symphonic poem

American  

noun

Music.

1. a form of tone poem, scored for a symphony orchestra, in which a literary or pictorial “plot” is treated with considerable program detail: originated by Franz Liszt in the mid-19th century and developed especially by Richard Strauss.

---

symphonic poem British  

noun

1. Also called: tone poem.  music an extended orchestral composition, originated by Liszt, based on nonmusical material, such as a work of literature or folk tale

---

Etymology

Origin of symphonic poem

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

John’s wistful, symphonic poem suddenly took on a new shade.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2025

Here were world-class musicians tackling a bravura symphonic poem that established the modernist bona fides of the 25-year-old Strauss.

From New York Times • Jun. 17, 2022

This collaboration led to “Gaia,” a spellbinding symphonic poem featuring Spalding’s vocals and libretto, premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2013.

From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2021

This is where he developed the symphonic poem genre and composed some of his finest orchestral works.

From Washington Times • Mar. 4, 2015

Liszt spearheaded a shift from orchestral to illustrative music, using this 1850 painting of Attila the Hun in battle as the basis for his symphonic poem Hunnenschlacht.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall