Sinfonia

For other uses, see Sinfonia (disambiguation).

Sinfonia (IPA: [siɱfoˈniːa]; plural sinfonie) is the Italian word for symphony, from the Latin symphonia, in turn derived from Ancient Greek συμφωνία symphōnia (agreement or concord of sound), from the prefix σύν (together) and ϕωνή (sound). In English it most commonly refers to a 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece used as an introduction, interlude, or postlude to an opera, oratorio, cantata, or suite (Abate 1999, who gives the origin of the word as Italian) (Lotha, and the Editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica n.d.). The word is also found in other Romance languages such as Spanish or Portuguese.

In the Middle Ages down to as late as 1588, it was also the Italian name for the hurdy-gurdy (Marcuse 1975, p. 477). Johann Sebastian Bach used the term for his keyboard compositions also known as Three-part Inventions, and after about 1800, the term, when in reference to opera, meant "Overture" (Fisher 1998, p. 386).

In George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah (HWV 56), "Overture to the Messiah" (French Overture in E minor) was originally titled "Sinfony".

In the 20th and 21st centuries it is found in the names of some chamber orchestras, such as the Northern Sinfonia (Kennedy 2006).

Sinfonias in the vocal works by Johann Sebastian Bach

Work	Movement	Related instrumental work	Movement
Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4	1
Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen, BWV 12	1
Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt, BWV 18	1
Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis, BWV 21	1
Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir, BWV 29	1	Partita for Violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006	1
Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35	1	Concerto in D minor (fragment), BWV 1059 (Gardiner 2007, 13, 16–18)
Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35	5	Probably the same lost work as BWV 35/1 (Gardiner 2007, 13, 16–18)
Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats, BWV 42	1
Ich geh und suche mit Verlangen, BWV 49	1	Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053	3
Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht, BWV 52	1	Sinfonia in F major (early version of Brandenburg Concerto No. 1), BWV 1046a	1
Die Elenden sollen essen, BWV 75	8
Die Himmel erzählen die Ehre Gottes, BWV 76	8	Organ Sonata No. 4 in E minor, BWV 528	1
Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a	4	Partita for Violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006	1
Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal, BWV 146	1	Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 (Bach 2004–2018)	1
Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150	1
Tritt auf die Glaubensbahn, BWV 152	1
Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe, BWV 156	1	Keyboard Concerto No. 5 in F minor, BWV 1056	2
Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169	1	Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053	1
Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte, BWV 174	1	Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048	1
Ich habe meine Zuversicht, BWV 188	1	Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052	3
Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196	1
Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209	1
St John Passion (third version), BWV 245	33 (lost)
Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248	Part II, 1
Easter Oratorio, BWV 249 Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a	1

The opening movements of cantatas BWV 31 and BWV 182 are named "sonata" and the first movement of cantata BWV 106 "sonatina". Sinfonia in D major, BWV 1045 is considered a sinfonia of a lost cantata, because its manuscript indicates that the piece had four vocal parts.

Symphony with an alternative scope

Examples of such "sinfonias" composed after the classical era include:

• Vincent d'Indy wrote a Sinfonia brevis de bello Gallico, Latin for: "Short Symphony about the War in Gaul".
• Igor Stravinsky titled the first movement of his 1923 Octet "Sinfonia".
• Benjamin Britten's 1940 Sinfonia da Requiem

See also

• Sinfonia concertante
• Sinfonietta (symphony)
• Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia
• Overture

Sources

• "Sinfonia". Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Abate, Frank R. (ed.). The Oxford American Dictionary and Language Guide. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-513449-0.
• Bach, Peter. "Werk: Vokalwerke: BWV 146: Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal". [s.l.]: Bach.de, 2004–2018 (accessed 13 May 2018).
• Bukofzer, Manfred. Music in the Baroque Era. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. ISBN 0-393-09745-5.
• Cusick, Suzanne G.; Jan Larue; John Tyrrell (2001), "Sinfonia (i)" in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, London: Macmillan Publishers, 2001.
• Fisher, Stephen C. "Sinfonia" in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. Four. p. 386. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1998. ISBN 0-333-73432-7 ISBN 1-56159-228-5.
• Gardiner, John Eliot. Cantatas for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity / Jakobskirche, Köthen. [s.l.]: Monteverdi Choir, 2007 (accessed 1 September 2017
• Kennedy, Michael. "Sinfonia". The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition, revised, associate editor, Joyce Bourne. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-19-861459-3.
• Lotha, Gloria, and the Editors of the Encyclopædia Britannica. N.d. “Sinfonia”. Encyclopædia Britannica online edition
• Marcuse, Sibyl. Musical Instruments: A Comprehensive Dictionary, corrected edition. The Norton Library. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1975. ISBN 0-393-00758-8.
• Randel, Don (ed.). The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1986. ISBN 0-674-61525-5.

External links

• A selection of sinfonias (from the Mutopia project)