Symphony vs. Orchestra

Symphonynoun

An extended piece of music of sophisticated structure, usually for orchestra.

Symphonynoun

(music) An instrumental introduction or termination to a vocal composition.

Symphonynoun

Harmony in music or colour, or a harmonious combination of elements.

Symphonynoun

A symphony orchestra.

Symphonynoun

A consonance or harmony of sounds, agreeable to the ear, whether the sounds are vocal or instrumental, or both.

Symphonynoun

A stringed instrument formerly in use, somewhat resembling the virginal.

Symphonynoun

An elaborate instrumental composition for a full orchestra, consisting usually, like the sonata, of three or four contrasted yet inwardly related movements, as the allegro, the adagio, the minuet and trio, or scherzo, and the finale in quick time. The term has recently been applied to large orchestral works in freer form, with arguments or programmes to explain their meaning, such as the "symphonic poems" of Liszt. The term was formerly applied to any composition for an orchestra, as overtures, etc., and still earlier, to certain compositions partly vocal, partly instrumental.

Symphonynoun

a long and complex sonata for symphony orchestra

Symphonynoun

a large orchestra; can perform symphonies;

Symphony

A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, written by composers, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form.

Orchestranoun

(music) A large group of musicians who play together on various instruments, usually including some from strings, woodwind, brass and/or percussion; the instruments played by such a group.

Orchestranoun

A semicircular space in front of the stage used by the chorus in Ancient Greek and Hellenistic theatres.

Orchestranoun

The area in a theatre or concert hall where the musicians sit, immediately in front of and below the stage, sometimes (also) used by other performers.

Orchestranoun

The space in a theater between the stage and the audience; - originally appropriated by the Greeks to the chorus and its evolutions, afterward by the Romans to persons of distinction, and by the moderns to a band of instrumental musicians. Now commonly called orchestra pit, to distinguish it from the section of the main floor occupied by spectators.

Orchestranoun

The space in the main floor of a theater in which the audience sits; also, the forward spectator section of the main floor, in distinction from the parterre, which is the rear section of the main floor.

Orchestranoun

The place in any public hall appropriated to a band of instrumental musicians.

Orchestranoun

Loosely: A band of instrumental musicians performing in a theater, concert hall, or other place of public amusement.

Orchestranoun

The instruments employed by a full band, collectively; as, an orchestra of forty stringed instruments, with proper complement of wind instruments.

Orchestranoun

a musical organization consisting of a group of instrumentalists including string players

Orchestranoun

seating on the main floor in a theater

Orchestra

An orchestra (; Italian: [orˈkɛstra]) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families, including bowed string instruments such as the violin, viola, cello, and double bass woodwinds such as the flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon brass instruments such as the horn, trumpet, trombone, and tuba percussion instruments such as the timpani, snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, triangle, tambourine, and mallet percussion instrumentseach grouped in sections. Other instruments such as the piano, harpsichord, and celesta may sometimes appear in a fifth keyboard section or may stand alone as soloist instruments, as may the concert harp and, for performances of some modern compositions, electronic instruments and guitars.A full-size Western orchestra may sometimes be called a symphony orchestra or philharmonic orchestra (from Greek phil-, , and ).