Misplaced Pages

#229770

94-572: Some critics have argued that the Dante Symphony is not so much a symphony in the classical sense as it is two descriptive symphonic poems . Regardless, Dante consists of two movements, both in a loosely structured ternary form with little use of thematic transformation . Liszt had been sketching themes for the work since the early 1840s. The French poet Joseph Autran recalled that in summer 1845, Liszt improvised for him "a passionate and magnificent symphony upon Dante's Divine Comedy " on

188-432: A Purgatorio and a Paradiso . The first two were to be purely instrumental, and the finale choral. Wagner, however, persuaded Liszt that no earthly composer could faithfully express the joys of Paradise. Liszt dropped the third movement but added a choral Magnificat at the end of the second movement. This action, some critics claim, effectively destroyed the work's balance, leaving the listener, like Dante, gazing upward at

282-523: A pedal on the dominant A: Although Liszt provides no verbal clues to the literary associations of these themes, it seems reasonable to assume that the exposition and ensuing section represent the Vestibule (in which the dead are condemned to perpetually chase after a whirling standard) and First Circle of Hell ( Limbo ), which Dante and Virgil traverse after they have passed through the Gates of Hell. It

376-449: A symphonic suite or cycle. For example, The Swan of Tuonela (1895) is a tone poem from Jean Sibelius 's Lemminkäinen Suite , and Vltava ( The Moldau ) by Bedřich Smetana is part of the six-work cycle Má vlast . 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 their works. The first use of

470-405: A symphonic poem composed by Franz Liszt in 1856–1857 and published in 1858 as No. 12. It was first performed on 5 September 1857. Die Ideale was composed for the unveiling of a Goethe and Schiller monument on Sept. 5th, 1857. It was inspired by multiple passages of the poem of the same name by Schiller, which Liszt liberally rearranged to create a program to his liking. This is an example of

564-499: A "symphonic fantasy", is the most closely dependent on its program while also showing a sureness of outline rare in other composers. With the compositional approach he took from the Third Symphony onward, Sibelius sought to overcome the distinction between symphony and tone poem to fuse their most basic principles—the symphony's traditional claims of weight, musical abstraction, gravitas and formal dialogue with seminal works of

658-793: A Láska ( Nature, Life and Love ), they appeared instead as three separate works, V přírodě ( In Nature's Realm ), Carnival and Othello . The score for Othello contains notes from the Shakespeare play, showing that Dvořák meant to write it as a programmatic work; however, the sequence of events and characters portrayed does not correspond to the notes. The second group of symphonic poems comprises five works. Four of them— The Water Goblin , The Noon Witch , The Golden Spinning Wheel and The Wild Dove —are based on poems from Karel Jaromír Erben 's Kytice ( Bouquet ) collection of fairy tales . In these four poems, Dvořák assigns specific musical themes for important characters and events in

752-562: A detailed program. The development of the symphonic poem in Russia, as in the Czech lands, stemmed from an admiration for Liszt's music and a devotion to national subjects. Added to this was the Russian love of story-telling, for which the genre seemed expressly tailored, and led critic Vladimir Stasov to write, "Virtually all Russian music is programmatic". Macdonald writes that Stasov and

846-426: A dramatist rather than as a poet or philosopher." He used musical themes to represent specific characters; in this manner he more closely followed the practice of French composer Hector Berlioz in his choral symphony Roméo et Juliette than that of Liszt. By doing so, Hugh Macdonald writes, Smetana followed "a straightforward pattern of musical description". Smetana's set of six symphonic poems published under

940-556: A four-movement Sinfonia Dante (the finale depicts Dante's triumphant return to Earth). The symphony is scored for one piccolo (doubling as 3rd flute in the second movement), two flutes , two oboes , one English horn , two clarinets in B ♭ and A, one bass clarinet in B ♭ and A, two bassoons , four horns in F, two trumpets in B ♭ and D, two tenor trombones , one bass trombone , one tuba , two sets of timpani (requiring two players), cymbals , bass drum , tamtam , two harps (the second harp only in

1034-409: A major key evokes childhood. 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 (as do those of Richard Strauss ), or it can be part of a series combined into

SECTION 10

#1732794611230

1128-506: A non-musical concept. Some musical gestures appear to be literal representations of their non-musical counterparts. For example, Sergei Rachmaninoff uses an uneven 5/8 time signature throughout The Isle of the Dead in order to suggest the rocking of a boat. In Richard Strauss ’s Death and Transfiguration , the composer uses the orchestra to mimic the sound of an irregular heartbeat and labored breathing. Other musical gestures capture

