tone painting

American  

noun

1. musical description, by harmonic, melodic, or rhythmic means, of the words of a text or the story elements in program music.

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Etymology

Origin of tone painting

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

There is experimentation with found-object percussion, and recent Glass touches including colorful texture, expressive shifts in harmony and soundtrack-like tone painting.

From New York Times • Mar. 31, 2023

And the “Pastoral,” which is easy to read as folk-inspired tone painting, was here more subtly evocative than straightforwardly illustrative.

From New York Times • Feb. 26, 2020

Instead of piling on the venom with the song, Swift's "Innocent" takes a conciliatory tone, painting him as "32, and still growing up now."

From Reuters • Oct. 15, 2010

Debussy's brooding music is spheres apart from the pastoral beauties of Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun or the nautical tone painting of La Mer.

From Time Magazine Archive

Bluette is a beautiful piece of tone painting.

From Edward MacDowell by Porte, John F.