PROGRAMMATIC MUSIC

It is music that aims to evoke extra-musical ideas or images in the listener's mind.
musically representing a scene, image, or mood. It is different from music.
absolute that does not seek to refer to anything and is appreciated for itself. The term begins to
to be used in the romantic period of the 19th century, during which the concept will gain great popularity,
becoming an autonomous musical form, although it had already existed before
pieces of a descriptive nature. This term is only used for purely orchestral works (only
instruments, without lyrics) because otherwise it would lose the character of describing something with just music without that
the words make it.

CATEGORIAS:
Descriptive music
Symphonic Poem
Incidental music

Descriptive music

Musically suggest phenomena of nature (the sea, storms...) or certain

situations.

For example:

The Four Seasons, by Antonio Vivaldi.

The work, included in the set of twelve concerts known asThe Test of Harmony and
of the invention(the struggle between harmony and invention).

Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8,RV269, (Thespring

Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, (Thesummer
Concerto No. 3 inA majorOp. 8, RV 293, (Theautumn
Concerto No. 4 inF minorOp. 8, RV 297, (Thewinter)

Note. It should be mentioned that Vivaldi's 4 Seasons is taken as an example for music.
descriptive being Vivaldi from a time prior to Romanticism (Baroque)

Symphonic Poem

It is an orchestral work of extra-musical origin. Generally, it consists of a single movement and is

written for orchestra, although it can be for piano or for small instrumental ensembles
of character poems, paintings, scenes, etc., whose purpose is to move feelings and awaken
sensations, or to describe a scene reflected in the title. Its aim is to musically show that
idea or poem.

The first to use the term was the composer Franz Liszt, with his Twelve Symphonic Poems.

Programmatic Music 1
For example:

Mazeppa -Franz Liszt

MazeppaS.100in D minor, it is asymphonic poem composed ofFranz Liszt [Link] is the

number 6 of its cycle of thirteenSymphonic poemswritings during his period [Link] the
history ofIvan Mazeppawho seduced a noble ladyPolishso he was tied up naked
a wild horse that transported him [Link], he was freed by theCossacksand they named him
onhetman(title of the second highest military commander).
To describe the hero's journey through the vaststeppesin the [Link]
of strings interpret the main theme, which transforms and distorts with six hits of
thetimbalesthat evoke the fall of the rider. After a silence, the strings, thefagoty
thetrumpetsoloistthey express the astonishment of the accident victim, revived by thetrumpetsin Allegro
Martial. The Cossacks place Mazeppa at the head of their army (one can hear amarchand the topic
the hero breaks to end in glory.

The work premiered in theCourt theaterinWeimartheApril 16of1854.

Incidental music

Incidental music is the music composed for a specific moment in a play,

it is often background music, and it creates an atmosphere for the action

For example:

Egmont -Ludwig van Beethoven

Egmont,Op.84 is the name of a set of ten pieces ofincidental music composed

byLudwig van Beethoven for the representation of the tragedy of the same name written
forJohann Wolfgang von Goethein 1788.
It consists of aovertureWhat is their most well-known piece that is part of the repertoire?
habitual symphonic, followed by nine pieces forsopranomale voicenarratoryorchestra
[Link] composed it between October 1809 and June 1810, and it premiered on the 15th of
June 1810.
Goethe's theatrical work deals with the life of the national [Link] of Egmont(1522-
1568) general, statesman, and knight of theOrder of the Golden Fleeceand its confrontation
withFernando Álvarez de Toledo,thirdDuke of Alba,until he was finally arrested,
sentenced to death and beheaded. The text ends with the death of the protagonist who proclaims his
ideal de lucha por la independencia y contra la opresión que representaba para su país la monarquía
Spanish.
The work was highly praised after its premiere by Goethe himself, who publicly stated his
admiration for the genius of Beethoven. It consists of ten pieces, of which the most
interpreted today is theoverturethat has been recorded numerous times by the
main orchestras of the world

Programmatic Music 2
Ludwig van Beethoven

Beethoven spent most of his time in the countryside and often left Vienna to
go to rural areas.

Symphony No. 6 in F majorop.68.

Also known as Pastoral Symphony (in German: Pastorale), it is a symphony composed

by Ludwig van Beethoven, and completed in 1808. One of the few works of Beethoven that
contains explicitly programmatic content, the first sketches of the Pastoral Symphony
they appeared in 1802. It was composed simultaneously with the more famous Fifth Symphony and more
Fierce of Beethoven. Both symphonies premiered at a long and poorly rehearsed concert in
the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on December 22, 1808.

The composer said that the Sixth Symphony is 'more the expression of feeling than painting', a
point underlined by the title of the first movement.

Piano Sonata No. 26 in E-flat, 'Les adieux', Op. 81

Piano Sonata No. 26, Op. 81a, also known as Beethoven's Farewells, was composed
in 1809-10. The title Les Adieux implies a programmatic character, although according to reports
Beethoven considered it a poor translation of the German "Lebewohl." In the publication of
1811, a dedication was added that said 'To the departure and in admiration of His Imperial Highness, the '
Archduke Rudolf. An average performance of the piece lasts about 17 minutes.
It is one of Beethoven's most challenging sonatas due to the mature emotions that must be expressed.
to be transmitted through it. It is also the bridge between the medieval period and its last period
and is considered the third great sonata of the middle period. The last movement is technically
Very difficult. An average interpretation lasts about 16 minutes.