1222-911: A non-orchestral 'symphonic poem'. Alexander Ritter , who himself composed six symphonic poems in the vein of Liszt's works, directly influenced Richard Strauss in writing program music. Strauss wrote on a wide range of subjects, some of which had been previously considered unsuitable to set to music, including literature, legend, philosophy and autobiography. The list includes Macbeth (1886–87), Don Juan (1888–89), Death and Transfiguration (1888–89), Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks (1894–95), Also sprach Zarathustra ( Thus Spoke Zoroaster , 1896), Don Quixote (1897), Ein Heldenleben ( A Hero's Life , 1897–98), Symphonia Domestica ( Domestic Symphony , 1902–03) and An Alpine Symphony (1911–1915). In these works, Strauss takes realism in orchestral depiction to unprecedented lengths, widening

1316-403: A popular composition form from the 1840s until the 1920s, when composers began to abandon the genre . Symphonic poems are thought to bridge the gap between different modes of expression. Much research has been done on the semiotic relationship between symphonic poems and their extra-musical inspiration, such as art, literature and nature. Composers used many different musical gestures to evoke

1410-494: A series of symphonic works based on literary subjects— Richard III (1857–58), Wallenstein's Camp (1858–59) and Hakon Jarl (1860–61). A piano work dating from the same period, Macbeth a čarodějnice ( Macbeth and the Witches , 1859), is similar in scope but bolder in style. Musicologist John Clapham writes that Smetana planned these works as "a compact series of episodes" drawn from their literary sources "and approached them as

1504-464: A similar manner to these works. Russian folklore also provided material for symphonic poems by Alexander Dargomyzhsky , Anatoly Lyadov and Alexander Glazunov . Glazunov's Stenka Razin and Lyadov's Baba-Yaga Kikimora and The Enchanted Lake are all based on national subjects. The Lyadov works' lack of purposeful harmonic rhythm (an absence less noticeable in Baba-Yaga and Kikimora due to

1598-412: A single-movement cyclic structure. Many of Liszt's mature works follow this pattern, of which Les préludes is one of the best-known examples. The second practice was thematic transformation , a type of variation in which one theme is changed, not into a related or subsidiary theme but into something new, separate and independent. As musicologist Hugh Macdonald wrote of Liszt's works in this genre,

1692-413: A slower tempo ( un poco meno mosso ): This is developed at length, being joined in counterpoint with a variant of the second theme. The music finally dies away and silence ensues, bringing this opening section to a close in B minor. The second terrace of Ante-Purgatory is inhabited by the late repentant. In Canto 7 there is a celebrated description of evening in a beautiful valley where the penitents sing

1786-418: A superficial but still exhilarating bustle and whirl) produces a sense of unreality and timelessness much like the telling of an oft-repeated and much loved fairy tale. While none of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 's symphonic poems has a Russian subject, they hold musical form and literary material in fine balance. (Tchaikovsky did not call Romeo and Juliet a symphonic poem but rather a "fantasy-overture", and

1880-453: A symphonic poem, and some musicologists, such as Norman Demuth and Julien Tiersot, consider it the first of its genre, preceding Liszt's compositions. However, Franck did not publish or perform his piece; neither did he set about defining the genre. Liszt's determination to explore and promote the symphonic poem gained him recognition as the genre's inventor. The Hungarian composer Franz Liszt desired to expand single-movement works beyond

1974-588: A temporary stop to the debate as to whether the genre was dead. Nevertheless, composers began to explore the "more compact form" of the concert overture "...as a vehicle within which to blend musical, narrative and pictoral ideas." Examples included Mendelssohn's overtures A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826) and The Hebrides (1830). Between 1845 and 1847, the Belgian composer César Franck wrote an orchestral piece based on Victor Hugo 's poem Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne . The work exhibits characteristics of

SECTION 20

#1732794611230

2068-576: A work had to be shortened, Liszt tended to cut sections of conventional musical development and preserve sections of thematic transformation. While Liszt had been inspired to some extent by the ideas of Richard Wagner in unifying ideas of drama and music via the symphonic poem, Wagner gave Liszt's concept only lukewarm support in his 1857 essay On the Symphonic Poems of Franz Liszt , and was later to break entirely with Liszt's Weimar circle over their aesthetic ideals. Composers who developed

