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    Overture Essay

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    ben
    The concert overture and symphonic poem both evolved during the 19th century as programmatic works intended for performance in concert halls. The concert overture originated from overtures to theatrical works and was pioneered by composers like Mendelssohn, while the symphonic poem combined multiple symphonic movements into one and related to external sources through an instrumental program, as seen in works by Liszt. Though similar in their programmatic nature and influence from sources like literature, the concert overture typically used more traditional structures while the symphonic poem employed structures tailored to its specific program.

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    Overture Essay

    Uploaded by

    ben
    34 views1 page
    The concert overture and symphonic poem both evolved during the 19th century as programmatic works intended for performance in concert halls. The concert overture originated from overtures to theatrical works and was pioneered by composers like Mendelssohn, while the symphonic poem combined multiple symphonic movements into one and related to external sources through an instrumental program, as seen in works by Liszt. Though similar in their programmatic nature and influence from sources like literature, the concert overture typically used more traditional structures while the symphonic poem employed structures tailored to its specific program.

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    The concert overture and symphonic poem both evolved during the 19th century as programmatic works intended for performance in concert halls. The concert overture originated from overtures to theatrical works and was pioneered by composers like Mendelssohn, while the symphonic poem combined multiple symphonic movements into one and related to external sources through an instrumental program, as seen in works by Liszt. Though similar in their programmatic nature and influence from sources like literature, the concert overture typically used more traditional structures while the symphonic poem employed structures tailored to its specific program.

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    34 views1 page

    Overture Essay

    Uploaded by

    ben
    The concert overture and symphonic poem both evolved during the 19th century as programmatic works intended for performance in concert halls. The concert overture originated from overtures to theatrical works and was pioneered by composers like Mendelssohn, while the symphonic poem combined multiple symphonic movements into one and related to external sources through an instrumental program, as seen in works by Liszt. Though similar in their programmatic nature and influence from sources like literature, the concert overture typically used more traditional structures while the symphonic poem employed structures tailored to its specific program.

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    Discuss the evolution of the concert overture, symphonic poem, and tone poem during the

    19th century.

    The origins of the concert overture can be found in overtures to works of theatre such as
    Beethoven’s Egmont (1787) and Coriolan (1807), often performed in concert halls divorced from
    the theatrical setting which has now been largely forgotten. This gave way to the concert overture:
    a work that depicts a source such as a literary theme as a programmatic piece intended for
    performance in concert hall only. Mendelssohn’s A Midsummers Night’s Dream (1826) is largely
    considered to be the first concert overture, depicting a play written by Shakespeare. Though not
    intended for the theatre, the piece depicts elements of the play programmatically such as the use
    of shimmering strings to depict fantasy elements like goblins and fairies. Another work by
    Mendelssohn, his Hebrides Overture (1830), is a concert overture that combines a well known
    structure, the mood of an opera and the artist’s interpretation of the external world. This is evident
    as Mendelssohn changed the development section, saying it ‘tasted more of counterpoint than of
    rain oil, gulls and salted cod. The success of this piece could be attributed in part to the rise of
    popularity within the concert overture, inspiring composers to continue this genre of writing.
    Berlioz Les Francs Juges (1826), uses a diverse range of techniques for mood painting to convey
    the narrative, making use of a 3/4 timpani passage over the orchestra playing in 4/4, majestic
    brass themes, and blasts from percussion instruments, conveying fury and mystery. Berlioz’s later
    work Roman Carnival Overture (1843) is an excellent example of how the concert overture used a
    fairly well known structure: principle subject, subsidiary subject, recapitulation, and a coda to end
    the work. This said, within the structure are certain features such as the fragmentation of themes
    starting the recapitulation, to fit the programmatic nature of the piece.

    Three main features can be seen within the symphonic (or tone) poem: it combines the structure
    of multiple symphonic movements into one, it relates to outside sources, and it has an elevated
    instrumental programme giving it a similar level of importance to opera. Liszt’s Les Préludes
    (1854), the third of his 12 symphonic poems is evident of this, with Hugh MacDonald stating that
    Liszt’s intent was ‘to display the knowledge of traditional symphonic thought’. Symphonic poems
    also related to symphonic writing in that they had similar tonal landscapes and the works
    compared in size to the movement of a symphony, in some cases a full symphony. Smetna’s
    Vltava (1875) is a symphonic poem from his six work cycle Má vlast that shows how the
    programmatic nature of the work often dictated the structure in this case depicting the course of
    the river Moldau, emerging from two springs then unifying as a single current. Liszt’s Héroïde
    Funèbre (1854), described as a ‘Heroic Elegy’ is programatic in its depiction of pain, death and
    futility of war using hymn and anthems to depict various people. Similarly, Schoenberg’s Verklärte
    Nacht (1899) is described by Schoenberg as ‘programme music’ illustrating a poem by Richard
    Dehmel.

    Though the concert overture and Symphonic poem are similar in many ways, such as their mood
    painting, programmatic depictions, influence from external sources such as literature and nature,
    and their settings as a concert work. There are some fundamental differences such as the use of
    structure, in which the concert overture uses more traditional structures whereas the symphonic
    poem uses a structure to fit the programmatic nature of the work. Another difference is the scale
    of the work, the symphonic poem considered to be of a larger scale.

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