 Unlike oratorios or operas , which are generally structured dramaturgically into arias , recitatives and choruses , a choral symphony is structured like a symphony , in movements . It may employ the traditional four @-@ movement scheme of a fast opening movement , slow movement , scherzo and finale , or as with many instrumental symphonies , it may use a different structure of movements . The written text in a choral symphony shares equal standing with the music , as in an oratorio , and the chorus and soloists share equality with the instruments . Over time the use of text allowed the choral symphony to evolve from an instrumental symphony with a choral finale , as in the Beethoven 's Ninth , to a composition that can use voices and instruments throughout the entire composition , as in Stravinsky 's Symphony of Psalms or Mahler 's Eighth Symphony . 