2162-413: A world of uncompromisingly brutal directness and energy. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote only two orchestral works that rank as symphonic poems, his "musical tableau" Sadko (1867–92) and Skazka ( Legend , 1879–80), originally titled Baba-Yaga . While this may perhaps be surprising, considering his love for Russian folklore, both his symphonic suites Antar and Scheherazade are conceived in

2256-427: Is Ternary in structure. The first section is solemn and tranquil and in two parts; in the second section, which is more agitated and lamentable, a fugue is built up to a grand climax; in the final section, there is a return to the mood of the opening, the principal themes of which are recapitulated. This tripartite structure reflects the architecture of Dante's Mount Purgatory, which can also be divided into three parts:

2350-591: Is also worth noting, both in his use of thematic transformation and his handling of multiple themes in intricate counterpoint . His use of variation form in Don Quixote is handled exceptionally well, as is his use of rondo form in Till Eulenspiegel . As Hugh Macdonald points out in the New Grove (1980), "Strauss liked to use a simple but descriptive theme—for instance the three-note motif at

2444-458: Is considered by some critics a parody of Vienna in an idiom no Viennese would recognize as his own. Albert Roussel 's first symphonic poem, based on Leo Tolstoy 's novel Resurrection (1903), was soon followed by Le Poème de forêt (1904–06), which is in four movements written in cyclic form . Pour une fête de printemps (1920), initially conceived as the slow movement of his Second Symphony. Charles Koechlin also wrote several symphonic poems,

2538-439: Is depicted at length by a passionate theme in 4 time, which is also based on the recitative. Curiously, the key signature suggests F ♯ major , a key Liszt often reserved for divine or beatific music. The theme actually begins in D ♯ minor, passing sequentially through F ♯ minor and A minor . Two unmuted violins are contrasted with the rest of the violins, which are muted . As before,

2632-564: Is even possible that the transition between the two subjects represents the river Acheron , which separates the Vestibule from the First Circle: on paper the figurations are reminiscent of those Beethoven uses in the Scene by the Brook in his Pastoral Symphony , though the aural effect is quite different. The following development section explores both subjects at length, but motifs from

2726-408: Is the way to the sorrowful city, Through me is the way to eternal sorrow, Through me is the way among the lost people. ... Abandon all hope you who enter here. 1 3 9 The first of these themes, which is immediately repeated in a slightly varied form, begins in D minor – a key Liszt associated with Hell – but ends ambiguously on G ♯ a tritone higher. This interval

2820-662: Is traditionally associated with the Devil, being known in the Middle Ages as diabolus in musica : The second theme is closely related to the first, but this time there is an unambiguous authentic cadence on G ♯ : The third theme begins as a chantlike monotone played by horns and trumpets on E ♮ against a string tremolo in C ♯ minor . It cadences on a tonally ambiguous diminished seventh on G ♯ : The first and third of these themes are punctuated by an important drum-roll motif played on two timpani and

2914-524: The Finlandia hymn by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi – to the central part after Finland became independent. The symphonic poem did not enjoy as clear a sense of national identity in other countries, even though numerous works of the kind were written. Composers included Arnold Bax and Frederick Delius in Great Britain; Edward MacDowell , Howard Hanson , Ferde Grofé and George Gershwin in

Dante Symphony - Misplaced Pages Continue

3008-464: The Divine Comedy by the artist Bonaventura Genelli . He also planned to use an experimental wind machine to recreate the winds of Hell at the end of the first movement. Although Princess Carolyne was willing to defray the costs, nothing came of these ambitious plans and the symphony was set aside until 1855. In June 1855, Liszt resumed work on the symphony and had completed most of it before

3102-473: The Lasciate ogni speranza theme returns for the last time: Dante and Virgil emerge from Hell on the other side of the world. The movement ends in D, though there is no conventional authentic cadence. The tonal ambiguity which has coloured the movement from the beginning is maintained to the very last measure. The second movement, entitled Purgatorio , depicts Dante and Virgil's ascent of Mount Purgatory . It

3196-466: The Salve Regina ; this passage may have inspired Liszt's chorale-like theme. The second section of the movement is marked Lamentoso and its agonizing figurations are in marked contrast to the beatific music of the opening section. The muted violas introduce the principal theme, which comprises a series of agitated fragments in B minor. The music graphically reflects the pleading and suffering of

3290-486: The 1870s, supported by the newly founded Société Nationale and its promotion of younger French composers. In the year after its foundation, 1872, Camille Saint-Saëns composed his Le rouet d'Omphale , soon following it with three more, the most famous of which became the Danse macabre (1874). In all four of these works Saint-Saëns experimented with orchestration and thematic transformation . La jeunesse d'Hercule (1877)

