Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/27

SYMPHONY. in works in which the chief interest was centred upon the voice or voices. Thus, in the operas, cantatas, and masses of the early part of the 17th century, the voices had the most important part of the work to do, and the instruments' chief business was to supply simple forms of harmony as accompaniment. If there were any little portions which the instruments played without the voices, these were indiscriminately called Symphonies; and under the same head were included such more particular forms as Overtures and Ritornelli. The first experimentalists in harmonic music generally dispensed with such independent instrumental passages altogether. For instance, most if not all of the cantatas of Cesti and Rossi are devoid of either instrumental introduction or ritornel; and the same appears to have been the case with many of the operas of that time. There were however a few independent little instrumental movements even in the earliest operas. Peri's 'Euridice,' which stands almost at the head of the list (having been performed at Florence in 1600, as part of the festival in connection with the marriage of Henry IV of France and Mary de' Medici), contains a 'Sinfonia' for three flutes, which has a definite form of its own and is very characteristic of the time. The use of short instrumental passages, such as dances and introductions and ritornels, when once fairly begun, increased rapidly. Monteverde, who followed close upon Peri, made some use of them, and as the century grew older, they became a more and more important element in dramatic works, especially operas. The indiscriminate use of the word 'symphony,' to denote the passages of introduction to airs and recitatives, etc., lasted for a very long while, and got so far stereotyped in common usage that it was even applied to the instrumental portions of airs, etc., when played by a single performer. As an example may be quoted the following passage from a letter of Mozart's—'Sie (meaning Strinasacchi) spielt keine Note ohne Empfindung; sogar bei den Sinfonien spielte sie alles mit Expression,' etc. With regard to this use of the term, it is not necessary to do more than point out the natural course by which the meaning began to be restricted. Lulli, Alessandro Scarlatti, and other great composers of operas in the 17th century, extended the appendages of airs to proportions relatively considerable, but there was a limit beyond which such dependent passages could not go. The independent instrumental portions, on the other hand, such as overtures or toccatas, or groups of ballet tunes, were in different circumstances, and could be expanded to a very much greater extent; and as they grew in importance the name 'Symphony' came by degrees to have a more special significance. The small instrumental appendages to the various airs and so forth were still symphonies in a general sense, but the Symphony par excellence was the introductory movement; and the more it grew in importance the more distinctive was this application of the term.

The earliest steps in the development of this portion of the opera are chiefly important as attempts to establish some broad principle of form; which for some time amounted to little more than the balance of short divisions, of slow and quick movement alternately. Lulli is credited with the invention of one form, which came ultimately to be known as the 'Ouverture à la manière Française.' The principles of this form, as generally understood, amounted to no more than the succession of a slow solid movement to begin with, followed by a quicker movement in a lighter style, and another slow movement, not so grave in character as the first, to conclude with. Lulli himself was not rigidly consistent in the adoption of this form. In some cases, as in 'Persée,' 'Thesée,' and 'Bellérophon,' there are two divisions only—the characteristic grave opening movement, and a short free fugal quick movement. 'Proserpine,' 'Phaéton,' 'Alceste,' and the Ballet piece, 'Le Triomphe de l'amour,' are characteristic examples of the complete model. These have a grave opening, which is repeated, and then the livelier central movement, which is followed by a division marked 'lentement'; and the last two divisions are repeated in full together. A few examples are occasionally to be met with by less famous composers than Lulli, which show how far the adoption of this form of overture or symphony became general in a short time. An opera called 'Venus and Adonis,' by Desmarests, of which there is a copy in the Library of the Royal College of Music, has the overture in this form. 'Amadis de Grèce,' by Des Touches, has the same, as far as can be judged from the character of the divisions; 'Albion and Albanius,' by Grabu, which was licensed for publication in England by Roger Lestrange in 1687, has clearly the same, and looks like an imitation direct from Lulli; and the 'Venus and Adonis' by Dr. John Blow, yet again the same. So the model must have been extensively appreciated. The most important composer, however, who followed Lulli in this matter, was Alessandro Scarlatti, who certainly varied and improved on the model both as regards the style and the form. In his opera of 'Flavio Cuniberto' for instance, the 'Sinfonia avanti l'Opera' begins with a division marked grave, which is mainly based on simple canonical imitations, but has also broad expanses of contrasting keys. The style, for the time, is noble and rich, and very superior to Lulli's. The second division is a lively allegro, and the last a moderately quick minuet in 6-8 time. The 'Sinfonia' to his serenata 'Venere, Adone, Amore,' similarly has a Largo to begin with, a Presto in the middle, and a movement, not defined by a tempo, but clearly of moderate quickness, to end with. This form of 'Sinfonia' survived for a long while, and was expanded at times by a succession of dance movements, for which also Lulli supplied examples, and Handel