Symphonic music. Classic and modern

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Symphonic music surprisingly does not lose ground, although its history spans centuries. It would seem that time dictates new harmonies and rhythms, new instruments are invented, the process of composing itself takes on new forms - to write music, now you need a computer with a suitable program. However, symphonic music not only does not want to go down in history, but also acquires a new sound.

A little about the history of the genre, more precisely, the whole spectrum of genres, since the concept of symphonic music is multifaceted, it combines several musical forms. The general concept is this: it is instrumental music written for a symphony orchestra. And such orchestras can be created from large to chamber ones. Traditionally, orchestral groups are distinguished - string instruments, wind instruments, percussion, keyboards. In some cases, instruments can be solo, and not just sound in an ensemble.

There are many genres of symphonic music, but the queen can be called a symphony. The classical symphony was formed at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, its creators werecomposers of the Viennese school, above all, Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was they who brought to perfection the four-part symphonic model, the variety of themes in the parts of the symphony, the programmatic nature of each work. Symphonic music has risen to a new level thanks to the work of Ludwig van Beethoven. He made this genre more saturated, dramatic, shifted the semantic center to the finale of the symphony.

Beethoven's example was followed by Romantic composers of the German and Austrian schools - Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, Johann Brahms. They considered the program of a symphonic work to be the main one, the framework of a symphony becomes cramped for them, new genres appear, such as a symphony-oratorio, a symphony-concert. This trend was continued by other classics of European symphonic music - Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt, Gustav Mahler.

Symphonic music in Russia seriously declared itself only in the second half of the 19th century. Although the first symphonic experiments of Mikhail Glinka can be called successful, his symphonic overtures and fantasies laid the serious foundations of Russian symphonism, which reached true perfection in the works of the composers of The Mighty Handful - M. Balakirev, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, A. Borodin.

Historically, Russian symphonic music, having passed the classical stage of development, was formed as romantic music with elements of national color. Genuine masterpieces that have received worldwide recognition,created by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His symphonies are still considered the standard of the genre, and S. Rachmaninoff and A. Scriabin became the successors of Tchaikovsky's traditions.

Modern symphonic music, like all music of the 20th century, is in active creative search. Can the Russian composers S. Stravinsky, S. Prokofiev, D. Shostakovich, A. Schnittke and other luminaries be considered contemporary? And what about the music of such famous composers of the 20th century as the Finn Jean Sibelius, the Englishman Benjamin Britten, the Pole Krzysztof Penderecki? Symphonic music in modern processing, as well as in traditional, classical sound, is still in demand on world stages. New genres appear - symphonic rock, symphonic metal. This means that the life of symphonic music continues.