3384-424: The Czech lands and Slovakia", including Antonín Dvořák , Zdeněk Fibich , Leoš Janáček and Vítězslav Novák . Dvořák wrote two groups of symphonic poems, which date from the 1890s. The first, which Macdonald variously calls symphonic poems and overtures, forms a cycle similar to Má vlast , with a single musical theme running through all three pieces. Originally conceived as a trilogy to be titled Příroda, Život

3478-664: The German musical scene, but neither wrote symphonic poems; instead, they devoted themselves completely to music drama (Wagner) and absolute music (Brahms). Therefore, other than Strauss and numerous concert overtures by others, there are only isolated symphonic poems by German and Austrian composers— Hugo Wolf 's Penthesilea (1883–85), Alexander von Zemlinsky 's Die Seejungfrau (1902-03) and Arnold Schoenberg 's Pelleas und Melisande (1902–03). Because of its clear relationship between poem and music, Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht (1899) for string sextet has been characterised as

3572-403: The German term Tondichtung (tone poem) appears to have been by Carl Loewe , applied not to an orchestral work but to his piece for piano solo, Mazeppa , Op. 27 (1828), based on the poem of that name by Lord Byron , and written twelve years before Liszt treated the same subject orchestrally. The musicologist Mark Bonds suggests that in the second quarter of the 19th century, the future of

3666-639: The Nightingale , excerpted from his opera The Nightingale . Alexander Scriabin 's The Poem of Ecstasy (1905–08) and Prometheus: The Poem of Fire (1908–10), in their projection of an egocentric theosophic world unequalled in other symphonic poems, are notable for their detail and advanced harmonic idiom. Socialist realism in the Soviet Union allowed program music to survive longer there than in western Europe, as typified by Dmitri Shostakovich 's symphonic poem October (1967). While France

3760-471: The Steppes of Central Asia "powerful orchestral pictures, each unique in its composer's output". Titled a "musical portrait", In the Steppes of Central Asia evokes the journey of a caravan across the steppes . Night on Bald Mountain , especially its original version, contains harmony that is often striking, sometimes pungent and highly abrasive; its initial stretches especially pull the listener into

3854-622: The United States; Carl Nielsen in Denmark; Zygmunt Noskowski and Mieczysław Karłowicz in Poland and Ottorino Respighi in Italy. Also, with the rejection of Romantic ideals in the 20th century and their replacement with ideals of abstraction and independence of music, the writing of symphonic poems went into decline. Die Ideale Die Ideale ("The Ideals"), S. 106, is

Dante Symphony - Misplaced Pages Continue

3948-504: The attention by a violent disturbance. The ending of the Dante Symphony seemed to me to be quite on the same lines, for the delicately introduced Magnificat in the same way only gives a hint of a soft, shimmering Paradise. I was the more startled to hear this beautiful suggestion suddenly interrupted in an alarming way by a pompous, plagal cadence which, as I was told, was supposed to represent St Dominic. "No!" I exclaimed loudly, "not that! Away with it! No majestic Deity! Leave us

4042-537: The best known of which are included in his cycle based on The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling . Through these works, he defended the viability of the symphonic poem long after it had gone out of vogue. Both Liszt and Richard Strauss worked in Germany, but while Liszt may have invented the symphonic poem and Strauss brought it to its highest point, overall the form was less well received there than in other countries. Johannes Brahms and Richard Wagner dominated

4136-637: The composer Carl Loewe in 1828. The Hungarian composer Franz Liszt first applied the term Symphonische Dichtung to his 13 works in this vein , which commenced in 1848. 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 (necessarily) to focus on following traditional patterns of musical form such as sonata form . This intention to inspire listeners

4230-437: The composition of symphonic poems. Even his works in other instrumental forms are very free in structure and frequently partake of the nature of programme music. Among later Russian symphonic poems, Sergei Rachmaninoff 's The Rock shows as much the influence of Tchaikovsky's work as Isle of the Dead (1909) does its independence from it. A similar debt to his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov imbues Igor Stravinsky 's The Song of

4324-406: The concert overture form. The music of overtures is to inspire listeners to imagine scenes, images, or moods; Liszt intended to combine those programmatic qualities with a scale and musical complexity normally reserved for the opening movement of classical symphonies. The opening movement, with its interplay of contrasting themes under sonata form , was normally considered the most important part of

4418-424: The cycle is similar to Smetana's Má vlast in overall scope. Henri Duparc 's Lenore (1875) displayed a Wagnerian warmth in its writing and orchestration. Franck wrote the delicately evocative Les Éolides , following it with the narrative Le Chasseur maudit and the piano-and-orchestral tone poem Les Djinns , conceived in much the same manner as Liszt's Totentanz . Ernest Chausson 's Vivane illustrates

4512-547: The drama. For The Golden Spinning Wheel , Dvořák arrived at these themes by setting lines from the poems to music. He also follows Liszt and Smetana's example of thematic transformation, metamorphosing the king's theme in The Golden Spinning Wheel to represent the wicked stepmother and also the mysterious, kindly old man found in the tale. Macdonald writes that while these works may seem diffuse by symphonic standards, their literary sources actually define

4606-694: The end of the following year. Thus, work on the Dante Symphony roughly coincided with work on Liszt's other symphonic masterpiece, the Faust Symphony , which was inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 's drama Faust . For this reason, and because they are the only symphonies Liszt ever composed (though certainly not his only symphonic works), the Dante and Faust symphonies are often recorded together. In October 1856, Liszt visited Richard Wagner in Zürich and performed his Faust and Dante symphonies on

4700-401: The essence of the subject on a more abstract level. For example, In Franz Liszt’s Hamlet , Liszt portrays the complex relation between Hamlet and Ophelia by juxtaposing a somber motif that is harmonically inconclusive (Hamlet) against a tranquil and harmonically conclusive motif (Ophelia), and developing the music from these principles. In Death and Transfiguration , a sprightly melody in

4794-410: The excommunicate, who inhabit the first terrace of Ante-Purgatory. The tempo then changes to Più lento and the key signature reverts to D major. The cellos introduce a new theme, which is quickly passed to the first violins: As it too dies away like the opening theme, it gradually metamorphoses into a chorale -like theme in F ♯ minor , which is solemnly intoned by horns and woodwind in

SECTION 50

#1732794611230

4888-452: The exposition. Presumably the recapitulation represents the Eighth and Ninth Circles of Hell. Another climax leads into the coda . The final pages of the movement are dominated by the descent motif and the second subject. After a climax, the music comes to a momentary pause. The descent motif quickly builds up to an even greater climax ( molto fortissimo ). In the final ten measures, however,

4982-440: The expressive functions of program music as well as extending its boundaries. Because of his virtuosic use of orchestration, the descriptive power and vividness of these works is extremely marked. He usually employs a large orchestra, often with extra instruments, and he often uses instrumental effects for sharp characterization, such as portraying the bleating of sheep with cuivré brass in Don Quixote . Strauss's handling of form

5076-432: The fine soft shimmer!" Liszt agreed and explained that such had been his original intention, but he had been persuaded by Princess Carolyne to end the symphony in a blaze of glory. He rewrote the concluding measures, but in the printed score, he left the conductor with the option of following the pianissimo coda with the fortissimo one. Liszt's original intention was to compose the work in three movements: an Inferno ,

5170-408: The general title of Má vlast became his greatest achievements in the genre. Composed between 1872 and 1879, the cycle embodies its composer's personal belief in the greatness of the Czech nation while presenting selected episodes and ideas from Czech history. Two recurrent musical themes unify the entire cycle. One theme represents Vyšehrad, the fortress over the river Vltava whose course provides

5264-572: The heights of Heaven and hearing its music from afar. Moreover, Liszt scholar Humphrey Searle argues that while Liszt may have felt more at home portraying the infernal regions than the celestial ones, the task of portraying Paradise in music would not have been beyond his powers. Liszt put the final touches to the symphony in the autumn of 1857. The premiere of the work took place at the Hoftheater in Dresden on 7 November, 1857. The performance

5358-461: The intent was "to display the traditional logic of symphonic thought;" that is, to display a comparable complexity in the interplay of musical themes and tonal 'landscape' to those of the Romantic symphony . Thematic transformation, like cyclic form, was nothing new in itself. It had been previously used by Mozart and Haydn. In the final movement of his Ninth Symphony , Beethoven had transformed

5452-453: The introduction are also developed. The second subject is heard in B major. The descent motif reasserts itself as Dante and Virgil descend deeper into Hell. The music reaches a great climax ( molto fortissimo ); the tempo reverts to the opening Lento , and the brass intone the Lasciate ogni speranza theme from the slow introduction, accompanied by the drum-roll motif. Once again Liszt inscribes

