoven. While he may have stretched every aspect of the known symphony, he always had the sonata form of the late 18th century at his base. Beethoven’s symphonies were a bit larger with the inclusion of trombones, which usually depicted dark and ominous passages, and also replaced the minuet and trio with a scherzo. His finales in the fifth and ninth symphonies, and a portion of the third, also serve as a climax in they include pieces of the previous movements.
As with Beethoven, most composers of the 19th century viewed the symphony a framework to pave the way for Romantic lyricism, orchestral color, and expression of individuals. For example, Schubert’s late symphonies are known for beauty and expressivity of the lyrical themes, harmonic color, and the dramatic forte passages.
The late 19th century composers, like Wagner, Berlioz, and Liszt, were considered to be more of the radical composers, leading away from the conservative style of composition.

These composers, among others, proposed the idea of a union between music and poetic content. The most innovative of this style is Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette. This used the music to tell a story with chorus and vocal soloists. However, his most technical innovation was idée fixe, which is the constant returning of an idea in every movement. These innovations, influenced Liszt’s work with Faust and Dante, and in turn, influenced the works of César Franck with his Symphony in D

minor.
In the 20th century, composers influenced by the affects by World War I began to react in their compositions in their form and content. A neoclassical view is able to be seen in many composer’s writings, such as Prokofiev, Milhaud, and Honegger. Some of Stravinsky’s work also falls into this category with Symphony in C and Symphony in Three movements. These works emphasize the composer’s own perception on tonality. Though the tonal system is different, and the form is more traditional, the same arguments can be made for Hindemith and much of his work.
In Eastern Europe, most of the symphonies at this time written were based more on national ideas and traditional styles. In Russia, symphonies by Prokofiev were based on folk genres, while Shostakovich based much of his work in the socialist realism realm.
In Britain, the symphony was heavily influenced by the German Romantic tradition, Charles Villiers Stanford, followed by a national approach, Ralph Vaughn Williams. In the United States, it was much of the same with John Knowles Paine being the former and George Chadwick being the latter. At this time, Charles Ives introduced a completely new style, and, when compared to the symphonies of everyone else, was very startling. Though even with his very new style of writing in his fourth symphony, the American School had to wait another generation and would not get the recognition he deserved until much later. The American school brought about composers such as Aaron Copeland, Roy Harris, and Walter Piston. The composition styles range from neoclassicism with Copeland and Piston to the American West with Harris. Other composers belonging to this generation include Vincent Persichetti, Samuel Barber, William Schuman, and many others.
Many of the more contemporary composers of this time tend to give their compositions more imaginative titles that would have simply been titled “Symphony” in the past.