Sinfonietta (symphony)
Encyclopedia
A sinfonietta is a symphony
that is smaller in scale or lighter in approach than a standard symphony. Although of Italian form, the word is not genuine in that language and has seldom been used by Italian composers. It appears to have been coined in 1874 by Joachim Raff
for his Op. 188, but became common usage only in the early 20th century (Temperley 2001).
A number of composers have written works in this format:
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
that is smaller in scale or lighter in approach than a standard symphony. Although of Italian form, the word is not genuine in that language and has seldom been used by Italian composers. It appears to have been coined in 1874 by Joachim Raff
Joachim Raff
Joseph Joachim Raff was a German-Swiss composer, teacher and pianist.-Biography:Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitment into the military of that southwestern German state that had to fight for Napoleon in...
for his Op. 188, but became common usage only in the early 20th century (Temperley 2001).
A number of composers have written works in this format:
- William AlwynWilliam AlwynWilliam Alwyn, CBE, born William Alwyn Smith was an English composer, conductor, and music teacher.-Life and music:...
's Sinfonietta for strings (1970) - Malcolm ArnoldMalcolm ArnoldSir Malcolm Henry Arnold, CBE was an English composer and symphonist.Malcolm Arnold began his career playing trumpet professionally, but by age thirty his life was devoted to composition. He was ranked with Benjamin Britten as one of the most sought-after composers in Britain...
's Sinfonietta No. 1, Op. 48 (1954), Sinfonietta No. 2, Op. 65 (1958), and Sinfonietta No. 3, Op. 81 (1964) - Jürg BaurJürg BaurJürg Baur was a German composer of classical music.-Education:Baur was born in Düsseldorf, where he achieved early recognition as a composer at the age of 18, when his First String Quartet was premiered at the Düsseldorf Hindenburg Secondary School by the then-famous Prisca Quartet...
's Triton-Sinfonietta: 3 Grotesken für Kammerorchester (1974) - Arnold BaxArnold BaxSir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, KCVO was an English composer and poet. His musical style blended elements of romanticism and impressionism, often with influences from Irish literature and landscape. His orchestral scores are noted for their complexity and colourful instrumentation...
's Sinfonietta (1932) - Lennox BerkeleyLennox BerkeleySir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley was an English composer.- Biography :He was born in Oxford, England, and educated at the Dragon School, Gresham's School and Merton College, Oxford...
's Sinfonietta, Op. 34 (1950) - Herbert BlendingerHerbert BlendingerHerbert Blendinger is an Austrian composer and viola player of German origin.-Professional career:Blendinger studied viola and composition with Willy Horwath and Max Gebhard at the conservatory in Nuremberg, then from 1961 to 1963 at the Musikhochschule München with Georg Schmid and Franz Xaver...
's Sinfonietta, Op. 30 (1976) - Eugène BozzaEugène BozzaEugène Joseph Bozza was a French composer.Bozza studied composition, conducting, and violin at the Paris Conservatoire. He is known primarily for his chamber music. Bozza's work includes five symphonies, operas, ballets, and many pieces for brass ensemble...
's Sinfonietta for string orchestra, Op. 61 (1944) - Benjamin BrittenBenjamin BrittenEdward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
's Sinfonietta, Op. 1 (1932) - Henry CowellHenry CowellHenry Cowell was an American composer, music theorist, pianist, teacher, publisher, and impresario. His contribution to the world of music was summed up by Virgil Thomson, writing in the early 1950s:...
's Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra (1928) - Ingolf DahlIngolf DahlIngolf Dahl was a German-born American composer, pianist, conductor, and educator.-Biography:Born in Hamburg, Germany to a German father and a Swedish mother, his birth name was Walter Ingolf Marcus. He studied with Philipp Jarnach at the Hochschule für Musik Köln...
's Sinfonietta for concert band - Peter Maxwell DaviesPeter Maxwell DaviesSir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE is an English composer and conductor and is currently Master of the Queen's Music.-Biography:...
's Sinfonietta accademica (1987) - Louis DureyLouis Durey-Life:Louis Durey was born in Paris, the son of a local businessman. It was not until he was nineteen years old that he chose to pursue a musical career after hearing a performance of a Claude Debussy work. As a composer he was primarily self-taught. From the beginning, choral music was of great...
's Sinfonietta for strings, Op. 105 (1966) - Ulvi Cemal ErkinUlvi Cemal ErkinUlvi Cemal Erkin was a member of the pioneer group of symphonic composers in Turkey, born in the period 1904 - 1910, who later came to be called The Turkish Five. These composers set out the direction of music in the newly established Turkish Republic...
