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tone poem

American  

noun

Music.
  1. an instrumental composition intended to portray a particular story, scene, mood, etc.


tone poem British  

noun

  1. another term for symphonic poem

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tone poem

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

The program was to have been Brahms’ Violin Concerto and Schoenberg’s tonally kaleidoscopic, over-the-top early tone poem “Pelleas und Melisande.”

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 19, 2024

Written for large orchestra and inspired by Madame Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society, the symphonic tone poem is a fantastical transformation of the Greek myth of Prometheus, who steals fire from the gods.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 6, 2024

“The Inspection” filters the brutal claustrophobia of Stanley Kubrick’s boot camp horror show through the piercing subjectivity of Barry Jenkins’ coming-of-age tone poem.

From Seattle Times Dec. 2, 2022

The tone poem is one of those forms that can be fudged and smudged a bit.

From Washington Post Nov. 6, 2022

R. Strauss's tone poem, "Also sprach Zarathustra," given by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

From Annals of Music in America A Chronological Record of Significant Musical Events by Lahee, Henry Charles

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