[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP] A large orchestral work follows a storyline inspired by a Shakespeare play, depicting characters and s...
Question 1 Report
[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP]
A large orchestral work follows a storyline inspired by a Shakespeare play, depicting characters and scenes.
What type of orchestral composition. [1]
Answer Details
The correct answer is symphonic poem (also accepted: tone poem). [1]
A symphonic poem is a single-movement orchestral work that follows a programme - a storyline, literary source, painting or scene that the music depicts. Unlike a programme symphony (which has multiple movements), the symphonic poem compresses its narrative into one continuous movement, often using techniques such as thematic transformation to represent characters and events.
The form was pioneered by Franz Liszt in the 1850s and later developed by composers including Richard Strauss, Smetana and Sibelius. In this question, the work is inspired by a Shakespeare play, which is a typical source for the genre - Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet and Liszt's Hamlet are well-known examples of symphonic poems based on Shakespeare.
The symphonic poem differs from a concert overture (which may also follow a programme) in that it is freer in form and not attached to an opera or play as a curtain-raiser.
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