Tone Poem Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

tone poem American

noun

Music.

1. an instrumental composition intended to portray a particular story, scene, mood, etc.

tone poem British

noun

1. another term for symphonic poem

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of tone poem

First recorded in 1900–05

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Here, across 12 minutes, the orchestra turns a four-note motif into a vivid tone poem—shifting moods and colors, restless movement, and a brilliant closing spotlight for virtuoso clarinetist Jimmy Hamilton.

From The Wall Street Journal

The score is a tone poem for cascading piano, string quartet and sighing clarinet lines.

From Los Angeles Times

“I wanted people to see this film like I saw ‘Bambi,’ as the most glorious, sophisticated tone poem of a story that packs a wallop.

From Los Angeles Times

This is less a traditional documentary than a collection of non-narrative tone poems, which abstract the spirit of the games rather than charting any individual story.

From Los Angeles Times

Written for large orchestra and inspired by Madame Helena Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society, the symphonic tone poem is a fantastical transformation of the Greek myth of Prometheus, who steals fire from the gods.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.