Program music is a term usually applied to orchestral music in the classical music tradition in which the piece is designed according to some preconceived narrative, or is designed to evoke a specific concrete idea. This is distinct from the more traditional absolute music, popular in the Baroque and Classical eras, in which the piece has no narrative program, but is simply music for music's sake. Program music is music intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in the mind of the listener by musically representing a scene, image or mood [1]. By contrast, absolute music stands for itself and is intended to be appreciated without any particular reference to the outside world. ... The Boston Pops orchestra performing on the Charles River Esplanade in Boston, Massachusetts. ... Classical music is a broad, somewhat imprecise term, referring to music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of, European art, ecclesiastical and concert music, encompassing a broad period from roughly 1000 to the present day. ... Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 to 1750 (see Dates of classical music eras for a discussion of the problems inherent in defining the beginning and end points). ... The Classical period in Western music occurred from about 1730 and 1820, but there was considerable overlap at both ends with preceding and following periods, as is true for all musical eras. ...

Opera, Ballet, Lieder, and Incidental music could also trivially be considered program music since they are intended to accompany vocal or stage performances. They will be excluded from this list except where they have been extensively popularized and played without the original vocals and/or stage performance. The foyer of Charles Garniers Opéra, Paris, opened 1875 Opera refers to a dramatic art form, originating in Europe, in which the emotional content is conveyed to the audience as much through music, both vocal and instrumental, as it is through the lyrics. ... The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker. ... Lied (plural Lieder) is a German word, literally meaning song; among English speakers, however, it is used primarily as a term for European classical music songs, also known as art songs. Typically, Lieder are arranged for a single singer and piano. ... Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program or some other form not primarily musical. ...

The orchestral program music tradition is also continued in some pieces for jazz orchestra. For narrative or evocative popular music, please see Concept Album. Sgt. ...

Any discussion of program music brings to mind Walt Disney's animated features Fantasia (1940) and Fantasia 2000 (1999), in which the Disney animators provided explicit visualizations of a number of famous pieces of program music. It should be noted, however, that not all the pieces used in the films were particularly programmatic, and in most cases the narratives illustrated by the animators were different from whatever programmatic narrative might have existed originally. Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966), was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, and animator. ... Fantasia is a 1940 motion picture, the third in the Disney animated features canon, which was a Walt Disney experiment in animation and music. ... Fantasia 2000 is the thirty-eighth animated feature in the Disney animated features canon. ...

List of program music by composer

Leroy Anderson

• Sleigh Ride featuring sleigh bells, whip cracks, and a horse noise (trumpet)
• The Typewriter a concerto for solo typewriter

Leroy Anderson (June 29, 1908 – May 18, 1975) was best known as an American composer of short, light concert music pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler. ...

P. D. Q. Bach

• 1712 Overture

P.D.Q. Bach is the pseudonym under which Professor Peter Schickele has written a substantial body of satirical music, recorded on nearly twenty compact discs on the Vanguard and Telarc labels. ...

J. S. Bach

• Capriccio for keyboard in Bb "On the departure of a beloved brother" BWV 992
• Many of Bach's cantatas contain elements that could be considered programmatic

For other people named Bach and other meanings of the word, see Bach (disambiguation). ... Cantata (Italian for a song or story set to music), a vocal composition accompanied by instruments and generally containing more than one movement. ...

Ludwig van Beethoven

• Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 (1807); based on the story of Coriolanus
• Symphony No. 6, Pastoral, Op. 68 (1808); features titled movements, country dances, bird calls, and a storm.
• Leonore No. 3 Overture, Op. 72b (1806); one of a series of overtures composed for the opera Leonore, later renamed Fidelio. Leonore No. 3 is well known for portraying some of the major events of the plot in a condensed, purely orchestral form, most notably the distant trumpet fanfares of the finale. Next to the actual, finalized Fidelio overture, this is the most commonly performed version, and still sometimes replaces the Fidelio overture in some productions.
• Piano Sonata in Ab Op. 26 (3rd movement subtitled "Death of an hero", 4th movement manifestly "Life goes on" in intent)
• Piano Sonata in D minor Op. 31 Nr. 2 ("Der Stuerm", inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest)
• Piano Sonatina in F major

Ludwig van Beethoven by Carl Jäger (Date unknown). ... Gaius Marcius Coriolanus is widely believed to be a legendary figure who is said to have lived during the 5th century BC. He was given the agnomen Coriolanus as a result of his action in capturing the Volscian town of Corioli in 493 BC. Venturia at the Feet of Coriolanus... Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony No. ... Fidelio is an opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Hector Berlioz

• Symphonie Fantastique, (1830)
• Harold in Italy, based on Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Lord Byron, (1834)

Portrait of Berlioz by Signol, 1832 Louis Hector Berlioz (December 11, 1803 – March 8, 1869) was a French Romantic composer best known for the Symphonie fantastique, first performed in 1830, and for his Grande Messe des morts Requiem of 1837, with its tremendous resources that include four antiphonal brass choirs. ... Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic Symphony) is a symphony written by Hector Berlioz in 1830. ... Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix commemorates the July Revolution 1830 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 – April 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ... 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Anton Bruckner

• Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, "Romantic" - The program, involving medieval castles and dawn and royal hunts, appears to have been an afterthought like it was with the other Symphonies, but the validity of it in this case is supported by the subtitle given to the work, the only one of Bruckner's Symphonies to have been given a subtitle by the composer himself.

