MHL 651 – SYMPHONY – PREPARATION 2

(F-09)

For 21 Sept.

The object of this week’s preparation is to apply an 18^th-century description of symphonies to an18^th-century symphony. Please re-read Scheibe’s description of the symphony. Below is a list of symphonies written around Scheibe’s day. Choose one that you like or that you think will be interesting to discuss.

Johann Christian Bach, Symphony in D, Op3, no. 1 (1765)

Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach, Sinfonia in C major, Wq 182/3 (H.665) (1762)

Carl Heinrich Graun, Sinfonia to Montezuma (1755)

G. F. Handel, Symphony to Saul (1738)

Franz Xaver Richter, Sinfonia in Bb, R.64 (1740s)

Giovanni Battista Sammartini, Sinfonia in F major (J-C 36) (1740s)

Write 2 or more paragraphs (typed) about ways in which Scheibe’s description does or doesn’t apply to the symphony you’ve chosen. Try, if possible, to say how Scheibe’s discussion of the “construction” of a symphony (p.4) fits (or doesn’t fit) your symphony.

You can find all these symphonies on the Naxos website. Go to www.naxosmusiclibrary.com, sign in if necessary (login and password are both sfcmmm), and search for them by composer name. You may want to listen to several of them to find one that appeals to you.

I’ve posted PDFs of the scores to all these symphonies on the course website. Click on “Scores” and then on the name of your symphony. In addition I’ve put a binder with xeroxes of the scores on reserve in the library.

Send me an Email of you have problems or questions.