From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Tone poem" redirects here. For the album by Grisman and Rice, see
Tone Poems.
A
symphonic poem or
tone poem is a piece of
orchestral music in a single continuous section (a
movement) in which the content of a
poem, short story,
novel,
painting,
landscape or another (non-musical) source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer
Franz Liszt to
his 13 works in this vein. In its aesthetic objectives, the symphonic poem is in some ways related to
opera; whilst it does not use a sung text, it seeks, like opera, a union of music and drama.
[1][2]
While many symphonic poems may compare in size and scale to symphonic
movements (or even reach the length of an entire symphony), they are
unlike traditional classical symphonic movements, in that their music is
intended to inspire listeners to imagine or consider scenes, images,
specific ideas or moods, and not to focus on following traditional
patterns of musical form (e.g.
sonata form). This intention to inspire listeners was a direct consequence of
Romanticism,
which encouraged literary, pictorial and dramatic associations in
music. Musical works that attempt to inspire listeners in this way are
often referred to as
program music, while music that has no such associations may be called
absolute music.
Some piano and chamber works, such as
Arnold Schoenberg's
string sextet Verklärte Nacht,
have similarities with symphonic poems in their overall intent and
effect. However, the term symphonic poem is generally accepted to refer
to orchestral works. A symphonic poem may stand on its own, or it can be
part of a series combined into a
symphonic suite . For example,
The Swan of Tuonela (1895) is a tone poem from
Jean Sibelius's
Lemminkäinen Suite. A symphonic poem can also be part of a group of interrelated works, such as
Vltava (
The Moldau) as part of the six-work cycle
Má vlast by
Bedřich Smetana. Also, while the terms "symphonic poem" and "tone poem" have often been used interchangeably, some composers such as
Richard Strauss
and Jean Sibelius have preferred the latter term for pieces that were
less symphonic in design and in which there is no special emphasis on
thematic or tonal contrast.
[3]
According to Macdonald, the symphonic poem met three 19th century
aesthetic goals: it related music to outside sources; it often combined
or compressed multiple movements into a single principal section; and it
elevated instrumental program music to an aesthetic level that could be
regarded as equivalent to, or higher than opera.
[2] The symphonic poem remained popular from the 1840s until the 1920s, when the genre suffered a severe decline in popularity.
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