A history of the symphony

As a musical form, the symphony has given us some of music’s greatest moments. From Mozart through Beethoven and Brahms to Wagner and beyond, one of the contradiction of the symphony is that for all its length enabled composers to express themselves its the musical eequivalent of soundbites that we remember.

But how did the symphony develop? Sitting in the Royal Albert Hall last night, listening to Prokofiev’s 3rd symphony at the BBC Proms was a good a place as any to ask. In a venue built for large works, which is synonymous with the big orchesteral works, composers and conductors, a Proms programme without a series of big symphonies would be empty. But how was it that composers went from writing church music, salon/dance music and the odd opera to a full-blown symphony? How did they get the audience to sit down for that long? How did the economics of music-making enable the art form to flourish?

Musically, symphonies are also fascinating. Watching a Mozart symphony is very different from, say Mahler 8. So how did the art form change as new instruments became available, choirs were added, off-stage bands given an occasional role? Which were the outliers or anomalies and which were the innovations that changed the form? After hearing the 5th movement in Beethoven 6, did other composers sense they were missing a movement? Did others scramble to write choral parts after Beethoven’s 9th? If not (and I suspect not) why not?

There are also questions around symphonies and composers. Why was it that Bach wrote none, Mozart 41, Hayden 104 then Beethoven and most others settled on 9 or fewer, before Shostakovich came along with 15? And why has the symphony all but died as a form for new art (apart from completions such as the Payne/Elgar 3rd symphony?

I’ve gone to Amazon and thus far not found anything which looks as though it might provide the answers. It seems like a great subject for a Bill Bryson-style effort. Do you have any recommendations?

Further reading I found online today was:

1. BRIEF JOURNEY THROUGH THE HISTORY OF THE SYMPHONY

2. A brief history of the symphony as musical form

. . . so clearly all the best titles have already been grabbed.