5546-437: The key signature is cancelled, and the tempo quickens to Tempo primo in preparation for the ensuing recapitulation . The first subject is recapitulated in augmentation , but where before it represented the sufferings of the damned, now it is a cruel parody of that suffering in the mouths of their attendant devils. The tempo quickens and the music reaches a climax; the second subject is recapitulated with little alteration from

5640-611: The main theme." Jean Sibelius showed a great affinity for the form, writing well over a dozen symphonic poems and numerous shorter works. These works span his entire career, from En saga (1892) to Tapiola (1926), expressing more clearly than anything else his identification to Finland and its mythology. The Kalevala provided ideal episodes and texts for musical setting; this coupled with Sibelius's natural aptitude for symphonic writing allowed him to write taut, organic structures for many of these works, especially Tapiola (1926). Pohjola's Daughter (1906), which Sibelius called

5734-503: The music to the words of Francesca da Rimini , whose adulterous affair with her brother-in-law Paolo cost her both her life and her soul: .... Nessun maggior dolore che ricordarsi del tempo felice ne la miseria. .... There is no greater sorrow Than to recall happy times In the midst of misery. 121 122 123 After a brief passage based on a theme derived from the recitative, there ensues an episode marked Andante amoroso . The tragic love of Francesca and Paolo

SECTION 60

#1732794611230

5828-424: The opening of Also sprach Zarathustra , or striding, vigorous arpeggios to represent the manly qualities of his heroes. His love themes are honeyed and chromatic and generally richly scored, and he is often fond of the warmth and serenity of diatonic harmony as balm after torrential chromatic textures, notably at the end of Don Quixote , where the solo cello has a surpassingly beautiful D major transformation of

5922-453: The opening theme to the accompaniment of rocking chords on muted strings and arpeggiated triplets played by the harp. This theme is taken up by the woodwind and horns, and after twenty-one measures dies away against a shimmering haze of rising and falling arpeggios on the harp: This whole section is then repeated in E ♭ (though the key signature is altered from D major to B ♭ . This tranquil episode represents perhaps

6016-431: The organ of the empty Marseille Cathedral at midnight, and later invited Autran to collaborate with him on a Dante oratorio or opera, which the poet failed to pursue. In 1847, he played some fragments on the piano for his Polish mistress Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein . At this early stage in the composition, it was Liszt's intention that performances of the work be accompanied by a slideshow depicting scenes from

6110-483: The past; and the tone poem's structural innovation and spontaneity, identifiable poetic content and inventive sonority. However, the stylistic distinction between symphony, "fantasy" and tone poem in Sibelius's late works becomes blurred since ideas first sketched for one piece ended up in another. One of Sibelius's greatest works, Finlandia , focuses on Finnish independence. He wrote it in 1901 and added choral lyrics –

6204-422: The patriotic group of composers known as The Five or The Mighty Handful, went so far as to hail Mikhail Glinka 's Kamarinskaya as "a prototype of Russian descriptive music"; despite the fact that Glinka himself denied the piece had any program, he called the work, which is based entirely on Russian folk music, "picturesque music." In this Glinka was influenced by French composer Hector Berlioz , whom he met in

6298-561: The penchant shown by the Franck circle for mythological subjects. Claude Debussy 's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1892–94), intended initially as part of a triptych , is, in the composer's words, "a very free ... succession of settings through which the Faun's desires and dreams move in the afternoon heat." Paul Dukas ' The Sorcerer's Apprentice follows the narrative vein of symphonic poem, while Maurice Ravel 's La valse (1921)

6392-400: The penitents before it breaks up into flowing triplets: Symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement , which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape , or other (non-musical) source. The German term Tondichtung (tone poem) appears to have been first used by

6486-500: The piano. Wagner was critical of the Dante Symphony 's fortissimo conclusion, which he thought was inappropriate as a depiction of Paradise. In his autobiography, he later wrote: If anything had convinced me of the man's masterly and poetical powers of conception, it was the original ending of the Faust Symphony , in which the delicate fragrance of a last reminiscence of Gretchen overpowers everything, without arresting

6580-558: The salient incidents of the Inferno . The longest and most elaborate of these – the Francesca da Rimini episode from Canto 5 – lends the movement something of the structure of a triptych . The music is chromatic and tonally ambiguous; although the movement is essentially in D minor, this is often negated by G ♯ , which is as far as one can get from D. There are relatively few authentic cadences or key signatures to help resolve

