: _Its characteristics._]

Three characteristics may be said to distinguish the Symphonic Poem,
which in the view of the extremists who follow the lead of Liszt is
the logical outcome of the symphony and the only expression of its
aesthetic principles consonant with modern thought and feeling.
_First_, it is programmatic--that is, it is based upon a poetical
idea, a sequence of incidents, or of soul-states, to which a clew is
given either by the title or a motto; _second_, it is compacted in
form to a single movement, though as a rule the changing phases
delineated in the separate movements of the symphony are also to be
found in the divisions of the work marked by changes in tempo, key,
and character; _third_, the work generally has a principal subject of
such plasticity that the composer can body forth a varied content by
presenting it in a number of transformations.

[Sidenote: _Liszt's first pianoforte concerto._]

The last two characteristics Liszt has carried over into his
pianoforte concerto in E-flat. This has four distinct movements (viz.:
I. _Allegro maestoso_; II. _Quasi adagio_; III. _Allegretto vivace,
scherzando_; IV. _Allegro marziale animato_), but they are fused into
a continuous whole, throughout which the principal thought of the
work, the stupendously energetic phrase which the orchestra proclaims
at the outset, is presented in various forms to make it express a
great variety of moods and yet give unity to the concerto. "Thus, by
means of this metamorphosis," says Mr. Edward Dannreuther, "the
poetic unity of the whole musical tissue is made apparent, spite of
very great diversity of details; and Coleridge's attempt at a
definition of poetic unity--unity in multiety--is carried out to the
letter."

[Sidenote: _Other cyclical forms._]

[Sidenote: _Pianoforte and orchestra._]

It will readily be understood that the other cyclical compositions
which I have associated with a classic concert, that is, compositions
belonging to the category of chamber music (see Chapter III.), and
concertos for solo instruments with orchestral accompaniment, while
conforming to the scheme which I have outlined, all have individual
characteristics conditioned on the expressive capacity of the
apparatus. The modern pianoforte is capable of asserting itself
against a full orchestra, and concertos have been written for it in
which it is treated as an orchestral integer rather than a solo
instrument. In the older concept