program music

American  

noun

1. music intended to convey an impression of a definite series of images, scenes, or events.

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Etymology

Origin of program music

First recorded in 1880–85

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Compare meaning

How does program-music compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• program music vs. absolute music

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

program music

A handful of skaters who train with Arutyunyan’s team whizzed by as coaches scrutinized their arm placements, knelt to watch skate movement and replayed the opening notes of one skater’s program music.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2022

Operated through the hospital’s Child Life program, music therapy helps children and their families cope with stresses related to a child’s illness and the adjustment of a hospital stay.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 2, 2016

But a piece of program music must have a convincing musical structure of its own, as Julia Wolfe’s restless “Cruel Sister” does.

From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2011

You might think that writing program music automatically provides a composer with a structure for a long piece.

From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2011

All these instances corroborate the statement that, in general, composers were influenced by external phenomena and that their program music was of an imitative and often frankly literal kind.

From Music: An Art and a Language by Walter Raymond Spalding

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