6674-416: The scope and purpose of the symphonic poem beyond the aims of any later composer". Clapham adds that in his musical depiction of scenery in these works, Smetana "established a new type of symphonic poem, which led eventually to Sibelius's Tapiola ". Also, in showing how to apply new forms for new purposes, Macdonald writes that Smetana "began a profusion of symphonic poems from his younger contemporaries in

6768-566: The score with the corresponding words of the Inferno . As Dante and Virgil enter the Second Circle of Hell, rising and falling chromatic scales in the strings and flutes conjure up the infernal Black Wind that perpetually buffets the damned. The music grinds to a halt, and quiet drum beats lead to silence. An episode in 4 time marked Quasi Andante, ma sempre un poco mosso ensues, beginning with harp glissandi and chromatic figurations in strings and woodwind that once again invoke

6862-437: The second movement), strings , harmonium (second movement only), and a women's choir comprising soprano and alto singers (second movement only), one of the sopranos being required to sing a solo. The opening movement is entitled Inferno and depicts Dante's and Virgil 's passage through the nine Circles of Hell . The structure is essentially sonata form , but it is punctuated by a number of episodes representing some of

6956-414: The sequence of events and the course of the musical action. Clapham adds that while Dvořák may follow the narrative complexities of The Golden Spinning Wheel too closely, "the lengthy repetition at the beginning of The Noon Witch shows Dvořák temporarily rejecting a precise representation of the ballad for the sake of an initial musical balance". The fifth poem, Heroic Song , is the only one not to have

7050-403: The subject matter for the second (and best-known) work in the cycle; the other is the ancient Czech hymn " Ktož jsú boží bojovníci " ("Ye who are God's warriors"), which unites the cycle's last two poems, Tábor and Blaník. While expanding the form to a unified cycle of symphonic poems, Smetana created what Macdonald terms "one of the monuments of Czech music" and, Clapham writes, "extended

7144-654: The summer of 1844. At least three of the Five fully embraced the symphonic poem. Mily Balakirev 's Tamara (1867–82) richly evokes the fairy-tale orient and, while remaining closely based on the poem by Mikhail Lermontov , remains well-paced and full of atmosphere. Balakirev's other two symphonic poems, In Bohemia (1867, 1905) and Russia (1884 version) lack the same narrative content; they are actually looser collections of national melodies and were originally written as concert overtures. Macdonald calls Modest Mussorgsky 's Night on Bald Mountain and Alexander Borodin 's In

7238-437: The swirling wind. After a pause, however, the bass clarinet intones an expressive recitative , which takes the instrument to the very bottom of its range: This theme is then taken up and extended by a pair of clarinets, accompanied by the same harp glissandi and chromatic figures that opened the section. After a restatement a fourth higher by the bass clarinet, the recitative is played by the cor anglais and this time Liszt sets

7332-466: The symphonic genre seemed uncertain. While many composers continued to write symphonies during the 1820s and '30s, "there were a growing sense that these works were aesthetically far inferior to Beethoven 's.... The real question was not so much whether symphonies could still be written, but whether the genre could continue to flourish and grow." Felix Mendelssohn , Robert Schumann and Niels Gade achieved successes with their symphonies, putting at least

7426-551: The symphonic poem after Liszt were mainly Bohemian, Russian, and French; the Bohemians and Russians showed the potential of the form as a vehicle for the nationalist ideas fomenting in their respective countries at this time. Bedřich Smetana visited Liszt in Weimar in the summer of 1857, where he heard the first performances of the Faust Symphony and the symphonic poem Die Ideale . Influenced by Liszt's efforts, Smetana began

7520-402: The symphony. Like his symphonic poems Tasso and Les préludes , the Dante Symphony is an innovatory work, featuring numerous orchestral and harmonic advances: wind effects, progressive harmonies that generally avoid the tonic-dominant bias of contemporary music, experiments in atonality , unusual key signatures and time signatures , fluctuating tempi , chamber-music interludes, and

7614-561: The symphony. To achieve his objectives, Liszt needed a more flexible method of developing musical themes than sonata form would allow, but one that would preserve the overall unity of a musical composition. Liszt found his method through two compositional practices, which he used in his symphonic poems. The first practice was cyclic form , a procedure established by Beethoven in which certain movements are not only linked but actually reflect one another's content. Liszt took Beethoven's practice one step further, combining separate movements into

7708-409: The tamtam, which recurs in various forms throughout the movement: As the tempo increases, a motif derived from the first of these themes is introduced by the strings. This Descent motif depicts Dante and Virgil's descent into Hell: This is accompanied by another motif based on rising and falling semitones ( appoggiature ), which is also derived from the symphony's opening theme, while the horns play

