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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of symphonic poem

First recorded in 1860–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

symphonic poem

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2025

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

"The pictures are pretty, the music is pretty, the existential voice-overs are pretty: but after almost two hours of wistful, message-larded prettiness, Malick's latest visual symphonic poem has us squirming in our seats," Marshall wrote.

From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2012

In its purest form, the symphonic poem style is what orchestral film music grew out of in the 1920s and ’30s, its job to support and describe something outside music.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall