Symphony

Symphony was a popular genre of music in the eighteenth century. It was developed from the overtures (also called 'sinfonia'), which were played at the beginning of operas. When we think of 'symphony', we always think of an orchestra consists of strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. However, the earliest symphonies in the world were actually consists of strings only. These symphonies were usually composed before 1760. Symphony in B flat major (Them. Index 65) by Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789) is one of the earliest symphonies. It was written for a string orchestra that consists of 2 violins, viola, and basso (most likely to be cello). Also, the composer wrote figured bass (some numbers under the score) so that basso continuo like harpsichord could be played with the string orchestra. The audio presents the beginning of the third movement of the symphony, which is the fast and the last movement of the whole symphony. Since the piece have not been recorded by anyone, the audio is produced by Sibelius 7 Sounds Chamber. 

'Symphony' is a new product in eighteenth Century Europe. It was developed from the overtures (also called 'sinfonia'), which were played at the beginning of operas. The first generation of the symphonies stayed closely to the movement structure of the overtures, which was fast-slow-fast. However, Johann Stamitz (1717-1757), a great composer at the time, tried to add a movement (Minuet and Trio) between the the second and the third movements. This addition of the movement influenced much on the composition of symphonies afterwards. Franz Xaver Richter (1709-1789) was one of the composers who was influenced by this. Symphony in C major (Them. Index 11) is one of his symphonies with four movements. This audio presents the beginning of the third movement of the symphony, which is a Minuet and Trio. Since the piece have not been recorded by anyone, the audio is produced by Sibelius 7 Sounds Chamber. 

The violins play the complete initial statement of the main theme for this movement of the sinfonia. The main theme is the melodic idea which forms the compositional foundation of the movement; portions of it will be repeated in isolation, transposed, and varied with some repetitions of the complete idea over the course of the movement.

This typical string section of a galant/classical orchestra consists of first and second violins, viola, cello and bass. The string section of the orchestra plays an interlude between episodes of a movement. The first violins and violas play moving line in unison punctuated by second violins, cellos, and basses playing in unison.

Sound recording of the UNCSA Symphony Orchestra tuning before a performance in the Stevens Center in Winston-Salem, NC. Recorded on an iPhone 6.