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Show What is a Symphony. By Arthur Shepherd. Classical music is a term very much misunderstood. misunder-stood. To a great many people it is significant of high sounding or rather loud sounding music, with a multiplicity of notes. The term "classic" bears the same relation to music as it does to litera-tme litera-tme in that it refers more directly to the form or structure of the composition, rather than to its style or import. There is, or should be, as much symmetry in a good musical composition as there Is in a beautiful architectural structure. Was it not Madame de Stael who styled architecture as "Frozen Music?" Whatever her meaning may have been she must have sensed the structural beauty of music in order to think of it as architecture of any kind. To many, the question of form has no place in their contemplation of the beauties of the tone world; yet, matter of fact as it may seem, the indisputable truth remains that most of the veiy greatest music in the world is built and per-fected per-fected on the solid foundation of form; as much so, as the Milan Cathedral, or St. Peter's at Home, and it would surprise many people who fondly imagine that music is largely a mater of inspiration inspira-tion to know how much actual manufacture there is in the process of musical composition. The I idea of Trinity, is so universally in all symmetrical symmetri-cal creations, that one can scarcely fail to detect it on every hand, to a greater or less extent. We walk along the street; we encounter an imposing edifice Cathedral, Temple, Synagogue as the case may be. Behold the lofty spire in the center! cen-ter! Then notice the two smaller and similar spiries on either side. We come upon an arch, with its massive center supported on each side with pillars of similar design, and so we might make numerous examples along the same line. Without going into detail, let us consider for one moment one of the most important of the formal designs in musical composition, viz.: the Tripartite Tri-partite form, which enters so largely into the making of the Sonata and symphony. The term explains itself: Tri-part-ite, i. e., three-part-form. The Sonata is a composition (generally instrumental) in three divisions, or movements, as they are generally called. It takes its name from the structural design of the first! movement or division which is almost invariably the Sonota Allegro form, this being nothing moro nor less than the Tripartite form in its highest development. develop-ment. As we are more directly concerned with this form than any of the others, in that it ippears more directly to the symphone; let us analyze briefly and in outline only, the first movement. The first thing to enlist our attention will be the announcement of the chief theme, or subject, or text, if you please, which is generally stated in a sufficiently emphatic manner as to leave no doubt in the hearers' mind as to the subject matter of the composition. Following the chief theme, comes the subordinate theme, which is in direct contrast to the chief theme. (If the chief theme le vigorous in character, the subordinate theme will be tranquil, and vice versa.) After the Hub-ordinate Hub-ordinate theme comes the closing theme, similar in character to the chief theme. Tbi3 then is the end of the section (In the Sonota form), known as the exposition, or the announcement of the themes of vvhich there are generally three, as stated abo e. The exposition Is generally played through twice, and is followed hy a section known as the working out section, or more properly, the Development, De-velopment, which is devoted to the manipulation or elaboration of the thematic material of the ex-Position. ex-Position. It is this section that affords the composer com-poser the greatest opportunities for exercising his sill in the use of the innumerable devices for exhausting ex-hausting all the possibilities of his subject matter. mat-ter. The development finally reaches a transitory Passage which leads into the third and final section sec-tion of the movement known as the Recapitula tion, which is a return to the themes of the first section, with its subdivision (chief, subordinate, and closing themes.) The recapitulation is frequently fre-quently followed by a Coda, (tail) which is generally gen-erally a reiteration of certain characteristic phrases taken from the main body of tho movement, move-ment, and emphasizing the end. A study of this design will reveal nothing more nor less than an elaboration of the three part form. Now consider the sonata as a whole with its three movements. Here again we have the same symmetrical idea, with its first vigorous movement, its second tranquil, tran-quil, and more lyric movoment, and its third movement similar in character to tho first. The symphony is really a sonata for orchestra, and differs from the conventional sonata for piano, etc., to the same extent that its possibilities (its numerous combinations of instruments and tone color) differ and extend beyond the possibilities of any one, two, three, or four instruments. The Trio (generally piano, violin and cello) is a sonata for three instruments. The string quartette quar-tette is a sonata for five Instruments (generally piano, two violins, viola and cello.) The Sonata form was given to us in its present outline by Joseph Haydn, and developed by Mozart and Beethoven Bee-thoven and employed by all the masters of the classical school, and has undorgono but slight 'I'ill change to tho present day. f I ' ",,f The greatest modern exponont of this form In f 'Ik )M symphonic works was Johannes Brahms. j j( ,M |