Anton Bruckner Anton Bruckner (4 September 1824 – 11 October 1896) was an Austrian composer of the Romantic era. ...

Aaron Copland

• Appalachian Spring
• Billy the Kid
• Lincoln Portrait
• Rodeo

Aaron Copland conducting. ...

Paul Dukas

• The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Paul Dukas (October 1, 1865 – May 17, 1935) was a French composer of classical music. ...

Antonín Dvořák

• Symphony No. 9, "From the New World," which is associated with The Song of Hiawatha
• The Water Goblin
• "Taras Bulba"

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák  listen (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer of classical music. ... The Song of Hiawatha is an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow based on the legends of the Ojibway Indians. ...

Edvard Grieg

• Peer Gynt Suite, originally incidental music for the play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, but now is almost always played by itself.

Edvard Hagerup Grieg (June 15, 1843–September 4, 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist who composed in the romantic period. ... Peer Gynt is a play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. ... Henrik Johan Ibsen (March 20, 1828–May 23, 1906) was an extremely influential Norwegian playwright who was largely responsible for the rise of the modern realistic drama (dubbed the father of modern drama). It is said that Ibsen is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare. ...

George Gershwin

• An American in Paris, (1928) Taxi horns, a solicitation by a prostitute, homesickness lifting on meeting with a fellow American

George Gershwin photograph by Edward Steichen in 1927. ... An American in Paris is a symphonic composition by American composer George Gershwin which debuted in 1928. ... 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Ferde Grofé

• Grand Canyon Suite, (1931). Named sections illustrate "Sunrise," "The Painted Desert," "On the Trail," "Sunset" and "Cloudburst." "On the Trail" is the familiar section with a mule's braying and hoofbeats. "Cloudburst," another musical storm, was described by Toscanini as "vivid and terrifying."

Ferde Grofé (New York City, March 27, 1892 – Santa Monica, California, April 3, 1972) was an American composer, pianist, and arranger. ... The Grand Canyon Suite is a popular suite by Ferde Grofé. It consists in 5 parts or movements, each an evocation in tone of a particular scene typical of the Grand Canyon. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Arturo Toscanini (March 25, 1867, Parma, Emilia-Romagna – January 16, 1957, New York City) was an Italian musician. ...

Augusta Holmès

• Irlande
• Pologne

Augusta Mary Anne Holmès (December 18, 1847 - January 28, 1903), French composer of Irish descent. ...

Leoš Janáček

• Rhapsody for orchestra, Taras Bulba; based on the novella by Nikolai Gogol

The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Nikolai Gogol For the James Bond ally, see General Gogol Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol (Russian: ) (April 1, 1809 - March 4, 1852) was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer. ...

Gustav Mahler

Much of Mahler's early work was designed programmatically. However, it should be noted that he made serious efforts to downplay the programmatic reputation of many of these pieces later in his life, including removing some of the programmatic titles from his symphonies. Gustav Mahler in 1909 Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and conductor. ...

• Symphony No. 1, Titan, (1888)
• Symphone No. 2, Resurrection, (1894)

The Symphony No. ... A performance of Mahlers 2nd Symphony The Symphony No. ...

Olivier Messiaen

• Des Canyons au Etoiles ("From the Canyons to the Stars"), on the natural beauty of the United States
• Catalogue d'Oiseaux ("Catalog of Birds")
• Oiseaux exotiques

Olivier Messiaen. ...

Modest Mussorgsky

• Pictures at an Exhibition; movements represent a series of paintings and the promenade of a viewer around the gallery

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский, Modest Petrovič Musorgskij) (March 9/21, 1839 – March 16/28, 1881; sometimes spelled Modeste Moussorgsky, was an innovative Russian composer famed for his songs and his operas on subjects connected with mediaeval Russian history. ... Pictures at an Exhibition (or Pictures from an Exhibition) is a famous suite of 15 musical pieces, composed by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky in 1874. ...

Ottorino Respighi

• Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome)
• Gli Uccelli ("The Birds"), (1927)

Ottorino Respighi (born in Bologna on July 9, 1879, died in Rome on April 18, 1936) was an Italian composer and musicologist. ...

