Poetic Tone Pictures, Op. 85

Composer: DVOŘÁK, Antonín
  • Written in 1889, Dvořák’s Poetic Tone Pictures is a substantial 13-part cycle for solo piano, lasting nearly an hour in total:
    1. 1. Night Journey
      2. Joking
      3. At the Old Castle
      4. Spring Song
      5. Peasants’ Ballad
      6. Reminiscence
      7. Furiant
      8. Goblins’ Dance
      9. Serenade
      10. Bacchanalia
      11. Tittle-Tattle
      12. At a Tumulus
      13. At Svatá Hora
  • In writing Poetic Tone Pictures, Dvořák sought to create musical poetry “as Schumann would have done,” while also fulfilling a request from his publisher to create more short piano pieces (which were in great demand among amateur pianists).1
  • In a letter to his publisher, Dvořák expressed his wish for the work to be performed as a whole rather than broken into individual pieces, so that the full scope of the poetic landscape can be appreciated.2

Sources

  1. “Poetic Tone Pictures (Poetické nálady), Op. 85, B161,” Antonín Dvořák, accessed January 30, 2026, https://www.antonin-dvorak.cz/en/work/poetic-tone-pictures-op85-b161/.
  2. Milan Pospíšil, “Preface: Poetical Tone Pictures op. 85,” G. Henle Verlag, accessed January 30, 2026, https://www.henle.de/en/Poetical-Tone-Pictures-op.-85/HN-492.

Cut IDs

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