's Sinfonietta for string orchestra (1951–59) - Iván ErődIván ErödIván Erőd, also Iván Eröd , is an Hungarian-Austrian composer and pianist.- Career :Erőd studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music with Pál Kadosa and Ferenc Szabó . He emigrated to Austria in 1956 and studied there at the Vienna Music Academy, with Richard Hauser and Karl Schiske...
's Minnesota Sinfonietta, Op. 51 - Peggy Glanville-HicksPeggy Glanville-HicksPeggy Glanville-Hicks was an Australian composer.- Biography :Peggy Glanville-Hicks was born Melbourne in 1912. At age 15 she began studying composition with Fritz Hart in Melbourne...
's Sinfonietta No. 1 in D minor for small orchestra (1935) and Sinfonietta No. 2 for orchestra (1938) - Ernesto HalffterErnesto HalffterErnesto Halffter Escriche was a Spanish composer and conductor. He was the brother of Rodolfo Halffter....
's Sinfonietta in D major (1925) - Josef Matthias HauerJosef Matthias HauerJosef Mattias Hauer was an Austrian composer and music theorist. He is most famous for developing, independent of and a year or two before Arnold Schoenberg, a method for composing with all 12 notes of the chromatic scale.Hauer "detested all art that expressed ideas, programmes or feelings,"...
's Sinfonietta in 3 Sätzen, Op. 50 - Bernard HerrmannBernard HerrmannBernard Herrmann was an American composer noted for his work in motion pictures.An Academy Award-winner , Herrmann is particularly known for his collaborations with director Alfred Hitchcock, most famously Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo...
's Sinfonietta for string orchestra (1935) - Paul HindemithPaul HindemithPaul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...
's Lustige Sinfonietta, Op. 4 (1916), and Symphonietta (Little Symphony) in E major (1949) - Alun HoddinottAlun HoddinottAlun Hoddinott CBE , was a Welsh composer of classical music, one of the first to receive international recognition.-Life and works:...
's Sinfonietta No. 1, Op. 56 (1968), Sinfonietta No. 2, Op. 67 (1969), Sinfonietta No. 3, Op. 71 (1970), and Sinfonietta No. 4 (1971) - Mikhail Ippolitov-IvanovMikhail Ippolitov-IvanovMikhail Mikhailovich Ippolitov-Ivanov was a Russian composer, conductor and teacher.- Biography :...
's Sinfonietta, Op. 34 (arrangement for large orchestra of Violin Sonata, Op. 8) (1902) - Leoš JanáčekLeoš JanácekLeoš Janáček was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and all Slavic folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research and his early musical output was influenced by...
's SinfoniettaSinfonietta (Janácek)The Sinfonietta is a very expressive and festive, late work for large orchestra by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček...
(1926) - John JoubertJohn Joubert (composer)John Joubert is a British composer of South African descent, particularly of choral works. He has lived in Moseley, a suburb of Birmingham, England, for over 40 years. A music academic at the universities of Hull and Birmingham for 36 years, Joubert took early retirement in 1986 to concentrate on...
's Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra, Op. 38 - Pál KadosaPál KadosaPál Kadosa was a piano teacher and Hungarian composer of the post-Bartók generation. His early style was influenced by Hungarian folklore while his later works were more toward Hindemith and expressively forceful idioms. He was born in Léva. He studied at the national Hungarian Royal Academy...
's Sinfonietta for orchestra - Vítězslava KaprálováVítezslava KaprálováVítězslava Kaprálová was a Czech composer and conductor. Among her teachers were some of the best European composers and conductors of the time - Bohuslav Martinů, Václav Talich, and Charles Münch.-Life:She was a daughter of composer Václav Kaprál...
's Military Sinfonietta, Op. 11 - Erich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang KorngoldErich Wolfgang Korngold was an Austro-Hungarian film and romantic music composer. While his compositional style was considered well out of vogue at the time he died, his music has more recently undergone a reevaluation and a gradual reawakening of interest...
's SinfoniettaSinfonietta (Korngold)The Sinfonietta in B major, Op. 5, is the first large-scale orchestral work written by the 20th-century German composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold. It was completed in 1912, when he was fifteen years old and was premiered in Vienna on 30 November 1913 with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by...
in B major, Op. 5 (1912) - Ernst KrenekErnst KrenekErnst Krenek was an Austrian of Czech origin and, from 1945, American composer. He explored atonality and other modern styles and wrote a number of books, including Music Here and Now , a study of Johannes Ockeghem , and Horizons Circled: Reflections on my Music...
