Symphonic poem Borodin's "In the Steppes of Central Asia" "powerful orchestral pictures, each unique in its composer's output". Titled a "musical portrait", "In the Steppes of Central Asia" evokes the journey of a caravan across the steppes. "Night on Bald Mountain", especially its original version, contains harmony that is often striking, sometimes pungent and highly abrasive; its initial stretches especially pull the listener into a world of uncompromisingly brutal directness and energy. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov wrote only two orchestral works that rank as symphonic poems, his "musical tableau" "Sadko" (1867–92) and "Skazka" ("Legend", 1879–80), originally titled "Baba-Yaga". While this may perhaps be surprising,
Wait for Me (poem) of their wives or girlfriends in it, which a copy of "Wait for Me" was wrapped around, as a sign of their desire to return to their loved ones and to survive the war. Many soldiers seemed to believe that this would somehow how help them to survive the war, as if declaring their love would protect them and ensure that they would get back home. In 1942 Aleksandr Lokshin composed a symphonic poem for mezzo-soprano and orchestra on the verses of "Wait for me". Lokshin composed later a version of the same work for baritone, piano and flute-piccolo .