Program Music

Program music is...

• ​A type of instrumental music designed to depict an emotion, mood, scene, story, or event.

• A narrative or descriptive kind of instrumental music linked to a scene, idea, poem, or story.

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Why program music?

​Romantic composers were interested in emotion, individualism, idealization of nature.

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Emotion was a emphasized, especially horror, fear, terror and awe.​

1. Program symphony

2. Concert overture

3. Symphonic poem or Tone poem

4. Incidental music​

Program Symphony

• A composition for the orchestra that narrates a story

• Mainly focuses on elements of nature and sceneries

• Story being narrated is often about mystery, death, supernatural, and emotions.​

Concert Overture

• ​One single movement

• Not for stage presentation

• Intended as an individual concert piece

• Examples include festival overtures​

Symphonic Poem

• Generates poetic ideas, creates a mood, and develops a scene

• Examples include "Don Juan" and "Don Quixote", Fran Liszt "Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 1-12"​

Incidental Music

• ​A composition that sets the mood for a specific scene

• Heard before and during a performance or play of a staged drama

• Examples include the "Wedding March"

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