Grove's dictionary of music and musicians

'
764 SYMPHONY
forth were still symphonies in a general sense,
but the Symphony ^ar excellence was the introductory
movement ; and the more it grew
in importance the more distinctive was this
application of the term.
The earliest steps in the development of this
portion of the opera are chiefly important as
attempts to establish some broad principle of
form ; which for some time amounted to little
more than the balance of short divisions, of
slow and quick movement alternately. LuUy
is credited with the invention of one form,
which came ultimately to be known as the
'Ouverture k la mani^re Fran9aise.' The
principles of this form, as generally understood,
amounted to no more than the succession of a
slow solid movement to begin with, followed by
a quicker movement in a lighter style, and another
slow movement, not so grave in character
as the first, to conclude with. Lully himself
was not rigidly consistent in the adoption of
this form. In some cases, as in ' Persfe,'
'Thesfe,' and 'Bellerophon,' there are two
divisions only—the characteristic grave opening
movement, and a short free fugal quick movement.
'Proserpine,' 'Phaeton,' ' Alceste,' and
the Ballet piece, 'Le Triomphe de 1'amour,'
are characteristic examples of the complete
model. These have a grave opening, which is
repeated, and then the livelier central movement,
which is followed by a division marked
' lentement ; '
and the last two divisions are
repeated in full together. A few examples are
occasionally to be met with by less famous
composers than Lully, which show how far the
adoption of this form of overture or symphony
became general in a short time. An opera
called Venus and Adonis, ' by Desmarets, of
'
which there is a copy in the Library of the
Royal College of Music, has the overture in
this form.
'
Amadis de Greoe,' by Des Touches,
has the same, as far as can be judged from
the character of the divisions ;
'
Albion and
Albanius,' by Grabu, which was licensed for
publication in England by Roger Lestrange in
1687, has clearly the same, and looks like an
imitation direct from Lully ; and the Venus
'
and Adonis ' by Dr. John Blow, yet again the
same. So the model must have been extensively
appreciated. The most important composer,
however, who followed Lully in this matter,
was Alessandro Scarlatti, who certainly varied
and improved on the model both as regards the
style and the form. In his opera of ' Flavio
Cuniberto,'* for instance, the Sinfonia avanti
'
rOpera ' begins with a division marked grave,
which is mainly based on simple canonical
imitations, but has also broad expanses of
contrasting keys. The style, for the time, is
noble and ricli, and very superior to Lully 's.
The second division is a lively allegro, and the
last a,. moderately quick minuet in 6-8 time.
1 MS. In Christ Church Library.
The ' Sinfonia ' to his serenata ' Venere, Adone,
Amore," similarly has a Largo to begin with, a,
Presto in the middle, and a movement, not
defined by a tempo, but clearly of moderate
quickness, to end with. This form of ' Sinfonia
survived for a long while, and was expanded at
times by a succession of dance movements, for
which also Lully supplied examples, and Handel
at a later time more familiar types ; but for the
history of the modern symphony, a form which
was distinguished from the other as the ' Italian
Overture,' ultimately became of much greater
importance.
This form appears in principle to be the exact
opposite of the French Overture ; it was similarly
divided into three movements, but the first and
last were quick and the central one slow. Who
the originator of this form was it seems now
impossible to decide ; it certainly came into
vogue very soon after the French Overture, and
quickly supplanted it to a great extent. Certain
details in its structure were better defined than
in the earlier form, and the balance and distribution
of characteristic features were alike
freer and more comprehensive. The first allegro
was generally in a square time and of
solid character ; the central movement aimed
at expressiveness, and the last was a quick
movement of relatively light character, generally
in some combination of three feet. The history
of its early development seems to be wrapped
in obscurity, but from the moment of its
appearance it has the traits of the modem
orchestral symphony, and composers very soon
obtained a remarkable degree of mastery over
the form. It must have first come into definite
acceptance about the end of the 17th or the
beginning of the 18th century ; and by the
middle of the latter it had become almost a
matter of course. Operas, and .similar works,
by the most conspicuous composers of this
time, in very great numbers, have the same
foi-m of overture. For instance, the two distinct
versions of La Clemenza ' di Tito ' by Hasse,
'Catone in Utica' by Leonardo Vinci (1728),
the Hypermnestra,' '
'Artaaerse,' and others of
Perez, Piccinni's 'Didone,' Jommelli's 'Betulia
liberata, ' Sacchini's
' Gldipus, Galuppi's ' ' II
mondo alia reversa '— produced the year before
Haydn wrote his first symphony—and Adam
Hiller's "Lisuart und Dariolette,' 'Die Liebe
auf dem Lande,' Der ' Krieg,' etc. And if a
more conclusive proof of the general acceptance
of the form were required, it would be found
in the fact that Mozart adopted it in his boyish
operas, 'La finta semplice' and 'Lucio Silla.'
With the general adoption of the form came
also a careful development of the internal
structure of each separate movement, and also
a gradual improvement both in the combination
and treatment of the instruments employed.
Lully and Alessandro Scarlatti were for the
most part satisfied .with strings, which the