Symphonic poem (tone poem)

In literature and music, a symphonic poem, or a tone poem, is an orchestral composition that illustrates a non-musical or literary source. Symphonic poems emerged as alternatives to traditional symphonies in the nineteenth century. The format grew popular during the rise of the Romantic period. While symphonies stressed an adherence to musical structure and elements, the free form of symphonic poems focused on storytelling. The genre gave composers greater musical freedom and allowed them to move away from the rigid structure of symphonies.

The composers of symphonic poems inspired listeners to imagine scenes of the literary work they evoked. Symphonic poems drew inspiration from plays, poems, novels, short stories, and paintings. They illustrated subjects including, but not limited to, mythology, fantasy, and history. All major composers of the period tried their hand at symphonic poems, but two stand as pioneers of the genre. Hungarian composer Franz Liszt created the form and used the term to describe his thirteen works in this style. German composer Richard Strauss preferred the term "tone poem" to describe his body of work.

Background

Symphonic poems flourished between the 1840s and 1920. The form gained momentum as symphonies entered a decline between the 1850s and 1870s. Between 1850 and 1859, the number of new symphonies published registered as the lowest in the century.

The genre attempted to elevate program music, instrumental works that strived to tell a narrative through music. The origins of symphonic poems can be traced to program symphonies such as Ludwig von Beethoven's Symphony no. 6, also known as the Pastoral Symphony, in 1808 and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique in 1830.

Symphonic poems were a product of Romanticism. The artistic period emphasized creativity and emotions and promoted the realization of literary principles in music. In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, musicologist Hugh MacDonald lists three nineteenth-century goals that symphonic poems achieved: "to relate music to the world outside, to integrate multi-movement forms (often by welding them together into a single movement), and to elevate instrumental programme music to a level higher than that of opera, the genre previously regarded as the highest mode of musical expression."

Symphonic poems consist of a single, continuous movement. They combine the movements of a sonata, which contains three or four large sections in different forms and keys. A symphonic poem can stand on its own or be part of a symphonic suite, a set of orchestral pieces. The musical form is free and fluid. The genre is less concerned with structure and more concerned with telling a story that listeners can visualize while the piece is played.

Overview

The period's leading composers constructed symphonic poems. The list includes Arnold Shoenberg, Richard Wagner, Claude Debussy, and Jean Sibelius. The most influential in the genre, however, were Franz Liszt and Richard Strauss.

Considered one of the greatest pianists of the nineteenth century, Liszt was also a prolific composer. He realized that the Romantic ideals needed to be expressed in new forms, so he set out to create them himself. In his endeavor, he invented the symphonic poem.

Liszt composed the first twelve between 1848 and 1858, starting with no. 1, "Ce Qu'on Entend Sur La Montagnean." The best known of the original twelve poems is "Les Preludes," which reflects French writer Alphonse de Lamartine's musings about love and war. Liszt's thirteenth and last symphonic poem was "Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe" ("From the Cradle to the Grave") in 1882.

During the composition process, Liszt modified the overture, the opening of an orchestral piece, and altered the framework of a sonata. This created a highly complex single movement, using a wide variety of notes. Liszt wanted his pieces to correspond to the aesthetics of the Romantic period, so he attempted to translate his feelings about characters, scenes, and story into his music. He wanted the audience to feel the emotions and poetics of the narrative. He constructed themes and motives in an ever-changing and free-flowing composition.

During his composition, Liszt started using the principle of thematic transformation. The technique signaled the variance of themes in a piece by contrasting tempos and tonalities. Through thematic transformation, Liszt heightened the emotional impact of each composition.

While Liszt devised the symphonic poem, Strauss took the genre to the next level. His tone poems are considered the peak of program music. Strauss was a successful conductor and operatic composer. However, he found the free-flowing form of the symphonic poem a perfect conduit for his talents.

Strauss preferred to call his works "tone poems," putting the emphasis on the literary aspect. Strauss excelled in weaving themes into his tone poems, creating rhythmic or melodic parts that conveyed intense characterization or emotion. Strauss succeeded in translating subjects into music that previously had been considered untouchable, such as legends, literature, and autobiography. His first published tone poem was "Don Juan" in 1888, followed by his interpretation of Shakespeare's Macbeth. He received praise for the realism he achieved in conducting the orchestral instruments to replicate ordinary sounds.

Originally, his works were published with just descriptive titles, but Strauss added explanatory headings and poetic verses to the sections in response to the public. Listeners questioned the inspiration behind his works and wanted to better understand them.

Through "Don Quixote" (1897), Strauss tailored Miguel de Cervantes's novel about the misguided hero for an orchestra. The tone poem tackles literature, with the cello used to personify the character of Don Quixote. Strauss was lauded for arranging mundane sounds to music during the titular character's encounter with sheep and attack on the windmill. Strauss's other well-known tone poems include the funeral dirge "Death and Transfiguration" (1889) and medieval legend "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks" (1895).

Symphonic poems fell out of favor after the 1920s. However, the form allowed composers to expand their talents beyond the rigorous structure of classical symphonies. Liszt's and Strauss's contributions to the genre bridged the previously uncharted gap between literature and music.

Bibliography

"13 Symphonic Poems Every Classical Music Lover Should Listen To." CMUSE, 13 Oct. 2015, www.cmuse.org/symphonic-poems-every-classical-music-lover-should-listen-to/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2016.

Hertz, David Michael. The Tuning of the Word: The Musico-literary Poetics of the Symbolist Movement. Southern Illinois UP, 1987.

Johns, Keith T. The Symphonic Poems of Franz Liszt. Edited by Michael Saffle, Pentagon Press, 1997.

MacDonald, Hugh. "Symphonic Poem." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie, vol. 24, Stanley, 2001, p. 802.

Moortele, Steven Vande. Two-Dimensional Sonata Form. Leuven University Press, 2009.

Murray, John Christopher, editor. Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760–1850. Vol. 2, Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004.

Randel, Don Michael. The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Harvard UP, 1999.

Redshaw, Jacqueline Gail Eastwood. Chamber Music for the E-flat Clarinet. ProQuest, 2007.

Ulrich, Homer. Symphonic Music. Columbia UP, 1952.

Walker, Alan. Franz Liszt: The Weimar Years, 1848–1861. Vol. 2, Cornell UP, 1989.