Some of the more famous and prolific composers of tone poems:
Franz Liszt, Bedrich Smetana, Camille Saint-Saens, Richard Strauss, Jean Sibelius, Arnold Bax
I think Strauss and Sibelius are the clear leaders in this genre. What do you think?
Richard Strauss. I love Death and Transfiguration in particular.
Fond of Bax and Sibelius too.
You're my wife now.
Franz Berwald (the closest Sweden has come to a Great Composer) was an early exponent of tone poems, and his actually predate those of Liszt by a few years. He called them "etudes" or "fantasy pieces".
Elfenspiel (Play of the Elves)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-p7MW9xbBhE
Wettlauf (Racing)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWMy5C4u-qE
Ernste und heitere Grillen (Serious and Joyful Fancies)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wTtwyjJt58
Erinnerung an die norwegischen Alpen (Memories of the Norwegian Alps)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QhHl1m_dB0
This is the closest Sweden has come to a great composer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s
Though of course if, say, Jonathan Swift counts as English, then Sibelius counts as Swedish, so there's that, too.
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You could certainly make an argument that Sibelius was Swedish to the extent that Swedish was his first language and he was brought up in a Swedish cultural background and had a marked preference for Swedish poets in his songs. Then again, he did learn to speak Finnish and fully embraced Finnish culture later in life. How about Handel? Would you consider him German or English? Or Chopin - Polish or French?
As for ABBA...I'll say little. Better that way. In any case, a discussion of Berwald's tone poems is more germane to this particular topic than his status within Swedish music, as Berwald and Liszt are an important bridge between the programmatic overtures of Beethoven and Mendelssohn and the tone poem as we know it today.
You could certainly make an argument that Sibelius was Swedish to the extent that Swedish was his first language and he was brought it in a Swedish cultural background and had a marked preference for Swedish poets in his songs. Then again, he did learn to speak Finnish and fully embraced Finnish culture later in life. How about Handel? Would
My theory is you are the society in which you grew from childhood to young adulthood. So, Sibelius = Finnish (albeit the Swedish-speaking part of the Finnish elite), Handel = German, Chopin = Polish, Liszt = German colonists in Hungary, or maybe half that and half French, since he moved to France so early.
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My theory is you are the society in which you grew from childhood to young adulthood.
I'd probably subscribe to this theory as well. Stravinsky has to be considered Russian and Domenico Scarlatti has to be considered Italian, despite both spending many years in other countries.
Franz Berwald (the closest Sweden has come to a Great Composer) was an early exponent of tone poems, and his actually predate those of Liszt by a few years. He called them "etudes" or "fantasy pieces".
I bought a CD set with 2 Berwald symphonies and a piano concerto a couple of years ago on a whim. I've listened to them once or twice and haven't been motivated to listen to them again. If these fantasy etudes are along the same line of turn the crank late classical/early Romantic pastiche, I can understand why they had virtually zero impact on the tone poem/symphonic poem tradition compared to Liszt.
Actually, when I think of tone poems, I think of Sibelius more than anyone else.
One of the most prolific (and significant) contributors to the genre; compositions marked with an asterisk were inspired by Finnish mythology:
En saga (A Saga or A Fairy Tale), Op. 9 (1892, r. 1902)
Vårsång (Spring Song), Op. 16 (1894, r. 1895 and 1902)
Skogsrået (The Wood Nymph), Op. 15 (1894)
Lemminkäinen Suite (also known as Four Legends from the Kalevala), a cycle of four symphonic poems, Op. 22 (1895) *
Lemminkäinen ja saaren neidot (Lemminkäinen and the Maidens of the Island) *
Tuonelan joutsen (The Swan of Tuonela) (1893-1895, r. 1897 and 1900) *
Lemminkäinen Tuonelassa (Lemminkäinen in Tuonela) (1895, r. 1897 and 1939) *
Lemminkäinen palaa kotitienoille (Lemminkäinen's Return) (1895, r. 1897 and 1900) *
Finlandia, Op. 26 (1899, r. 1900); arranged from Press Celebrations Music, JS 137
Pohjolan tytär (Pohjola's Daughter), Op. 49 (1906) *
Pan och Echo (Pan and Echo), Op. 53a (1906)
Öinen ratsastus ja auringonnousu (Nightride and Sunrise), Op. 55 (1909)
Dryadi (The Dryad), Op. 45/1 (1910)
Luonnotar (Spirit of Nature), for soprano and orchestra, Op. 70 (1913) *
Barden (The Bard), Op. 64 (1913, r. 1914)
Aallottaret (The Oceanides), Op. 73 (1914, r. 1914)
Tapiola, Op. 112 (1926) *In fact, I have ripped his complete tone poems and burnt them onto one home-made CD.
For Russian tone poems, I like Glazunov, among others.