Definition

1. Noun:
   • A genre of instrumental music: "Programme music" is a type of musical composition that is intended to tell a story, depict a scene, or evoke specific images, ideas, or events in the listener's mind. It contrasts with "absolute music," which is music for its own sake without an explicit narrative or descriptive purpose.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • The composer's use of storm sounds and frantic rhythms made the piece a clear example of programme music.
  • Many people find programme music, like The Carnival of the Animals, more accessible because it paints a musical picture.
  • The symphony was written as programme music to illustrate a poem about a hero's journey.

Advanced Usage

• As a conceptual category: The term is often used in musicology and criticism to classify and discuss works based on their extra-musical content.
  • Debate among critics centered on whether the tone poem should be considered pure programme music.
• Contrast with Absolute Music: It is frequently defined in opposition to "absolute music."
  • While Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is often analyzed as absolute music, his Sixth ("Pastoral") is explicitly programme music.

Variants and Related Words

• Programmatic music (adj/n): Another term for "programme music," often used as an adjective ("programmatic elements").
• Tone poem (n): A symphonic poem, a major orchestral form of programme music that develops a poetic idea or suggests a scene.
• Musical depiction (n): The act of representing non-musical ideas through music, a key technique in programme music.

Synonyms

• Descriptive music: Music that describes something external.
• Representational music: Music that represents a story, image, or idea.

Related Concepts and Terms

• Leitmotif: A recurring musical theme associated with a particular person, idea, or situation, often used in programme music and opera.
• Idée fixe: A fixed idea; a term coined by Berlioz for a recurring theme used in his programme symphony .

Notable Examples in Classical Music

• Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique: A seminal work of programme music depicting an artist's opium-induced dreams.
• Richard Strauss's Also sprach Zarathustra: A tone poem inspired by Nietzsche's philosophical novel.
• Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition: A piano suite representing paintings, later famously orchestrated.

Noun

1. musical compositions intended to evoke images or remind the listener of events