Camille Saint-Saëns
The Danse Macabre op. 401874

inspired by a poem by Henri Cazalis

This work describes death playing the violin at midnight and at its rhythm, skeletons dancing.
around a grave

The Carnival of the Animals - 1886

It is a musical suite of 14 movements that follows a zoological program, each movement

representing an animal: the lion, the swan, turtles, fossils, the elephant, etc.

Programmatic Music 3
Hector Berlioz

Fantastic Symphony

Episode in the Life of an Artist, Fantastic Symphony in Five Parts

fantastic symphony in five parts) is asymphonyprogrammaticof thecomposerFrenchHector
Berliozcomposed in1830and numbered asOp.14 in theauthor's [Link] name under the
which is commonly known as, Fantastic Symphony, is actually the subtitle of the name given
by Berlioz to the work.

The Fantastic Symphony was dedicated by the author toNicholas I of Russia,and to compose it he was inspired by
the actressShakespeareanHenrietta Constance Smithsonto whom I loved madly. The symphony is
a beautiful and clear example of thedescriptive [Link] composition consists of five movements:
"Dreams and Passions" ("Rêveries–Passions").
A Dance
"Scene in the Field" ("Scène aux Champs").
March to the Scaffold
Dream of a Night of Witches
The symphony has a very detailed narrative. It is for this reason that it is often said to be one of
the best examples of programmatic music; it is also perhaps one of the first
arguments.

Argument

A desperate young musician has takenopio and in a longdreamhas a series of visions and
nightmares, with the idea of his beloved coming to his mind over and over again. He remembers the joys and
depressions of the past, before she entered his life, and then the neurotic jealous one in which he
she transformed when she entered his life, having the only comfort of thereligion.
The second movement evokes the music of a dance, in which, with the turns of the dance, it glimpses
to his beloved again.
The third movement was very difficult for Berlioz. In the field, two shepherd boys sing a melody.
with their flutes to call their cows. Everything is peaceful until the beloved appears again,
causing unease in the hero. The other little shepherd plays hisflutebut this time there is no answer.
At that moment, the sun sets accompanied by a distant thunder. Then, silence predominates.
in the scene.
The fourth movement is the 'March to the Scaffold'. He dreams that he has murdered his beloved and that he has been
sentenced to death, taking the road to the place of execution. The procession moves,
marching at times ominous and at times magnificent, during which the clumsy sound of heavy footsteps
abruptly continues for a moment, the last thought of love cut off suddenly by the
death.
The final movement is acovena wild demonic celebration. The image of the beloved
It now seems like a sharp mockery. The bells of death can be heard above the [Link]
Iraeoffinal judgmentand they mix with [Link] music of the death bells in this
movement has been used byWendy Carlosin the soundtracks ofA Clockwork Orangeand the
glow.

Programmatic Music 4
Franz Liszt
His contribution to the history of music can be summarized in two fundamental aspects: on one
on one hand expanded the technical resources of writing and piano interpretation, and on the other gave a
conclusive impulse to program music, that which is born inspired by a motif
extramusical, whether it be literary or pictorial.

Father of the symphonic poem, his influence in this field was decisive in the work of musicians.
later composers such as Smetana, Saint-Saëns, Franck or Richard Strauss.

Works.

The years he lived in Weimar marked the beginning of his dedication to the composition of great works.
for orchestra, among which stand out

the symphonies Faust and Dante,

his most famous symphonic poems (Tasso, The Preludes, Mazeppa, Orpheus)

Symphony Fausto S. 108

The work is inspired by the work ofJohann Wolfgang von Goethe,[Link] there are some
fragments dating from1840,the Faust Symphony was written inWeimar,in the summer [Link]
the work was reviewed in the following years, with some measures formetaland a Chorus
Mysticus added at the end, in which the words of Faust (Part II) are sung by a choir.
male and a tenor soloist in the middle of the movement. Other changes were also made.
minors and adults. In1880Liszt added tencompassesmore to the secondmovement.
Thesymphonywas released onSeptember 5 of1857for the inauguration of the monument to
Goethe andSchiller.
Dante Symphony
La Sinfonía de la Divina Comedia de Dante (S.109), o simplemente la “Sinfonía Dante”, es
onesymphonyprogrammaticcomposed ofFranz Liszt.
Written in a romantic style, it represents the journey ofDantethrough hell and purgatory. It was
premiered inDresdenin November 1857, with Liszt himself as the conductor, and supposedly
dedicated to the friend and future son-in-lawRichard [Link] entire symphony lasts approximately 50
minutes. The main themes had been outlined since 1847; however, Liszt did not begin
to work seriously on the symphony until mid-1855, and most of it was finished by the following year
next. Thus, the composition of the Dante Symphony coincided in time with the other masterpiece
Liszt's symphonicFaust Symphonyinspired by the drama [Link] this reason, and because they are
the only large-scale symphonies by Liszt (although he composed other symphonic works), the symphonies
Dante and Fausto usually record together.
It consists of two movements:

Hell
2. Purgatory–Magnificat
The work significantly lacks a third movement 'Paradise'. This is becauseRichard
Wagnerhe convinced Liszt that such a place was beyond the reach of human abilities
any composer. Instead, the symphony concludes with a Magnificat for choir of voices
femeninas.

Programmatic Music 5