7802-513: The theme of the "Ode to Joy" into a Turkish march. Weber and Berlioz had also transformed themes, and Schubert used thematic transformation to bind together the movements of his Wanderer Fantasy , a work that had a tremendous influence on Liszt. However, Liszt perfected the creation of significantly longer formal structures solely through thematic transformation, not only in the symphonic poems but in others works such as his Second Piano Concerto and his Piano Sonata in B minor . In fact, when

7896-433: The third theme in augmentation on G ♯ : This passage is punctuated by a brass motif taken from the third theme: These motifs are developed at length as the tempo gradually increases and the tension builds. The music is dark and turbulent. The chromatic and atonal nature of the material conveys a sense of urgency and growing excitement. At the climax of this accelerando , the tempo becomes Allegro frenetico and

7990-433: The time signature changes from common time to Alla breve : the slow introduction comes to an end and the exposition begins. The first subject , which is introduced by the violins, is based on the same rising and falling semitones that we heard in the introduction. Ostensibly it begins in D minor, but the tonality is ambiguous: The tempo increases to Presto molto and a second subject is played by wind and strings over

8084-467: The tonal ambiguity. The harmony is based on sequences of diminished sevenths , which are often not resolved. The movement opens with a slow introduction ( Lento ) based on three recitative-like themes, which Liszt has set to four of the nine lines inscribed over the Gates of Hell: Per me si va nella città dolente, Per me si va nell'eterno dolore, Per me si va tra la perduta gente. ... Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate. Through me

8178-659: The transition to the next circle of Hell is prefaced by a return of the Lasciate ogni speranza theme. A short cadenza for harp, continuing the Black Wind motif, leads to a passage which Liszt marks with the following note: This entire passage is intended to be a blasphemous mocking laughter.... In the Inferno , Dante meets the blasphemous Capaneus in the Seventh Circle of Hell (Canto 14). The dominant motifs – triplets, trills and falling seconds – have all been heard before. The time signature reverts to Alla breve ,

8272-562: The two terraces of Ante-Purgatory, where the excommunicate and the late repentant expiate their sins; the seven cornices of Mount Purgatory proper, where the Seven Deadly Sins are expiated; and the Earthly Paradise at the summit, from which the soul, now purged of sin, ascends to Paradise. The movement opens in D major in a slow tempo ( Andante con moto quasi Allegretto. Tranquillo assai ). A solo horn introduces

8366-399: The use of unusual musical forms. The Symphony is also one of the first to make use of progressive tonality , beginning and ending in the radically different keys of D minor and B major , respectively, anticipating its use in the symphonies of Gustav Mahler by forty years. Liszt was not the only symphonic composer who was inspired by Dante's Commedia . In 1863, Giovanni Pacini composed

8460-492: The work may actually be closer to a concert overture in its relatively stringent use of sonata form . It was the suggestion of the work's musical mid-wife, Balakirev, to base Romeo structurally on his King Lear , a tragic overture in sonata form after the example of Beethoven 's overtures.) R.W.S. Mendl, writing in The Musical Quarterly , states that Tchaikovsky was by temperament peculiarly well-fitted for

8554-508: Was a direct consequence of Romanticism , which encouraged literary, pictorial and dramatic associations in music. According to the musicologist Hugh 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 . The symphonic poem remained

8648-458: Was an unmitigated disaster due to inadequate rehearsal; Liszt, who conducted the performance, was publicly humiliated. Nevertheless, he persevered with the work, conducting another performance (along with his symphonic poem Die Ideale and his second piano concerto ) in Prague on 11 March, 1858. Princess Carolyne prepared a programme for this concert to help the audience follow the unusual form of

8742-559: Was less concerned than other countries with nationalism, it still had a well-established tradition of narrative and illustrative music reaching back to Berlioz and Félicien David . For this reason, French composers were attracted to the poetic elements of the symphonic poem. In fact, César Franck had written an orchestral piece based on Hugo's poem Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne before Liszt did so himself as his first numbered symphonic poem. The symphonic poem came into vogue in France in

8836-462: Was written closest in style to Liszt. The other three concentrate on some physical movement—spinning, riding, dancing—which is portrayed in musical terms. He had previously experimented with thematic transformation in his program overture Spartacus ; he would later use it in his Fourth Piano Concerto and Third Symphony . After Saint-Saëns came Vincent d'Indy . While d'Indy called his trilogy Wallenstein (1873, 1879–81) "three symphonic overtures",

#229770