Tone Poems

[Anne]

At the start of Die Walkure we hear a storm as Hunding searches for shelter.

[Anne]

Yes, that portrait is famous. Its painter is one of the best artists to have come out of Russia.

Speaking of paintings, Böcklin's has inspired Rachmaninoff's Isle of the Dead, which appears to be a favourite of many here!

Yes, that Bocklin "Isle of the Dead" painting is one of my favorites also.  Rachmaninoff's "Isle of the Dead" is the only Rachmaninoff music that I like so far.  Still need to seriously listen to "Vespers" and "The Bells."  I'm not a Rachmaninoff fan.  Do you like his music?

Who was the painter of Mussorgsky's portrait?  I have never run across his name.

[Lilas Pastia]

Ilya Repin, probably the greatest russian painter of his time. This link has superb examples of his art:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Repin

[Anne]

Ilya Repin, probably the greatest russian painter of his time. This link has superb examples of his art:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilya_Repin

Thank you!  Much appreciated.  Thanks for the URL also.

[Iago]

At the start of Die Walkure we hear a storm as Hunding searches for shelter.

Since Act I of Die Walkure takes place in "Hundings Haus", I don't think he would have to search for shelter too long. I guess he knew where he lived.
You are referring to Siegmunds search for shelter, which he finds courtesy of Sieglinde.

[Iago]

Strauss' "Don Juan".
Especially in the hands of a Straussian of the caliber of Fritz Reiner conducting the CSO.
The Dons final orgasm is musically depicted, as no other conductor depicts it. Ravishingly beautiful orchestral tone, precision and clarity.
For me, there is NO other.

[Anne]

Since Act I of Die Walkure takes place in "Hundings Haus", I don't think he would have to search for shelter too long. I guess he knew where he lived.
You are referring to Siegmunds search for shelter, which he finds courtesy of Sieglinde.

Thanks for the correction, Iago.

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

1. Sibelius - Tapiola
1. Sibelius - The Wood Nymph
1. Sibelius - Finlandia
4. Sibelius - The Swan of Tuonela
5-10. ?

Genious Sibelius is so great @ tone poems. I haven't listened to much to his other tone poems, but thousand of times to the above mentioned. It's especially sad the wood nymph is so unknown to lots of people. Its such a strong tone poem with a dramatic solution!

My next try will be night ride and sunrise. Have listened to it once, a very modern piece.

[Xenophanes]

I've counted cycles as one.  I realize that brings the total to 18, but . . .

Rachmaninoff - Isle of the Dead

Sibelius - Lemminkainen Suites

Debussy - La Mer

Ravel - Rapsodie Espagnole

Mayuzumi - Samsara

Dukas - The Sorceror's Apprentice

Borodin - In the Steppes of Central Asia

Smetana - Ma Vlast

Respighi - Pines of Rome

Bax - Tintagel

There are some things called overtures which might qualify, notably Mendelssohn's Hebrides.

[longears]

I used to like Sibelius before I really started to listen to classical music. Nowadays I find his symphonies simple and orchestrated in an annoying way.

Only the simple-minded view complexity as a virtue.  Your inability to grasp Sibelius is a lamentable deficiency.  Mistakenly locating the deficiency in Sibelius's music is a regrettable consequence of arrogance.  As for annoying....


Top 10 tone poems:  pick any ten by Sibelius.  Include Luonnotar, Pohjola's Daughter, Tapiola, and Oceanides.

[The Emperor]

Yes, that Bocklin "Isle of the Dead" painting is one of my favorites also.  Rachmaninoff's "Isle of the Dead" is the only Rachmaninoff music that I like so far.  Still need to seriously listen to "Vespers" and "The Bells."  I'm not a Rachmaninoff fan.  Do you like his music?

Who was the painter of Mussorgsky's portrait?  I have never run across his name.

Isle of the Dead owns!! That would be my nº1.
La mer, Filandia are up there too.

Anne try Rach's trio elegiaque, you might like those, a bit dark as well, amazing pieces.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Sergei Rachmaninov - Isle of the Dead

Havergal Brian - Elegy

Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra

Mieczyslaw Karlowicz - Stanislaw and Anna Oswiecim

Frederick Delius - On Hearing The First Cuckoo In Spring

Rued Langgaard - Music of the Spheres

Erich Wolfgang Korngold - Sursum Corda

Ludwig van Beethoven - Egmont Overture

Ottorino Respighi - Pini di Roma

Robert Schumann - Manfred Overture

[LaciDeeLeBlanc]

I'd like to add David Maslanka's A Child's Garden of Dreams. Although it is a Wind ensemble piece, I'm sure it qualifies as a tone poem. Has anyone hear heard it?

