10 Famous Program Music

Descriptive or Programme Music

A simple description of a program music: it refers to music that portrays specifically what the composer wants to communicate to the listener or audience. It tells stories with the voices of instruments.

1. An American in Paris (1928), by George Gershwin
An American reacts to the atmosphere of Paris, France. It even includes taxi horns. One of his best-known compositions, George Gershwin's An American in Paris is a jazz-influenced symphonic poem he composed in 1928. It is inspired by the time he had spent in Paris in the 1920s, evoking the sights and energy of the the city.

2. Carnival of the Animals (1886), by Camille Saint-Saëns
The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux) is a short piece of music, around 25 minutes, known as the "grand zoological fantasy," as the French composer Camille Saint Saens called it. It depicts a parade of animals, portrayed with a wonderful humour. It is a musical suite of 14 movements, written for private performance by an ad hoc ensemble of two pianos and other instruments. (Refer to February 26 video.)

3. Four Seasons (c. 1725), by Antonio Vivaldi
Antonio Vivaldi's most famous Four Seasons includes four concerti representing the four seasons: Summer, Spring, Autumn and Winter. This music is his most recorded and performed compositions. It was first played by the talented orphans of the Conservatorio dell' Ospedale della Pietà in 18th-century Venice, for which Vivaldi wrote instrumental music and oratorios.

4. On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring (1912), by Frederick Delius
On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring is a tone poem, a lovely scene, composed by Delius and first performed in Leipzig on October 23, 1913. The orchestral strings produce an atmosphere of a warm spring day, and a cuckoo still away a lovely mood through the woodwind. The piece opens with a slow three-bar sequence. Its first theme is an exchange of cuckoo calls, first for oboe, then for divided strings. The second theme is scored for first violins, taken from a Norwegian folk song, "In Ola Valley," which was brought to his attention by Percy Grainger, Australian composer and folk-arranger. The clarinet returns with the cuckoo before the piece finishes in a pastoral fashion. The music has such a pastoral beauty and serenity in the air.  (Delius 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring' - Felix Slatkin conducts. YouTube, uploaded by adam28xx. Accessed August 22, 2020)

5. Pastoral Symphony, 6th (1808), by Ludwig van Beethoven
The actual title of this symphony is "Symphony No. 6 in F major." It warmly expresses Beethoven's affinity to nature and in particular, the countryside, complete with the sounds of the call of the birds, the stillness of the brook, the peasants' simple joys. He was inspired to write this symphony by his regular walks in the beautiful countryside of Vienna. Alongside the images of nature and smiling peasants, he also expressed in his music the mixture of feelings these people have when they go to the countryside.

6. Peter and the Wolf (1936), by Sergey Prokofiev
Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67, is a famous musical composition by Prokofiev. It is a musical tale written for children by the composer. The animals and other characters are portrayed by various instruments. Usually, there is a narrator who tells the story. It was composed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936, in the USSR. He created both music and text, spoken by a narrator and accompanied by an orchestra.

7. Pictures at an Exhibition (1874), by Modest Mussorgsky
In Pictures at an Exhibition, Mussorgsky wrote the musical descriptions of 10 paintings by his friend for the piano ("Pictures from an Exhibition - A Remembrance of Viktor Hartmann") in 1874. This music is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, made more famous in records and live performances through various orchestrations and arrangements by other composers, in particular, one arranged by fellow composer Maurice Ravel.

8. The Fountains of Rome (1916), by Ottorino Respighi
Vivid pictures of the famous fountains of Rome, at different times of day. The most popular works of composer Ottorino Respighi are three symphonic poems that celebrate the glories of Rome, his adopted city: Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals. Each of the three is orchestrated on a lavish cinematic scale with evocative musical descriptions. The Fountains of Rome has four sections, played with pauses between them. This is how Respighi described the contents:

“In this symphonic poem the composer has endeavored to give expression to the sentiments and visions suggested to him by four of Rome’s fountains contemplated at the hour in which their character is most in harmony with the surrounding landscape, or in which their beauty appears most impressive to the observer."

9. The Planets (1916), by Gustav Holst
The gods of whom the planets were named by English composer Gustav Holst are clearly portrayed. The Planets, Op.32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite he wrote between 1914 and 1916. Each movement is named after a planet of the Solar system and its corresponding astrological character as the composer defined.

10. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (1897), by Paul Dukas
This is the story of an apprentice of a wizard who finds he can cast a spell but can't stop it from working. As a background, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (German: Der Zauberlehrling) is a poem written by German writer J.W. Goethe in 1797, It is a ballad in 14 stanzas. The animated dialogue-free 1940 Disney film Fantasia popularised Goethe's poem and Paul Dukas's symphonic poem based on it.

Other significant works of this classical form called "program music" include: Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Smetana's Ma Vlast, Elgar's Enigma Variations, and Rimsky-Korsakov's Sheherazade.  Considered the most alluring example of program music is Piotr Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6, known as "The Pathetique".
 

Simply put, a programme music is a story which depicts joy in lively rhythm, sadness in slow tempo, or turbulent music for a stormy weather. Such are all the above, in which all the composers impress upon listeners their intent upon the flow of notes.

Video Credits:

Delius On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring RPO Sir Thomas Beecham. YouTube, uploaded by Beulah22. Accessed February 27, 2015.

Gershwin: An American In Paris / Gustavo Dudamel - Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. YouTube, uploaded by Google Classical. Accessed August 14, 2016.

(Please note: I've purposely embedded one program music video image to avoid overload. / Tel)    


Resources:

"Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (6th) A Love of Nature". Favorite Classical Composers. Accessed February 27, 2015.

"On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring." IMSLP.Org. Accessed February 27, 2015.

"Program Notes - Fountains of Rome." Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Accessed February 27, 2015.

"Rhapsody in Blue for Piano and Orchestra and An American in Paris." Program Notes from New York Philharmonic. Accessed February 27, 2015.

Richard Freed. "An American in Paris: About the Work". The Kennedy Center. Accessed February 27, 2015.

"The Great Composers and Their Music," Volume 50, London: Marshall Cavendish Ltd., 1985.
(Note: Initially I planned to include a video for each program music featured, then realised I might crash this piece with video overflow, a reason I've decided to feature only 3. For those interested, please check out occasionally as I plan to further write separate pieces for the other program music I featured without any video here.)


(c) February 2015. Tel. Updated August 22, 2020. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.