Program music

Program music is music that aims to evoke ideas and images in the mind of the listener, musically representing a scene, image or mood. On the contrary, absolute music is understood to be that which is appreciated for itself, without any particular reference to the world outside the music itself. The term is applied exclusively in the European classical music tradition, particularly in the music of the romantic period of the 19th century, during which the concept gained great popularity, becoming an autonomous musical form, despite the fact that before pieces of a descriptive nature had already existed.

History of program music

Renaissance

Renaissance composers have written a wealth of program music, especially for the harpsichord, including such works as The Fall of the Leaf ("La caida de la hoja") by Martin Peerson or The Battle ("The Battle") by William Byrd. For this last work, the composer produced a written description of the different sections: "Soldiers summons, infantry march, cavalry march, trumpets, Irish march, bagpipes and tabal, flute and tabal, march to battle, the troops face each other, retreat, gallant of victory."

Baroque

Probably the most famous Baroque work is The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, a set of four concertos for violin and string orchestra illustrating the seasons of the year with rain, the buzz of flies, icy winds, skiers on the ice, dancing peasants and much more. The program of the work is made explicit with a series of four sonnets written by the composer. Another well-known Baroque programmatic work is Johann Sebastian Bach's Whim on Farewell to an Esteemed Brother, BWV 992, sections of which bear charming descriptive titles ("Friends surround him and they try to dissuade him from leaving," "They explain the dangers he may encounter," "The lament of friends," "As they cannot dissuade him, they say goodbye of him," "Aria of the porter," "Fugue in imitation of the porter's horn.") Häendel and his "Aquatic Music& #3. 4; and "Music for the Royal Fireworks".

Classicism

Perhaps it is this period that gave less programmatic music. In this period, more than in any other, music drew on its internal resources, notably in works composed in sonata form. However, it is believed that a number of Franz Joseph Haydn's early symphonies may have been program music; For example, the composer once said that one of his first symphonies represented "a dialogue between God and the sinner". It is not known which of his symphonies he was referring to. A lesser-known classical-era composer, Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf, wrote a series of symphonies based on Ovid's Metamorphoses. In a sense, Ludwig van Beethoven's Sixth Symphony, known as "Pastoral", can be considered program music.

Romanticism

Program music flourished especially in Romanticism. The fact of being able to evoke in the listener a specific experience beyond feeling in front of a musician or a group of musicians, is related to the romantic idea of the "Gesamtkunstwerk", which considered the operas of Richard Wagner as a fusion of all the arts (set design, dramaturgy, choreography, poetry, etc.), despite sometimes relying solely on music to illustrate multifaceted artistic concepts, like a painting or a poem. Composers believed that the new sonic possibilities brought by the romantic orchestra allowed them to focus on emotions, or other intangible aspects of life, much more than in the baroque or classical era.

Beethoven had a certain reluctance to compose program music, saying of his Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral" (1808) that "the whole work can be perceived without description - it is more an expression of feelings than a musical poem". Even so, the work contains descriptions of the songs of the birds, the rumor of a stream, a thunderstorm, etc. Beethoven later returned to program music with his Piano Sonata Op.

Hector Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony is a musical narration of a hyperbolically emotional love story lived by the author. Franz Liszt provided explicit programs for many of his piano pieces, but he is also the inventor of the symphonic poem.

In the year 1874, Modest Mussorgsky composed, using only the dynamic possibilities of the piano, a series of pieces describing the contemplation of ten paintings and drawings of his friends in a gallery. These are Pictures at an Exhibition, later orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. The French composer Camille Saint-Saëns composed many short pieces that he, too, called symphonic poems. Among the most popular, we must highlight the Macabra Dance and some movements from The Carnival of the Animals. French composer Paul Dukas is best remembered for his symphonic poem The Sorcerer's Apprentice, based on a short story by Goethe. Likewise, Tchaikovsky used this musical form in various compositions, among which the famous 1812 Overture stands out, where the confrontation between the imperial troops of Russia and those of Napoleon Bonaparte is punctually described, including fragments where he reproduces The Marseillaise, symbol of the invading army.

Possibly the composer most adept at program music was the German Richard Strauss, who composed symphonic poems such as Tod und Verklärung (portraying the agony of a man and his entrance to heaven), Don Juan (based on the classic legend of Don Juan), Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche (based on episodes from the life of the legendary German character Till Eulenspiegel), Don Quixote (portraying episodes from the work of Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote, Ein Heldenleben (depicting episodes from the life of an anonymous hero, who has often been identified with Strauss himself) or the Domestic Symphony (which narrates episodes of the composer's family life, including the moment of bringing the children to bed). It has been said that Strauss affirmed that with music anything can be described, even a coffee spoon!. The case of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in his work Peer Gynt is also notable, mainly the well-known piece The Morning.

20th century

In the 20th century, Alban Berg's Lyric Suite was long considered absolute music, but in 1977 it was discovered that it was in fact dedicated to Hanna Fuchs-Robettin. Important leitmotifs are based on the melodic series A–B–H–F, which are their combined initials. The last movement contains a recreation of a Baudelaire poem, suppressed by the composer for publication [1] (broken link available at Internet Archive; see history, first and last version)..

Lastly, we must add that the music is based on an extra-musical work, it does not want to describe anything, therefore it is not descriptive. Program music, which has descriptive touches, has nothing to do with descriptive music, which wants to describe something.

Popular music as program music

The term "program music" It is not used when talking about popular music. The tradition of exclusively orchestral pieces with a program has enjoyed continuity in some pieces for jazz orchestra, mainly due to Duke Ellington. Instrumental pieces in popular music often have a descriptiu suggestive title, whereby they can be considered program music, and albums dedicated to developing a specific programmatic idea can be found (for example, China by Vangelis or The Songs of Distant Earth by Mike Oldfield). Some genres of popular music are more likely than others to contain programmatic elements; such as new age, surf rock, jazz fusion, progressive rock, art rock or various genres of techno music.

Categories

Descriptive music

Musically suggest natural phenomena (the sea, storms...) or certain situations. For example: The four seasons, by Vivaldi.

Symphonic poem

Composition for orchestra, with a single movement (one part) that is determined by something external to the music (extramusical idea) descriptive or poetic (a poem, an argued idea...) Its objective is to musically show that idea or poem. For example: Dance macabre, by Saint-Saëns.

Incidental Music

Incidental music is music that is composed for a specific moment in a play, mainly. Today it would correspond to certain film soundtracks, music composed for certain images.

Links

• Programmatic music in Reivindicalobello!
• neønymus as an example of programmatic music