PROGRAM

MUSIC
Program Music
tells a story that conveys images,
poems, ideas, or scenes without
words but simply with music.
a type of instrumental art music that
attempts to musically show an
extramusical narrative, some
“program” of literary idea, legend,
scenic description, or personal drama.

might attempt to mirror an existing

story from a book or play through
sound, or it might evoke a more
general scene from nature.
Program Music
this is in contrast to absolute – or
abstract – music.
ABSOLUTE MUSIC - music that has
NO extra-musical idea to go along
with it. It is music for its own sake,
with the composer giving you NO hint
as to what it might be depicting.
- simply music that is written for its
own sake.
Program Music
Program music particularly flourished
in the Romantic era. A significant
reason for this was the influence of
literature and folklore on composers
in the 19th century.
Composers believed that the
dynamics of sound that were newly
possible in the Romantic orchestra of
the era allowed them to focus on
emotions and other intangible
aspects of life much more than
during the Baroque and Classical
eras.
 MAIN FORMS OF
Orchestral Program Music
1. PROGRAM SYMPHONY
a composition in numerous

movements. As it name implies, it is a

symphony with a program.

a descriptive title is seen in each

movement.
One of the most famous program

symphonies is the "Symphonie

Fantastique" of Hector Berlioz.

 Symphony Fantastique
- the most powerful composition of

the 19th cntury, composed of five

movements:
(1) Reveries, Passions
(2) A Ball
(3) Scene in the Country
(4) March to the Scaffold
(5) Dream of a Witches' Sabbath
Harriet Smithson - source of inspiration

in composing this symphony.

 Idée fixe (fixed idea)
- a musical fixation by Berlioz
- it is a term used for the melody
representing love one in his

composition.
- the melody changes from

movement to movement to reflect

various moves.
 CONCERT
OVERTURE
- a piece of orchestral music containing contrasting
sections that is played at the beginning of an opera or
oratorio, often containing the main musical themes of
the work. (prelude)

Felix Mendelsshon's A Midsummer Night's Dream

- generally regarded as the first concert overture
 2 TYPES OF
CONCERT OVERTURE
1. French overture
2. Italian overture
 FRENCH OVERTURE
- style of composition usually used as an introduction to
a ballet, opera, or suite

 FRENCH OVERTURE
Examples:
Opening movement of each of Johann
Sebastian Bach's orchestral suites
opening of George Frideric Handel's
oratorios
 ITALIAN OVERTURE
- is a piece of orchestral music which opened several
operas, oratorios and other large-scale works in the
late 17th and early 18th centuries.

- often detached from their operas and played as

independent concert pieces
 ITALIAN OVERTURE
Examples:
Alessandro Scarlatti's musical pieces:
- Le parlement de musique
- Academia Bizantina
 SYMPHONIC POEM
-a musical composition for
orchestra in one movement
-it is written in many forms:
sonata
form
rondo
theme and variations
 SYMPHONIC POEM

-was invented by Franz Liszt

in the late 1840s and 1850s
-became the most
significant type of program
music after 1860
 WELL-KNOWN TONE POEMS
DURING THIS ERA:

1. Les Préludes by
Franz Liszt
2. Till Eulenspiegel by
Richard Strauss
 SYMPHONIC POEM

-it became significant

means of expression for
nationalism in music during
the late nineteenth century
Incidental Music
music written to accompany or point up the action or

mood of a dramatic performance on stage,

radio, television, or recording; to serve as a
film,
transition between parts of the action; or to
introduce or close the performance.
creates a mood, or illustrates the action
for what is going on in a play, movie or
television show.
Incidental Music
often background music, and is intended to add
something as
simple as a low, ominous tone
atmosphere to the action. It may take the form of
suggesting an impending startling event or to
enhance the depiction of a story-advancing
sequence.
called “INCIDENTAL” (accompanying but
not a major part of something) because it is
not as significant as the play
EXAMPLE: Mendelssohn's "Wedding March,"
an incidental music for Shakespeare's A
Midsummer Night's Dream l