Terry Riley

• Chanting the Light of Foresight, with Rova

Terry Riley - (Portrait by Betty Freeman) Terry Riley (born 24 June 1935 in Colfax, California) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school. ... Chanting the Light of Foresight (imbas forasnai) is a 1987 composition by Terry Riley written for and commissioned by the Rova Saxophone Quartet, though during the course of the composition it was decided that Rova would compose The Chord of War and The Pipes of Medb/Medbs Blues contains... The Rova Saxophone Quartet formed in October 1977 at the same time as their less-adventerous but more well known colleagues the World Saxophone Quartet. ...

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov

• Scheherazade, op. 35, (1888). Section titles such as "The Sea and Sinbad's Ship," "Festival in Baghdad."

Nikolay Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian: Никола́й Андре́евич Ри́мский-Ко́рсаков), also Nikolai, Nicolai, and Rimsky-Korsakoff, (March 18, 1844 – June 21, 1908) was a Russian composer and teacher of classical music particularly noted for his fine orchestration, which may have been influenced by his synaesthesia. ...

Camille Saint-Saëns

• Phaéton, Op. 39
• Danse Macabre, Op. 40 (1874)
• The Carnival of the Animals, (1886)

Charles Camille Saint-Saëns (IPA: ) (9 October 1835–16 December 1921) was a French composer and performer. ... The fall of Phaeton, Johann Liss, beginning of 17th century. ... From The Dance of Death by Hans Holbein La Danse Macabre, also called Dance of death, La Danza Macabra, or Totentanz, is a late-medieval allegory on the universality of death: no matter ones station in life, the dance of death united all. ... The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux in the original French) is a musical suite of 14 movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. ...

Bedrich Smetana

• Ma Vlast, 1874-1879
• String Quartet No. 1, From my life

The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. ... Má vlast (My Country) is a set of six symphonic poems by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. ...

William Grant Still

• Symphony No. 1, "Afro-American"
• Symphony No. 2 in G minor, "Song of a New Race"

William Grant Still William Grant Still (May 11, 1895 - December 3, 1978) was a ground-breaking African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. ...

Richard Strauss

Major developer of the tone poem musical form, Strauss was skilled in musical description. He claimed that he was capable of "describing a knife and fork" in music. He also said that a sensitive listener to Don Juan could discern the hair color of Don Juan's amorous partners. Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ... A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in one movement in which some extra-musical programme provides a narrative or illustrative element. ...

• Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) op. 24, 1889
• Don Juan (1889)
• Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spoke Zarathustra) op. 30, 1896
• Don Quixote, op. 35, 1897
• Symphonia Domestica, op. 53 1903. Musical description of the composer's personal daily life, including a musically-unflattering picture of Frau Strauss
• An Alpine Symphony, op. 64 1915. Twenty-two named narrative sections describe the ascent of a mountain. Another program-music storm, with perhaps the best musical thunder-and-lightning ever orchestrated.

Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. ... Tod und Verklärung (Death and Transfiguration) is a tone poem by Richard Strauss. ... 1889 (MDCCCLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Don Juan is a legendary fictional libertine, whose story has been told many times by different authors. ... The cover for the first part of the first edition. ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Don Quixote de la Mancha (now usually spelled Don Quijote by Spanish-speakers; Don Quixote is an archaic spelling) (IPA: ) is a novel by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. ... 1897 (MDCCCXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Eine Alpensinfonie (An Alpine Symphony), Op. ... 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ...

Jean Sibelius

• Kullervo, symphonic poem based on the story of Kullervo in Finnish mythology

Sibelius redirects to this article. ... Kullervos Curse by Akseli Gallen-Kallela In the Finnish Kalevala, Kullervo was the ill-fated son of Kalervo. ... Finnish mythology survived as oral tradition well into the 18th century. ...

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• The 1812 Overture (1882) famously uses different themes to represent the French and Russian armies in the Napoleonic Wars, and concludes with the firing of cannons and the ringing of the church bells.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (help· info) (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайкóвский, sometimes transliterated as Piotr, Anglicised as Peter Ilich), (7 May [O.S. 25 April] 1840 – 6 November [O.S. 25 October] 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic era. ... The 1812 overture complete with cannon fire was performed at the 2005 Classical Spectacular The 1812 Overture is an orchestral work by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky commemorating the unsuccessful French invasion into Russia, and the subsequent devastating withdrawal of Napoleons Grand Armee, an event that marked 1812 as the major... 1882 (MDCCCLXXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Combatants Allies: • United Kingdom, • Prussia, • Austria, • Russia France Casualties Full list Full list The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars fought during Napoleon Bonapartes rule over France. ...

Antonio Vivaldi

• The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni, 1723) A set of four violin concerti depicting the four seasons of the year. There are also four sonnets that go with these concerti, see the article for more details.

Unconfirmed portrait of Antonio Vivaldi. ... The Four Seasons (Le quattro stagioni in the original Italian) is the name given to the four violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, Opus 8, No. ... Events February 16 - Louis XV of France attains his majority Births February 24 - John Burgoyne, British general (d. ...

Richard Wagner

• Siegfried Idyll