# Favorite Programmatic/Abstract Themes in Music



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

I could make a poll, but likely you all would have more ideas than can be fit into a poll

I'm talking about pieces of music that either directly or indirectly allude to a particular theme that is outside of musical language. Art Song, Opera, Ballet, Choral works, Tone Poems, etc. and also abstract works. Sometimes inspired by a story or a text, sometimes not. Sometimes the idea is completely made up by the composer. Some examples:

Love: Unrequited love, betrayal, marriage, fidelity, etc.
_Fate_
Escapism: Nature, drugs, hedonistic living
The _Pastorale _Aesthetic
Triumph over Tragedy
Death: Funeral, Lament, bereavement, _the End_
Madness
Symbolism: Dark vs. Light, Good vs. Evil, Laughing vs. Tears
Patriotism
Religion: Prayer, judgment, _Deus ex Machina_, hypocrisy, regeneration, paganism
Royalty: Kings and Czars, Princesses and Princes
Poverty: Peasants and rustic life
Magic: Spells, curses, witches, sorcerers
The Unknown: Foreign, danger
Sin: Violence, Murder, Adultery Rape, Theft, etc
War: Military, Honor, Courage
Rebellion
Tragic Flaw: Hubris, Misunderstanding
Physical contrasts: Cold vs. Hot, Hard vs. Soft, Near vs. Far

Some more complex ideas:
Man vs. Nature
Friendship
Anti-escapism
Redemption/Reconciliation
Sacrifice
Ethical dilemma
Nihilism
etc.

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Personally I would say music with themes of the Unknown, Loyalty and Symbolism are currently most appealing to me. Also Redemption in the sense that something is resolved. I like the idea of Darkness vs. Light, which is an extremely abstract idea but still can be alluded to by many composers.


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## Avey (Mar 5, 2013)

I struggled to find any _specific_ themes off the top of my head, but I did think of general themes, like:

Redemption and renewal through suffering, struggle, and ultimately, pure love - *Mahler's* _Eighth_

And having just heard this earlier today, *Lukas Foss*' _Three American Pieces_, is um well, yes, about that a _very broad_ theme there. But the music itself, resembling certain traditions of the country, is similar to *Mr. Charles Ives*, who's (almost) entire catalogue of songs is based on this _very broad_ theme of _memory_--namely memories of his home, his country, and his people. His compositions are so unique and wide-ranging, that I think his repertoire _collectively_ reveals the significance of that memory, and how it can dictate your viewing (or reliance) of the past. There are countless examples of real-life moments showing up in his pieces, and rarely if ever appropriately. But I think that is the point. (If any of that makes sense)

I like this thread. I am sure some very very precise theme from a piece of music will come to me tomorrow or another day, when I am away from my computer, and then I forget it. But I hope others have specific votes.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

If I understand what you're getting at, Hugo Alfven's Symphony No. 4 in C minor, Från havsbandet (From the Outskirts of the Archipelago) depicts the theme of lost love -- no unrequited but lost due to circumstances beyond control. It can be heart wrenching.

[I can't post links from work, but it's easy to find.]


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

I like the representation of 'true to life' in art. For example in Mozart's opera _Betulia Liberata_ there is a scene where Judith shows Holofernes' head to a woman, who tells she gets shivers running down her spine. At the same moment I felt how Mozart's music caused such shivers running down my spine. In Prokofiev's _War and Peace_ there is a scene where a deep bass makes a women's chorus shriek from fright: I know the opera so well, but every time this joke gets at me anew. Don Giovanni being thrown into hell: there exist baritons who convince me utterly with their aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! and there exist damned buffoons. Don Giovanni seducing: the same.


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## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

In the case with Scriabin (who I love so much), the ideas of light and darkness come up time and time again. You can have light flames, you can have _dark _flames. _Prometheus_, Poem of Fire! Poem of Ecstasy also has to do with the "kindling" of the soul. Fire to Scriabin represented knowledge, power, life. _Vers la Flamme_ could be one of the most interesting Symbolist/Mystical works he ever wrote, considering it was born from a long gestation of thoughts of enlightenment and self-actualization. It's not a purely mystic-chord based piece, but rather a combination of his earlier language with his mystical language. Darkness vs. Light, once again.





 one of my favorite Late-Period Scriabin miniatures


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## techniquest (Aug 3, 2012)

I'm not sure I've got your idea right, but the first piece that sprung to mind for me is Hovhaness Symphony No.11 "All Men are Brothers"


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## clavichorder (May 2, 2011)

What the heck Huilu! I was just thinking about all this today! I was thinking of threads I could make, and how I probably couldn't frame it in a way that wouldn't generate many indifferent responses, so you've done a good job on something I thought about but probably wouldn't have done.

It's really hard sometimes to know what the theme of something is, but I can often feel it without always being able to explain it. Every composer seems to have his major nature symphony(if not just a dominant and pervasive influence as in the case of Sibelius or Dvorak), etc etc. 

I have been on some nature trips my self lately, and I was surprised to find the Mahler, Tchaikovsky, symphonic soundtrack that has been raging lately through my head in the city and day dreamy walking about familiar places state, getting replaced by Dvorak or more pastoral Brahms symphonic works. The B minor Cello Concerto seemed so congruous with my setting and the feelings I was experiencing. Usually on the ferry ride home the Dvorak gets overridden by one of the big orchestral works of Janacek or Nielsen because I feel something utterly expansive and a tad futuristic out on the water approaching the city after a more rural setting. It's odd how perspective can shift like that.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I am interested in the abstract themes in the Passacaglia and Chaconne (I'm thinking of J.S. Bach's works here and the Passacaglia by Rodrigo) I think of the first part as like a musical description of the dark night of the soul. The concluding fugue or modulation I associate with redemption, forgiveness, or a kind of purification ritual.

Essentially the works go from dark to light.


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