Symphony \Sym"pho*ny\, n.; pl. Symphonies. [F. symphonie (cf.
It. sinfonia), L. symphonia, Gr. ?; sy`n with + ? a sound,
the voice. See Phonetic.]
1. A consonance or harmony of sounds, agreeable to the ear,
whether the sounds are vocal or instrumental, or both.
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The trumpets sound,
And warlike symphony in heard around. --Dryden.
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2. A stringed instrument formerly in use, somewhat resembling
the virginal.
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With harp and pipe and symphony. --Chaucer.
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3. (Mus.)
(a) 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.
(b) An instrumental passage at the beginning or end, or in
the course of, a vocal composition; a prelude,
interlude, or postude; a ritornello.
[1913 Webster]
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Symphony
Lotus Development's successor to their
Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. Unlike 1-2-3, Symphony allowed a
limited form of multitasking. The user could switch
manually between it and MS-DOS and separate graph and
spreadsheet windows could be opened simultaneously and would
be updated automatically when cells were changed. In
addition, a small word processor could be opened in a third
window. These all could be printed out on the same report.
Symphony could read and write Lotus 1-2-3 files and had
interactive graphical output and a word processor, thus making
it effectively a report generator. Unlike 1-2-3, Symphony was
not a great commercial success.
(1995-03-28)
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