[Tapio Dimitriyevich Shostakovich]

Hi,

with great pleasure I listen to Sergej Rachmaninoff - The Isle of the Dead and I was happy to have found it. One more tone poem, a single piece of music for big orchestras, a kind of program music which carries a specific picture. Which is maybe like 10 minutes or more in length.

Maybe there are more? Many more? And what are they telling? I'm also thinking of pieces which occur in suites or symphonies. E.g. like the Sibelius Swan of Tuonela. Music that has a very clear program.

To date I know the Sibelius ones and the Rachmaninoff. Just examples:

Sibelius - Tapiola - [Forest (god)] - HIS BEST WORK
Sibelius - The wood nymph - [love, drama (it's probably the same, anyway)]
Rachmaninoff also known as Rakhmaninov - Isle of the Dead [Isle of the dead [image]]

EDIT: Okay, Wikipedia wins again. All has been written. We can close the forum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonic_poem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_symphonic_poems
Anyway, what to try next and why, what's it about?

[Brian]

Among my favorites are a totally new discovery, the last tone poems of Mieczyslaw Karlowicz. You might want to sample the new Naxos release (excellent performances!) to try them out - my particular favorite is "Episode at a Masquerade", which manages the nifty trick of being both exuberant and fun, and a heart-tugging tragedy, at the same time.

If you're willing to head back in time, there is Bedrich Smetana to discover. You'll love Richard Strauss, Josef Suk (Asrael, Summer's Tale and Ripening - part of a series in which Suk began to cope with the sudden deaths of his wife and father-in-law), and Dvorak's cycle of four tone poems, too.

[J.Z. Herrenberg]

Among my favorites are a totally new discovery, the last tone poems of Mieczyslaw Karlowicz. You might want to sample the new Naxos release (excellent performances!) to try them out - my particular favorite is "Episode at a Masquerade", which manages the nifty trick of being both exuberant and fun, and a heart-tugging tragedy, at the same time.

Yes yes yes! He wrote six, and they all have their beauties. I have the Noseda/Tortelier series on Chandos. And some Polish readings.

[Subotnick]

A recent discovery of mine is Vasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov. His symphonies are very good, but my favourite pieces by him are the Epic Poem, The Nymphs and The Cedar And The Palm. Little known gems which all come highly reccomended.

TTFN.
Me.

[Christo]

and Dvorak's cycle of four tone poems, too.

There are actually five, but it's good that you ignore the fifth, The Hero's Song. The first four are my favourite Dvořák overall. They were all writen in a sequel in 1896-97: The Water Goblin, The Noon Witch, The Golden Spinning Wheel, The Wood Dove. Unlike their successor (The Hero's Song) these first four were based upon ballads by folklorist Karel Erben.

Yet, there's plenty more to go for, not mentioned by Wikipedia. Kallinnikov and Karłowicz - new Naxos release as well - have been mentioned already. Other lesser known symphonic poems that I would recommend:

* Hamilton Harty (1879-1941), With the Wild Geese (1910)
* Heino Eller (1887-1970), Koit [Dawn], Videvik [Twilight], Viirastused [Fantoms], Varjus ja päikesepaistel [In Shade and Sunshine], Laulvad Pöllud [Singing Fields] (c. 1917-50)
* Cemal Reşit Rey (1904-1985), Bebek Efsanesi, Karagöz, Initation, L'appel, Fatih (c. 1928-53) and also Türkiye (discovered among his papers posthumously)

[Grazioso]

A huge array of wonderful choices out there! Some that I've been enjoying (again) of late are those of Vitezslav Novak (Lady Godiva, In the Tatra Mountains, etc.) and Douglas Lilburn (Aoteroa, Drysdale Overture, etc.). Bax has some really evocative beauties like Tintagel, November Woods, and On the Sea-Shore. There's of course Smetana's Ma Vlast tone poem cycle, suite/poems like Debussy's La Mer and Bridge's The Sea, Strauss's famous Don Juan, Ein Heldenleben, Also Sprach Zarathustra, and other very descriptive tone poems for large orchestra. Romeo and Juliet of Tchaikovsky, Les Preludes by Liszt, or for something recent, Rautavaara's On the Last Frontier (inspired by EA Poe).

[petrarch]

EDIT: Okay, Wikipedia wins again. All has been written. We can close the forum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphonic_poem
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_symphonic_poems
Anyway, what to try next and why, what's it about?

There's one missing from that list: Ligeti's Poème symphonique pour 100 métronomes . Video here.