's Sinfonietta for string orchestra, "A brasileira", Op. 131 (1952) - Elizabeth MaconchyElizabeth MaconchyDame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy Le Fanu DBE was an English composer, most noted for her cycle of thirteen string quartets.-Biography:...
's Sinfonietta (1976), not to be confused with her Little Symphony (1980–81) - Tomás MarcoTomás MarcoTomás Marco Aragón is a Spanish composer and writer on music.-Life and work:Marco studied violin and composition in Madrid while at the same time pursuing the study of law...
's Sinfonietta No. 1 ("Opaco resplandor de la memoria"), for orchestra (1998–99), and Sinfonietta No. 2 "Curvas del Guadiana" (2004) - Igor MarkevitchIgor MarkevitchIgor Markevitch was a Ukrainian, Italian, and French composer and conductor.- Origin :Igor Markevich was born in Kiev, to an old family of Ukrainian Cossack starshyna ennobled in the 18th century...
's Sinfonietta in F (1928–29) - Darius MilhaudDarius MilhaudDarius Milhaud was a French composer and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as The Group of Six—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions are influenced by jazz and make use of polytonality...
's Sinfonietta, Op. 363 (1957) - Bohuslav MartinůBohuslav MartinuBohuslav Martinů was a prolific Czech composer of modern classical music. He was of Czech and Rumanian ancestry. Martinů wrote six symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber, vocal and instrumental works. Martinů became a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic...
's Sinfonietta giocosa (1940) and Sinfonietta La Jolla (1950), both for piano and chamber orchestra - E. J. MoeranErnest John MoeranErnest John Moeran was an English composer who had strong associations with Ireland .-Early life:...
's Sinfonietta (1944) - José Pablo MoncayoJosé Pablo MoncayoJosé Pablo Moncayo García was a Mexican pianist, percussionist, music teacher, composer and conductor. "As composer, José Pablo Moncayo represents one of the most important legacies of the Mexican nationalism in art music, after Silvestre Revueltas and Carlos Chávez." He produced some of the...
's Sinfonietta (1945) - Ottokar NováčekOttokar Novacek; May 13, 1866, Fehertémplom , southern Hungary – February 3, 1900, New York City) was an Hungarian violinist and composer of Czech descent and is perhaps best known for his work Perpetuum Mobile .- Family lineage :...
's Sinfonietta for woodwind octet (1905) - Krzysztof PendereckiKrzysztof PendereckiKrzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
's Sinfonietta No. 1, for string orchestra (1992) and Sinfonietta No. 2, for clarinet and strings (1994) - George PerleGeorge PerleGeorge Perle was a composer and music theorist. He was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. Perle was an alumnus of DePaul University...
's Sinfonietta - Ástor PiazzollaÁstor PiazzollaÁstor Pantaleón Piazzolla was an Argentine tango composer and bandoneón player. His oeuvre revolutionized the traditional tango into a new style termed nuevo tango, incorporating elements from jazz and classical music...
's Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra, Op. 19 - Walter PistonWalter PistonWalter Hamor Piston Jr., , was an American composer of classical music, music theorist and professor of music at Harvard University whose students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter....
's Sinfonietta (1941) - Francis PoulencFrancis PoulencFrancis Jean Marcel Poulenc was a French composer and a member of the French group Les six. He composed solo piano music, chamber music, oratorio, choral music, opera, ballet music, and orchestral music...
's SinfoniettaSinfonietta (Poulenc)The Sinfonietta is a work for orchestra by Francis Poulenc. Composed in 1947, it was first given in London on October 24, 1948, under the baton of Roger Désormière. The music is light and, at times, satirical, and overflows with popular turns and dance rhythms. The work is in four movements:*I....
(1947) - Sergei ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
's SinfoniettaSinfonietta (Prokofiev)Sinfonietta in A major is a composition by Sergei Prokofiev.-Background:Sergei Prokofiev wrote his Sinfonietta in A major, Op. 5, in 1909 and dedicated it to Nikolai Tcherepnin, his conducting professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory....
in A major, Op. 5 (1909, rev. 1929 as Op. 48) - Joachim RaffJoachim RaffJoseph Joachim Raff was a German-Swiss composer, teacher and pianist.-Biography:Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. His father, a teacher, had fled there from Württemberg in 1810 to escape forced recruitment into the military of that southwestern German state that had to fight for Napoleon in...
's Sinfonietta for ten windsDecet (music)In music, a decet—sometimes dectet, decimette, or even tentet —is a composition which requires ten musicians for a performance, or a musical group that consists of ten people. The corresponding German word is dezett, the French is dixtuor...
