Chinese word

交响乐

Pronunciation

Pinyinjiāo xiǎng yuè

Meaning

  • nounsymphonic music

Example

我喜欢听交响乐。wǒ xǐ huān tīng jiāo xiǎng yuè

I like listening to symphonic music.

Illustration for 交响乐 (symphonic music)

More examples

他在音乐会上演奏交响乐的片段。tā zài yīn yuè huì shàng yǎn zòu jiāo xiǎng yuè de piàn duàn

He performed a piece of symphonic music at the concert.

Core concept

A full orchestra builds one spacious sound world as its sections overlap, answer one another, and develop a theme.

Common phrases

  • 听交响乐tīng jiāo xiǎng yuè

    listen to symphonic music

  • 欣赏交响乐xīn shǎng jiāo xiǎng yuè

    appreciate symphonic music

  • 演奏交响乐yǎn zòu jiāo xiǎng yuè

    perform symphonic music

Similar words

交响曲jiāo xiáng qǔ: A long orchestral work made up of several connected sections called movements.
管弦乐团guǎn xián yuè tuán: A large group of musicians who play string, wind, and other orchestral instruments.
乐章yuè zhāng: One distinct section of a larger piece of music.

Definition in Chinese

指由管弦乐队演奏，通过不同声部和丰富配器层次展开主题的大型器乐作品或此类演出。zhǐ yóu guǎn xián yuè duì yǎn zòu tōng guò bù tóng shēng bù hé fēng fù pèi qì céng cì zhǎn kāi zhǔ tí de dà xíng qì yuè zuò pǐn huò cǐ lèi yǎn chū

Word origin

The modern term is a Chinese rendering of the Western idea of a symphony, built from 交 (jiāo, "join") + 响 (xiǎng, "sound") + 乐 (yuè, "music").

Usage tips

  • The final character is 乐 (yuè, "music"), not the lè reading used in words about happiness, so the last syllable is yuè.

Other meanings

  • symphonynoun
  • orchestral musicnoun

Opposites

  • 流行音乐liú xíng yīn yuèpopular musicnoun
  • 轻音乐qīng yīn yuèlight musicnoun

Related words

  • 交响曲jiāo xiáng qǔsymphonynoun
  • 交响乐团jiāo xiǎng yuè tuánsymphony orchestranoun

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