- published: 22 Dec 2010
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Sinfonia is the Italian word for symphony. 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. It has also sometimes been used for other types of music.
In the very late Renaissance and early Baroque, a sinfonia was an alternative name for a canzona, fantasia or ricercar. These were almost always instrumental forms, all rooted however in a polyphonic tradition. Later in the Baroque period it was more likely to be a type of sonata, especially a trio sonata or one for larger ensemble.[citation needed] Still later in the Baroque era, the word was used to designate an instrumental prelude, as described in the next section.
In larger vocal-instrumental forms of the 17th and 18th centuries, for example operas and oratorios, a sinfonia was generally an instrumental prelude, sometimes also an interlude/intermezzo or postlude, providing contrast with adjacent vocal or otherwise different sections.[citation needed]
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (German: [ˈvɔlfɡaŋ amaˈdeus ˈmoːtsaʁt], English see fn.), baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791), was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, operatic, and choral music. He is among the most enduringly popular of classical composers.
Mozart showed prodigious ability from his earliest childhood in Salzburg. Already competent on keyboard and violin, he composed from the age of five and performed before European royalty. At 17, he was engaged as a court musician in Salzburg, but grew restless and travelled in search of a better position, always composing abundantly. While visiting Vienna in 1781, he was dismissed from his Salzburg position. He chose to stay in the capital, where he achieved fame but little financial security. During his final years in Vienna, he composed many of his best-known symphonies, concertos, and operas, and portions of the Requiem, which was largely unfinished at the time of his death. The circumstances of his early death have been much mythologized. He was survived by his wife Constanze and two sons.
Billy's voice: We used to be a new wave band. But somehow along the way we turned into...a rock band. And I'm not quite sure how it happened except for the fact that maybe we were away from everything that was going on, and the world allowed us the time to find out what we really wanted to do.
I always wanted to be in a rock band, but I guess maybe at the time that we started the band, I was kind of afraid to play rock music because it wasn't very much in vogue