List of symphonic poems

This is a list of some notable composers who wrote symphonic poems.

Mily Balakirev

• Russia (Second Overture on Russian Themes)
• In Bohemia (Overture on Czech Themes)
• Tamara

Béla Bartók

• Kossuth (1903)

Arnold Bax

• Cathaleen-ni-Hoolihan (1905)
• Into the Twilight (1908)
• In the Faëry Hills (1909)
• Rosc-catha (1910)
• Christmas Eve (1912, r. 1921)
• Nympholept (1912, orch. 1915, r. 1935)
• The Garden of Fand (1913, orch. 1916)
• Spring Fire (1913)
• In Memoriam (1916)
• November Woods (1917)
• Tintagel (1917, orch. 1919)
• Summer Music (1917, orch. 1921, r. 1932)
• The Happy Forest (1922)
• The Tale the Pine Trees Knew (1931)
• Northern Ballad No. 1 (1927)
• Northern Ballad No. 2 (1934)
• Prelude for a Solemn Occasion (Northern Ballad No. 3) (1927, orch. 1933)
• A Legend (1944)

Hector Berlioz

• Chasse royale et orage

Alexander Borodin

• In the Steppes of Central Asia (actually 'Musical Picture'; 1880)

George Whitefield Chadwick

• Symphonic Sketches

Ernest Chausson

• Viviane

Claude Debussy

• Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun)
• La Mer (The Sea)

Frederick Delius

• Hiawatha, VI/2 (1888)
• Three Small Tone-poems, VI/7 (1890)

1. Summer Evening
2. Winter Night (or, Sleigh Ride)
3. Spring Morning

• Paa Vidderne (On the Mountains), VI/10 (1890–92)
• Over the Hills and Far Away, VI/11 (1895–97); fantasy overture for orchestra
• Paris: The Song of a Great City, VI/14 (1899–1900); nocturne for orchestra
• Two Pieces for Small Orchestra, VI/19 (1911–12)

1. On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
2. Summer Night on the River

• Eventyr (Once Upon a Time), VI/23 (1917)
• A Song of Summer, VI/26 (1929–30)

Paul Dukas

• L'apprenti sorcier (The Sorcerer's Apprentice), symphonic scherzo after Goethe (1896–97)

Antonín Dvořák

• Symphonic Poem, in A minor, Op. 14 (1874)
• Vodník (The Water Goblin), Op. 107 (1896)
• Polednice (The Noon Witch), Op. 108 (1896)
• Zlatý kolovrat (The Golden Spinning Wheel), Op. 109 (1896)
• Holoubek (The Wild Dove), Op. 110 (1896; r. 1897)
• Píseň bohatýrská (A Hero's Song), Op. 111 (1897)

Edward Elgar

• Cockaigne
• In the South

Ben Emberley

• The Creation of Hyrule, (2017)

George Enescu

• Vox maris

Lorenzo Ferrero

• La Nueva España, a set of six symphonic poems (1992–99)

Zdeněk Fibich

• Othello, Op. 6
• Spring, Op 13
• Záboj, Slavoj a Luděk, Op. 37
• The Tempest, Op. 46
• Toman and the Wood Nymph, Op. 49

César Franck

• Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne, symphonic poem after Victor Hugo, (1845–87, posth.)
• Rédemption, for soprano, chorus and orchestra, M. 52 (1872, r. 1874)
• Les Éolides, M. 43 (1876)
• Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Huntsman), M. 44 (1882)
• Les Djinns, for piano and orchestra, M. 45 (1884)
• Psyché, for orchestra and chorus, M. 47 (1886–88)

George Gershwin

• An American in Paris (actually 'Tone Poem'; 1928)
• Cuban Overture

Alexander Glazunov

• Stenka Razin

Geoffrey Gordon

• Shock Diamonds (tone poem for orchestra) ()

Ferde Grofé

• Knute Rockne
• Trylon and Perisphere
• Atlantic Crossing

Percy Grainger

• Train Music

Karl Amadeus Hartmann

• Miserae (1933–34, previously titled Symphony No. 1)

