Sinfonia

{{Short description|Type of 17th- or 18th-century orchestral piece}} {{Other uses|Sinfonia (disambiguation)}} '''Sinfonia''' ({{IPA|it|siɱfoˈniːa|IPA}}; plural ''sinfonie'') is the Italian word for symphony,<ref name="ox_am_lang_99">{{cite book |last1=Abate |first1=Frank R. |title=The Oxford American Dictionary and Language Guide |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195134490 |edition=1999}}</ref> 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).<ref name="merriam_symphony">{{cite web |title=Symphony |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/symphony |website=Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-Webster |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref> 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. 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.<ref name="enc_brit_symphony">{{cite web |last1=Liblin |first1=Laurence Elliot |title=Symphony |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/symphony-music |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |access-date=7 March 2026}}</ref>

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".<ref name="new_grove_98">{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=Stephen C. |editor1-last=Sadie |editor1-first=Stanley |title=The New Grove Dictionary of Opera |publisher=Macmillan Publishers Ltd. |isbn=1561592285 |page=386 |edition=1998 |chapter=Sinfonia}}</ref> ''Sinfonia in D major'', BWV 1045 is considered to belong to a lost cantata, because its manuscript indicates that the piece had four vocal parts.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mincham |first1=Julian |title=Three cantata fragments: BWV 50, BWV 200 and BWV 1045 |url=https://www.jsbachcantatas.com/documents/chapter-55-bwv-50-bwv-200-bwv-1045/ |website=The Cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach |access-date=17 March 2023}}</ref>

The instrumental overture to George Frideric Handel's oratorio ''Messiah'', HWV 56, modeled on the French overture, was originally titled "Sinfony" in Händel's autograph score.<ref name="cam_uni_91">{{cite book |last1=Burrows |first1=Donald |title=Handel: Messiah |date=1991 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, England |isbn=0521376203 |page=84}}</ref>

Two examples of contemporary use, long after the classical era, include Igor Stravinsky's neoclassical ''Octet'' composed in 1923, the first movement of which he titled "Sinfonia", and Benjamin Britten's requiem mass composed in 1940, titled ''Sinfonia da Requiem''.

In the 20th and 21st centuries it is found in the names of some chamber orchestras, often pronounced with stress on the second syllable ({{IPA|it|siɱˈfoniːa|IPA}}), such as the Northern Sinfonia.<ref name="ox_dic_06">{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Michael |editor1-last=Bourne |editor1-first=Joyce |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Music |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780198614593 |edition=2nd |chapter=Sinfonia}}</ref>

==Sinfonias in the vocal works by Johann Sebastian Bach== {| class="wikitable" ! 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<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 29|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/29.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref>|| 1 |- | Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35 || 1 || | Concerto in D minor (fragment), BWV 1059<ref name="gardiner_2007">{{cite web |last1=Gardiner |first1=John Eliot |title=Cantatas for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity |url=http://www.monteverdi.co.uk/downloads/booklets/sdg134.pdf |publisher=Monteverdi Productions Ltd. |access-date=7 March 2026 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504164037/https://www.monteverdi.co.uk/downloads/booklets/sdg134.pdf |archive-date=4 May 2012 |date=2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> || |- | Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35 || 5 || Probably the same lost work as BWV 35/1<ref name="gardiner_2007" /> || |- | 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<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 49|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/49.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 3 |- | Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht, BWV 52 || 1 || Sinfonia in F major (early version of Brandenburg Concerto No. 1), BWV 1046a<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 52|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/52.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 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<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 76|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/76.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 1 |- | Herr Gott, Beherrscher aller Dinge, BWV 120a || 4 || Partita for Violin No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 120a|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/120a.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 1 |- | Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal, BWV 146 || 1 || Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 146|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/146.html|access-date=2018-05-13|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 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<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 156|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/156.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 2 |- | Gott soll allein mein Herze haben, BWV 169 || 1 || Keyboard Concerto No. 2 in E major, BWV 1053<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 169|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/169.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 1 |- | Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte, BWV 174 || 1 || Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 174|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/174.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 1 |- | Ich habe meine Zuversicht, BWV 188 || 1 || Keyboard Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052<ref>{{Cite web|title=Werk {{pipe}} Vokalwerke {{pipe}} BWV 188|url=http://www.bach.de/werk/bwv/188.html|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach.de}}</ref> || 3 |- | Der Herr denket an uns, BWV 196 || 1 || || |- | Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209 || 1 || || |- | St John Passion (third version), BWV 245.3 || 33 (lost)<ref>{{Cite web|title=St. John passion [third version] BWV 245.3|url=https://www.bach-digital.de/receive/BachDigitalWork_work_00000309|access-date=2023-03-17|website=www.bach-digital.de}}</ref> || || |- | Christmas Oratorio part 2, BWV 248 II || 1 || || |- | Easter Oratorio, BWV 249<br/>Entfliehet, verschwindet, entweichet, ihr Sorgen, BWV 249a || 1 || || |}

==References== {{reflist}}

===Other sources=== * {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Bukofzer|1947}}|reference=Bukofzer, Manfred. ''Music in the Baroque Era''. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1947. {{ISBN|0-393-09745-5}}.}} * {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Cusick|2001}}|reference=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.}} * {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Randel|1986}}|reference=Randel, Don (ed.). ''The New Harvard Dictionary of Music''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1986. {{ISBN|0-674-61525-5}}.}}

==External links== * A [http://www.mutopiaproject.org/cgibin/make-table.cgi?preview=1&searchingfor=sinfonia&Composer=&Instrument=&Style=&timelength=1&timeunit=week&lilyversion= selection of ''sinfonias''] (from the Mutopia project)

Category:Symphonies Category:Renaissance music Category:Baroque music Category:Classical period (music)