, Op. 188 (1874) - Max RegerMax RegerJohann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger was a German composer, conductor, pianist, organist, and academic teacher.-Life:...
's Sinfonietta in A major, Op. 90 (1904-05) - Wallingford RieggerWallingford RieggerWallingford Constantine Riegger was a prolific American music composer, well known for orchestral and modern dance music, and film scores...
's Sinfonietta (1959) - Nikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Rimsky-KorsakovNikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César...
's Sinfonietta on Russian Themes in A minor, Op. 31 (1879-84) - Albert RousselAlbert RousselAlbert Charles Paul Marie Roussel was a French composer. He spent seven years as a midshipman, turned to music as an adult, and became one of the most prominent French composers of the interwar period...
's Sinfonietta for string orchestra, Op. 52 - Edmund RubbraEdmund RubbraEdmund Rubbra was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak of his fame in the mid-20th century. The most famous of his pieces are his eleven...
's Sinfonietta for large string orchesta, Op. 163 (1984–85) - Humphrey SearleHumphrey SearleHumphrey Searle was a British composer.-Biography:He was born in Oxford where he was a classics scholar before studying — somewhat hesitantly — with John Ireland at the Royal College of Music in London, after which he went to Vienna on a six month scholarship to become a private pupil of Anton...
's Sinfonietta, Op. 49, for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass - Carlos SurinachCarlos SurinachCarlos Surinach was a Catalan Spanish-born composer and conductor.He was born in Barcelona, where he held conducting posts at the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and the Gran Teatre del Liceu...
's Sinfonietta flamenca (1953–54) - Erich UrbannerErich UrbannerErich Urbanner is an Austrian composer and teacher.-Biography:Urbanner studied from 1955 to 1961 at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, in the composition classes of Karl Schiske and Hanns Jelinek, as well as studying piano with Grete Hinterhofer and conducting with Hans Swarowsky...
's Sinfonietta 79 - Heitor Villa-LobosHeitor Villa-LobosHeitor Villa-Lobos was a Brazilian composer, described as "the single most significant creative figure in 20th-century Brazilian art music". Villa-Lobos has become the best-known and most significant Latin American composer to date. He wrote numerous orchestral, chamber, instrumental and vocal works...
's Sinfonietta No. 1 (1916) and Sinfonietta No. 2 (1947) - Graham WaterhouseGraham WaterhouseGraham Waterhouse is an English composer and a cellist. He is known for chamber music and for unusual scoring, such as Piccolo Quintet, Bright Angel for three bassoons and contrabassoon, Chieftain's Salute for Great Highland Bagpipe and string orchestra, and works for speaking voice and cello,...
's Sinfonietta for string orchestra, Op. 54 (2002) - Felix WeingartnerFelix WeingartnerPaul Felix von Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist.-Biography:...
's Sinfonietta, Op. 83 (1932) - Alexander von ZemlinskyAlexander von ZemlinskyAlexander Zemlinsky or Alexander von Zemlinsky was an Austrian composer, conductor, and teacher.-Early life:...
's Sinfonietta for orchestra, Op. 23 (1934)
Further reading
- Alvarez, Alberto J. 2007. Sinfonietta en re de Ernesto Halffter. Málaga: Ediciones Maestro. ISBN 9788496644502.
- Bird, Steven Carl. 1985. "Folk Material and Its Relationship to Structure and Form in Janácek's Sinfonietta". Acta Janáčkiana 2:64-75.
- Kemp, Ian. 1998. "Sinfonietta 1950: Colour of Design". In Hindemith-Jahrbuch/Annales Hindemith, no. 27:180–96.
- Krier, Yves. 1998. "La Sinfonietta: Une introduction à l'art classique roussélien". Musurgia: Analyse et Pratique Musicales 5, nos. 3–4:163–90.
- Loll, Werner. 1992. "Ein Spiel mit Moden und Traditionen: Zur Sinfonietta op. 23". Österreichische Musikzeitschrift 47, no. 4 (April): 190–98.
- Palacios Nieto, María. 2006. "Nueva música sinfónica: Acogida crítica y análisis de Sinfonietta". Cuadernos de Música Iberoamericana, no. 11 ("Monográfico dedicado a Ernesto Halffter (1905–1989) en su centenario", edited by Emilio Casares Rodicio): 123–40.
- Schmitz, Eugen. 1905. Max Reger's Sinfonietta. Münchner Broschüren 4. Munich: G. Müller.