What is program music? Tone poems explained for kids

Program music is music that tells a story or paints a picture, with no words and no stage. The composer gives the piece a title, and sometimes a short story to read, so that listeners know what the music is about. A tone poem is a piece of program music for orchestra in one movement.

Music with no story has a name too. It is called absolute music. A symphony called “No. 40” is absolute music. It is about its own tunes.

How music tells a story

Instruments cannot say words. They can copy sounds, set moods, and stand for characters.

Tool	Example
Copying a sound	Flutes trill for birds. Drums roll for thunder.
Speed	Fast music for a chase. Slow music for a sunrise.
Loud and soft	A soft start that grows for something coming closer
A tune for a character	One tune comes back each time that character appears
High and low	Low notes for giants and caves. High notes for stars and fairies.

Ten pieces to hear

The Four Seasons, by Vivaldi. Vivaldi printed a poem with each concerto and marked the birds, the storm, and the barking dog in the music. See the guide.

“Pastoral” Symphony, by Beethoven. Five scenes from the country, with a brook, a dance, a storm, and a song of thanks. See the Pastoral Symphony guide.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, by Dukas. A broom, a spell, and a flood. See the guide.

Danse macabre, by Saint-Saëns. Skeletons dance until the rooster crows. See the guide.

Night on Bald Mountain, by Mussorgsky. A wild night that ends with church bells at dawn. See the guide.

The Moldau, by Smetana. A river from its two springs to the city of Prague. See the guide.

Pictures at an Exhibition, by Mussorgsky. A walk through an art show, one picture at a time. See the guide.

Scheherazade, by Rimsky-Korsakov. Tales from the Arabian Nights, with a solo violin as the storyteller. See the guide.

Peter and the Wolf, by Prokofiev. A narrator tells the story, and each character has an instrument. See the guide.

The Carnival of the Animals, by Saint-Saëns. One short piece for each animal. See the guide.

The tone poem

A tone poem is one long movement for orchestra that follows a story, a poem, or a place. It is also called a symphonic poem. Franz Liszt gave it that name in the 1800s and wrote 13 of them. Richard Strauss, Sibelius, and Smetana wrote famous ones after him.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Danse macabre, and The Moldau are all tone poems.

A short history

Composers have copied birds and battles in music for hundreds of years. In the Romantic era, the idea grew. Composers wanted music to connect with poems, paintings, and legends.

In 1830, Hector Berlioz wrote the Symphonie fantastique and handed the audience a printed story to read. After that, program music became one of the main kinds of music for orchestra.

Read Romantic era music for kids.

Does a listener need the story?

No. Good program music works as music. The story adds a second layer.

Try both ways with a child:

• Story first. Read the story, and then listen for each part.
• Music first. Listen with no title. Ask what your child pictures. Then tell the real story, and listen again.

A child’s own story is a fine answer too.

Program music and film music

Film music does the same job. It tells you who is coming and how to feel, with the same tools. Read film music for kids.

Things to do together

Guess the title. Play “The Aquarium” from The Carnival of the Animals. Ask what the music is about before you say its name.

Draw the story. Fold a page into four boxes. Draw one scene in each box as the piece goes on.

Find the character. In Peter and the Wolf, hold up a card each time a character’s tune plays. Print the character cards.

Story or no story? Play a tone poem and a movement of a Mozart symphony. Ask which one tells a story, and how your child can tell.

Write your own. Your child picks a story they know and says which instrument would play each character.

Print and play

Use a listening journal page for each piece. For more pieces, read classical music that tells a story.