Lee Holdridge

• Scenes of Summer (September/October 1973)

Gustav Holst

• Egdon Heath

Arthur Honegger

• Pacific 231

John Ireland

• The Forgotten Rite (1913, published 1918)

Mieczysław Karłowicz

• Returning Waves, Op. 9 (1904)
• Eternal Songs, Op. 10 (1906)
• Lithuanian Rhapsody, Op. 11 (1906)
• Stanisław i Anna Oświecimowie, Op. 12 (1906)
• A Sorrowful Tale, Op. 13 (1907–1908)
• An Episode during Masquerade, Op. 14 (1908–09)

Franz Liszt

• Liszt's symphonic poems:
  • 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)

William Lloyd Webber

• Aurora

Leevi Madetoja

• Kullervo, Op. 15 (1913)
• Sammon ryöstö (The Abduction of The Sampo), for baritone and male choir, Op. 24 (1915); text from the Kalevala
• Aslak Smaukka, for baritone and male choir, Op. 37 (1917)
• Väinämöisen kylvö (Väinämöinen Sows the Wilderness), for soprano (or tenor), Op. 46 (1919–20); text from the Kalevala

Frederik Magle

• Cantabile suite – 3 symphonic poems (2004–09)

Paul McCartney

• Standing Stone

Felix Mendelssohn

• The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave) (1830)

Richard Mohaupt

• Town Piper Music (Stadtpfeifermusik) (1941)

Modest Mussorgsky

• Night on the Bare Mountain

Carl Nielsen

• Saga-Drøm (Saga Dream), Op. 39 (1908)
• Pan og Syrinx (Pan and Syrinx), Op. 49 (1918)

Sergei Rachmaninoff

• Prince Rostislav (1891)
• The Rock, Op. 7 (1893)
• Caprice bohémien, Op. 12 (1892–94)
• Isle of the Dead, Op. 29 (1908)

Osmo Tapio Räihälä

• Ardbeg (2003)
• Barlinnie Nine (2005)
• Rautasade (Iron Rain) (2008)

Max Reger

• Vier Tondichtungen nach A. Böcklin (Four Tone Poems after Arnold Böcklin) for orchestra, Op. 128 (1913)

Cemal Reşit Rey

• Bebek Efsanesi, symphonic poem for orchestra
• Karagöz
• Denizciler Marşı Başlayış
• Çağrılış
• Fatih

Ottorino Respighi

• Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), P 106 (1916); part I of Respighi's Roman Trilogy
• Ballata delle gnomidi (Ballad of the Gnomes), P 124 (1919)
• Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P 141 (1924); part II of Respighi's Roman Trilogy
• Feste Romane (Roman Festivals), P 157 (1928); part III of Respighi's Roman Trilogy

Silvestre Revueltas

• Sensemayá

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

• Night on Mount Triglav
• Sadko (Symphonic Picture)
• Scheherazade

Camille Saint-Saëns

• Spartacus (1863)
• Le Rouet d'Omphale, op.31 (1869)
• Phaéton, op. 39 (1873)
• Danse macabre, Op.40 (1874)
• La Jeunesse d'Hercule, Op.50 (1877)
• La Muse et le Poète, Op.132 (1910)

Arnold Schoenberg

• Verklärte Nacht, Op.4
• Pelleas und Melisande, Op.5

Alexander Scriabin

• Symphonic Poem, in D minor (1896)
• The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54 (1905–08); often listed as Symphony No. 4
• Prometheus: The Poem of Fire, Op. 60 (1910); often listed as Symphony No. 5

Dmitri Shostakovich

• October, Op. 131 (1967)

Jean Sibelius

One of the most prolific (and significant) contributors to the genre; compositions marked with an asterisk were inspired by Finnish mythology:

