Symphonic poem
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A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in one movement in which some extramusical program provides a narrative or illustrative element. This program may come from a poem, a story or novel, a painting, or another source.
A symphonic poem may stand on its own, or it can be part of a series combined into a suite (in the Romantic rather than the Baroque sense). For example, "The Swan of Tuonela" (1895) is a tone poem from Sibelius's Lemminkäinen Suite.
Musical works such as tone poems based on extramusical sources are often referred to as program music, while music which has no such associations may be called absolute music.
[edit] History
The history of the symphonic poem can be traced back to the dramatic overtures of Ludwig van Beethoven such as those for Egmont and Coriolanus. By the early- to mid-19th century, composers were writing 'concert overtures', theatrical, colorful and evocative orchestral movements created for performance independent of any opera or theater-piece. For examples, among the symphonic poems created before Liszt were the Der Beherrscher der Geister ("The Ruler of the Spirits", 1811), by Carl Maria von Weber and the Hebrides Overture (also known as Fingal's Cave, 1830) by Felix Mendelssohn.
In 1830 Hector Berlioz completed his Symphonie Fantastique. Unlike earlier orchestral character pieces, the Symphonie Fantastique follows a complete and specific narrative, which is about an artist's unrequited and obsessive love for a woman, his subsequent attempt at suicide, and finally his grotesque visions while in an opium-induced trance. The symphony, a semi-autobiographical depiction of Berlioz himself, ignited controversy and sensation,[citation needed] and set off many a heated philosophical debate about program music versus absolute music.[citation needed]
One composer who reacted enthusiastically to the Fantastique was Franz Liszt. Liszt and his colleagues believed that progress would involve merging all forms of art, a grand synthesis of music, literature, drama and painting. Liszt wrote thirteen symphonic poems on themes from literature, history, and visual art, and he is usually credited with inventing the genre of the modern symphonic poem.
The form was taken up enthusiastically by composers including Bedřich Smetana, Jean Sibelius, Antonín Dvořák, and Richard Strauss, and remained a popular musical form through much of the twentieth century. Many symphonic poems have entered popular culture through their use in media and film: for example Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra and Paul Dukas's The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
[edit] Partial list
- See also: Category:Symphonic poems
The following is a brief list of some notable symphonic poems and their composers.
- Kossuth (1903)
- Tintagel
- The Garden of Fand, and others
- Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
- Dances Sacrée et Profane for harp and orchestra (1903)
- La Mer, esquisses symphoniques (Symphonic Sketches) for orchestra (1905)
- L'apprenti-sorcier ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice")
- The Golden Spinning Wheel
- The Noon Witch
- The Water Goblin
- The Wood Dove
- The Hero's Song
- Le Chasseur Maudit ("The Accursed Huntsman")
- Returning Waves, op.9 (1904)
- Eternal Songs, op.10 (1906)
- Lithuanian Rhapsody, op.11 (1906)
- Stanisław i Anna Ošwiecimovie, op.12 (1906)
- Sorrowful Tale, op.13 (1908)
- An Episode during Masquerade, op.14 (1908-09)
- Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne, (1848-9) (after Victor Hugo)
- Tasso: lamento e trionfo, (1849) (after Byron)
- Les Préludes, after Lamartine (1848, rev. before 1854)
- Orpheus, (1853-4)
- Prometheus, (1850)
- Mazeppa, (1851)
- Festklänge, (1853)
- Héroïde funèbre, (1849-50)
- Hungaria, (1854)
- Hamlet, (1858)
- Hunnenschlacht, (1857)
- Die Ideale (1857) (after Schiller)
- Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe (1881-2)
- Prince Rostislav (1891)
- The Rock, op. 7 (1893)
- Caprice Bohémien, op.12 (1894)
- Isle of the Dead, op.29 (1909)
- Bebek Efsanesi, symponic poem for orchestra
- Karagöz
- Denizciler Marşı Başlayış
- Çağrılış
- Fatih
- Brazilian Impressions
- The Roman trilogy, The Pines of Rome, The Fountains of Rome, and Roman Festivals
- Night on Mount Triglav
- Sadko (Symphonic Picture)
- Le Rouet d'Omphale, op. 31
- Phaéton, op. 39
- Danse macabre, op. 40
- La Jeunesse d'Hercule, op. 50
- The Poem of Ecstasy, op. 54 (1905)
- Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, op.60 (1910)
- October, op. 131 (1967)
- Kullervo, Symphony for soprano, baritone, chorus and orchestra Op.7 (1892)
- En Saga, Tone Poem for orchestra Op.9 (1892)
- Rakastava (The Lover) for male voices and strings or strings and percussion Op.14 (1893/1911)
- Lemminkäinen Suite (Four Legends from the Kalevala) for orchestra Op.22 (1893)
- Skogsrået (The Wood Nymph), Tone Poem for orchestra Op.15 (1894)
- Vårsång for orchestra Op.16 (1894)
- Kung Kristian (King Christian), Suite from the incidental music for orchestra Op.27 (1898)
- Sandels, Improvisation for chorus and orchestra Op.28 (1898)
- Finlandia for orchestra and chorus (optional) Op.26 (1899)
- Snöfrid for reciter, chorus and orchestra Op.29 (1899)
- Tulen synty (The Origin of Fire) Op.32 (1902)
- Kuolema ("Valse Triste" and "Scene with Cranes") for orchestra Op.44 (1904/1906)
- Pohjolan tytär (Pohjola's Daughter), Tone Poem for orchestra Op.49 (1906)
- Svanevit (Swan-white), Suite from the incidental music for orchestra Op.54 (1908)
- Nightride and Sunrise, Tone Poem for orchestra Op.55 (1909)
- Dryadi (The Dryad) for orchestra Op.45/1 (1910)
- Barden (The Bard), Tone Poem for orchestra and harp Op.64 (1913/1914)
- Luonnotar, Tone Poem for soprano and orchestra Op.70 (1913)
- Aallottaret (The Oceanides), Tone Poem for orchestra Op.73 (1914)
- Oma Maa (Our Fatherland) for chorus and orchestra Op.92 (1918)
- Jordens sång (Song of the Earth) for chorus and orchestra Op.93 (1919)
- Väinön virsi (Väinö's song) for chorus and orchestra Op.110 (1926)
- Tapiola, Tone Poem for orchestra Op.112 (1926)
- Chaleur (1917)
Richard Strauss - one of the most prolific in the genre. He preferred the appellation "tone poem".
- Aus Italien
- Don Juan
- Death and Transfiguration
- Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
- Also sprach Zarathustra
- Don Quixote
- Ein Heldenleben
- Symphonia Domestica
- Oresteia (labeled as an "overture", but really a symphonic poem based on themes from his opera of the same name)
- Francesca da Rimini
- The Tempest
- Im Sommerwind (1904)
- Die Seejungfrau (1905)
