The Five symphonies that changed the musical world

Ahead of a new four-part series exploring how the symphony has shaped our history and identity, Mark Elder choses the form's five key works* Video: Simon Russell Beale introduces the BBC's new seriesHaydn, Symphony no. 22, 'The Philosopher' (1764)It's thanks to Haydn that the symphony became the place where a composer's grandest, most original, and most daring thoughts were to be found. His first symphonies are more like suites, the historical form out of which the symphony developed. They were ...

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