Drop the Needle - Evolution of the Symphony: Baroque Roots

Couperin, Telemann, and Monteverdi, plus some lagniappe

The symphony, an embodiment of musical sophistication, has witnessed continuous evolution since its inception in the hands of Giovanni Battista Sammartini in the 1730s, and since its formalization in the hands of Franz Joseph Haydn, who wrote 104 symphonies, beginning in the 1750s.

In the world of music, a symphony is a specific form, or genre, that spec…