• En saga (A Saga or A Fairy Tale), Op. 9 (1892, r. 1902)
• Vårsång (Spring Song), Op. 16 (1894, r. 1895 and 1902)
• Skogsrået (The Wood Nymph), Op. 15 (1894–95)
• Lemminkäinen Suite (also known as Four Legends from the Kalevala), a cycle of four symphonic poems, Op. 22 (1895) *

1. Lemminkäinen ja saaren neidot (Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island) (1895, r. 1897 and 1939) *
2. Tuonelan joutsen (The Swan of Tuonela) (1893-1895, r. 1897 and 1900) *
3. Lemminkäinen Tuonelassa (Lemminkäinen in Tuonela) (1895, r. 1897 and 1939) *
4. Lemminkäinen palaa kotitienoille (Lemminkäinen's Return) (1895, r. 1897 and 1900) *

• Finlandia, Op. 26 (1899, r. 1900); arranged from Press Celebrations Music, JS 137
• Pohjolan tytär (Pohjola's Daughter), Op. 49 (1906) *
• Pan och Echo (Pan and Echo), Op. 53a (1906)
• Öinen ratsastus ja auringonnousu (Nightride and Sunrise), Op. 55 (1909)
• Dryadi (The Dryad), Op. 45/1 (1910)
• Luonnotar (Spirit of Nature), for soprano and orchestra, Op. 70 (1913); text from the Kalevala *
• Barden (The Bard), Op. 64 (1913, r. 1914)
• Aallottaret (The Oceanides), Op. 73 (1913–14, r. 1914)
• Tapiola, Op. 112 (1926) *

Bedřich Smetana

• Richard III, Op. 11/JB 1:70 (1857–58)
• Valdštýnův tábor (Wallenstein's Camp), Op. 14/JB 1:72 (1858–59)
• Hakon Jarl, Op. 16/JB 1:79 (1860–61)
• Má vlast (My Homeland), JB 1:112 (1974–79); a cycle of six symphonic poems

1. Vyšehrad (The High Castle)
2. Vltava (The Moldau)
3. Šárka
4. Z českých luhů a hájů (From Bohemia's Woods and Fields)
5. Tábor
6. Blaník

Richard Strauss

One of the most prolific (and important) contributors to the genre. He preferred the term "tone poem," rather than "symphonic poem."

• Aus Italien (From Italy), Op. 16 (1886)
• Don Juan, Op. 20 (1888)
• Macbeth, Op. 23 (1886–88)
• Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration), Op. 24 (1889)
• Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks), Op. 28 (1894–95)
• Also sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra), Op. 30 (1896)
• Don Quixote, Op. 35 (1897)
• Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life), Op. 40 (1898)
• Symphonia Domestica, Op. 53 (1903)
• Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. 64 (1915)

Josef Suk

• Pohádka Léta, Op.29 (A Summer's Tale)
• Praga
• The Ripening
• Cycle of Symphonic Poems from Czech History

Igor Stravinsky

• Le chant du rossignol

Sergei Taneyev

• Oresteia (labeled as an "overture", but really a symphonic poem based on themes from his opera of the same name)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• The Storm, Op. (posth.) 76 (1864)
• Fatum, Op. 77 (1868)
• Romeo and Juliet, overture-fantasy after Shakespeare, TH 42 (1869–70, r. 1880)
• Francesca da Rimini, symphonic fantasia after Dante, Op. 32 (1876)
• The Tempest, symphonic fantasia after Shakespeare, Op. 18 (1873)
• Hamlet, overture-fantasy, Op. 67a (1889)
• The Voyevoda, Op. (posth.) 78 (1891)

Geirr Tveitt

• Nykken

Johan Wagenaar

• Saul en David

Richard Wagner

• Siegfried Idyll

Anton Webern

• Im Sommerwind (actually 'Idyll after B. Wille', 1904)

Eric Whitacre

• Godzilla Eats Las Vegas (for winds, 1996)

Haydn Wood

• Mannin Veen: Dear Isle of Man (1933)

Alexander von Zemlinsky

• Die Seejungfrau (The Little Mermaid), fantasy after Hans Christian Andersen (1902–03)

See also

• List of program music