When was programme music invented

Nevertheless the genre continues to exert an influence on film music, especially where this draws upon the techniques of late romantic music. The term is almost exclusively applied to works in the European classical music tradition, particularly those from the Romantic music period of the 19th century, during which the concept was popular, but programmatic pieces have long been a part of music.

The term is usually reserved for purely instrumental works pieces without singers and lyrics , and not used, for example for Opera or Lieder.

Single movement orchestral pieces of program music are often called symphonic poems. Absolute music, in contrast, is to be appreciated without any particular reference to anything outside the music itself. A program symphony is the result of a composer applying the principle of program music to the genre of the symphony. However, the following recordings serve as an excellent introduction and will certainly repay investigation:. Keyword Search in Albums. Medieval c. Renaissance c. Baroque c.

Classical c. Early Romantic c. Late Romantic c. Post 'Great War' Years c. Naxos Records, a member of the Naxos Music Group. Follow Us. All rights reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Policy Welcome to Naxos Records. Keyword Search. Composition Title. Disc Title. Catalogue No. Introduction to Classical Music. Music Categories. Musical Instruments. History of Classical Music. Discover the Classics. Glossary of Musical Terms. Synopses of Opera. Index of Operas by Composer.

Opera Libretti. A Note from the Author. The Listener's Job Description. Part 1: Before the Concert. They were published with accompanying sonnets, possibly written by the composer himself, making their extra-musical subject matter even more clear.

With a strong focus upon musical form and the creation of drama through internal forces, little programmatic content was written during the Classical period. However, Joseph Haydn appears to have had extra-musical ideas in mind whilst composing some of his symphonic works. For example, his Symphony No. Beethoven emerged towards the end of the Classical period and began to expand upon the conventions and structures established by the likes of Haydn and Mozart, leading the transition into the Romantic period.

Program music really took off during the Romantic period , as it became common for music to take inspiration from literature, folk tales, visual art, nature and more. Tchaikovsky, for example, was deeply inspired by the plays of William Shakespeare and wrote orchestral pieces based upon Romeo and Juliet , The Tempest and Hamlet. Composers continued to write programmatic content into the 20th Century. There are plenty of other examples, although the modernist movement largely saw a return to abstract music.

The soundtracks to lots of film and television programmes take influence from the program music of the 19th Century, with composers using sound to create atmosphere and tension and to help advance the plot. Nobuo Uematsu, who has been referred to as the Beethoven of video game music, uses similar techniques in the scores to the Final Fantasy series of games.