Sinfonietta (symphony)
Sinfonietta is the diminutive of Sinfonia. The term is used since the late 19th century as the title of instrumental works whose structure is oriented to the symphony, but have a lesser extent (less sets), for smaller lineup to have (often for chamber orchestra) composed or of more modest claim.
In addition, some orchestra called Sinfonietta, including the London Sinfonietta, the Oslo Sinfonietta, the Basel Sinfonietta and the Holst - Sinfonietta; these four ensembles feel particularly committed to contemporary music. Ensembles bear the name but also in contrast to the size of a symphony orchestra, usually a Sinfonietta has all the orchestral instruments available, but these usually only in a simple occupation, so that especially for large ensembles, chamber music and accompanying tasks can be carried out (as in oratorios and cantatas ).
History and definition of the term
Among the first to use the term Sinfonietta, were Joachim Raff ( Sinfonietta Op.188 for ten wind instruments, 1873), Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov ( Sinfonietta on Russian Themes in A minor op.31, 1880-84 ), and Louis Théodore Gouvy ( Sinfonietta in D major op.80, ca 1886).
However, much of the sinfoniettas dates from the first half of the 20th century, including the Sinfonietta (1926), by Leoš Janáček, considered the best-known work in this genre. It originated from a Festfanfare for a congress in Brno and is often interpreted as an expression of patriotic joy about the young Czechoslovak Republic. The rock group Emerson, Lake and Palmer processed in 1970 two sets of the work for their piece Knife edge.
Some sinfoniettas are in expansion and occupation of the symphony quite comparable. These include the Sinfonietta in A major op.90 (1904 /05) by Max Reger, whose carefree character and stylistic relationship to the orchestra Serenade explain its title. The Sinfonietta in B major op.5 (1912 ) by Erich Wolfgang Korngold reaches the format of a symphony.
On the other hand, refers to short symphonies not automatically as Sinfonietta. For example, the title of the symphonic claim of the respective composers reflect Little Symphony (1932 ) with Hanns Eisler or Short Symphony (1932 /33) contradicts with Aaron Copland.
Delimit From the Sinfonietta continues the resulting early 20th century Chamber Symphony, which is also to settle as a species between symphony and chamber music, but in general remains one movement. Where the Chamber Symphony is mehrsätzig, approximately in the 2nd Chamber Symphony (1909 /39) Arnold Schoenberg, blurring the boundary of the genera.