Unit XVIII Romantic Program Music

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Unit XVIIIRomantic Program Music

• Chapter 49
• The Nature of Program Music

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Definition

• Program Music - endowed with literary or
  pictorial associations usually supplied through
  the title or an accompanying explanation
  (program).
• Absolute Music - has no literary or pictorial
  association.
• Program music was a method of relating art to the
  world around the artist. It was an attempt to
  fuse music and literature, music and visual arts.

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Concert Overture

• Music originally designed to introduce an opera
  or play originally. Some made it as individual
  pieces. This gave use to overtures composed as
  concert pieces.
• Examples
• Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture
• Mendelssohn - Hebrides (Fingal's Cave)

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Concert Overture

• Form - usually sonata-allegro form
• Exposition - Development - Recapitulation
• An absolute form (used as in the 1st movement
  form of symphony) with pictorial capabilities.

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Incidental Music

• Composed as overtures interludes for plays,
  successful music was often gathered into suites.
• Examples
• Mendelssohn A Midsummer Night's Dream
  (Shakespeare)
• Bizet L'Arlésienne (Alphonse Daudet)
• Grieg Peer Gynt (Henrik Ibsen)
• Gave rise to film, television music

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Program Symphony

• Usually the symphony uses traditional form, but
  have literary or pictorial programs.
• Examples
• Berlioz - Symphonie fantastique, Harold in Italy,
  Romeo and Juliet
• Liszt - Dante symphony, Faust symphony

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Symphonic or Tone Poem

• One original form contribution of the 19th
  century. Introduced by Franz Liszt in 1848 (Les
  Préludes)
• Definition - a one movement symphonic work which
  though contrasting sections develops a poetic
  idea, suggests a scene or creates a mood - Much
  freer in form than Classical designs, shaped by
  poetic idea.
• Gave the 19th century the needed big single -
  movement form it lacked.