Descriptive Music
The term ‘descriptive’ is taken here to mean what is more commonly described as ‘program’ music, and would be defined as a dramatic expression of a subject or a story in musical terms. Its history in the Eastern world goes back a very long way, in fact to the great Henry Purcell, whose masque ‘Venus and Adonis’ is a case in point. The death of Adonis is musically described in affecting terms, just as the baying of the hounds is directly imitated on the violins.
This type of music was, however, severely limited up to and after the time by Batch by the limitations of the orchestra itself, but even Bach was able to reproduce the braying of an ass, a noise designed as a punishment ! Beethoven’s ‘Battle of Victoria’ certainly produced battle realism, if very bad music, while the gunfire etc. of the 1812 is overdone in the opinion of most people. Yet the calm of the ‘pastoral’ is almost tangible.
It was, however, in the rather later days of Listz and Berlioz that Program Music really came into its own. Listz’ Symphonic Poem’ is a series of actual descriptive illustration of pieces of poetry; he tried to produce in music what the poet sought to produce in words. Later on, the Czech, Smetana, wrote in the same style, but not so much on the emotional level as on the directly pictorial. These composers certainly started a new style in music, not one which is popular with everybody, but certainly one which had produced much fine music. Russians such as Tchaikovsky, Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov all developed the ‘tone-poem’ idea, as did Saint-Saens, whose works such as ‘Le Rout d’Omphale,’ ‘La Jeunesse d’Hercule’ etc were very successful.
The ‘Danse Macabre’ is very ghoulish indeed, while Dukas’ ‘Apprenti Sorcier’ conveys wonderfully the idea of swelling waters which well-nigh engulf the soccer’s house. Among modern British composers, Arnold Bax, particularly in the ‘Tintagel’ tone poem, and Sir Edgar Elgar in the ‘Planet’ Suite and the symphonic poem ‘Falstaff,’ have managed to combine directly descriptive music with a true feeling for the continuity and development of the music. Music, which is purely descriptive is rarely fully satisfactory from the critical standpoint; indeed, the more direct the programming, the less successful the total aesthetic appeal becomes.
Finally, a word about ‘background’ music, as written for the film, the television program, or as ‘incidental’ music for the radio play or story. Such music can rarely stand alone, or is ever meant to. Often, it is too over-powering, or merely just too loud, and it then detracts from the enjoyment of the audience.
At its best, it is used to enhance a variety of moods, ranging from the forbidding and sinister accompaniment to a psychological thriller to the carefree music which enhances a light comedy.
