The Development of Symphony

In the Classical era, symphony emerged as the dominant form in instrumental music.

The Mannheim School composers was a group of composers active at the court of Mannheim, Germany, in the later half of the 18th century. The leading figures included Karl Stamitz and Christian Cannabich.

CPE Bach is a Baroque-Classical composer and the son of  J.S. Bach. CPE Bach produced an enormous body of music, including keyboard sonatas, concertos, symphonies, cantatas, and oratorios.

The three great Viennese School masters, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven created over 150 symphonies.

Franz Joseph Haydn, one of the leading Viennese composers, spent almost thirty years in the employ of the Esterházy family, which provided Haydn with an opportunity to explore and perfect his approach to the symphonic genre. Haydn is also considered as “father of the string quartet” and “father of symphony.”

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, though more famous with his operas, also contributed to the Development of Symphony. He wrote over 40 symphonies, including No. 35, “Haffner.”

Ludwig van Beethoven contributed a lot to the development of symphony. He replaced the peaceful Minuet and Trio with the harsh Scherzo and Trio (Symphony no. 5).

Franz Schubert stands as a transitional composer whose music exemplifies traits of both Classical and Romantic musical styles. His choice of genres includes symphony, sonata, piano, and string quartet.