The Sorcerer's Apprentice (Dukas) Romantic genre of programmatic music, which composers like Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy, Jean Sibelius and Richard Strauss increasingly explored as an alternative to earlier symphonic forms. Unlike other tone poems, such as "La mer" by Debussy or "Finlandia" by Sibelius, Dukas's work is, like works such as "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks" by Strauss, descriptively programmatic, closely following the events described in the Goethe poem. It was customary, in fact, to publish the poem as part of the orchestral score. The instrumentation of the piece consists of two flutes and piccolo, two oboes, two soprano clarinets and bass clarinet, three bassoons
Shock Diamonds (tone poem for orchestra) Shock Diamonds (tone poem for orchestra) Shock Diamonds is a tone poem for large orchestra, by American composer Geoffrey Gordon (1968). Inspired by the visually stunning shock waves (called shock diamonds) in the exhaust plume of an aerospace propulsion system, such as a supersonic jet or rocket engine, Shock Diamonds was commissioned for and premiered by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, with conductor Gil Rose, on 22 May 2009, Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, MA. The work is scored for large orchestra: 3-3-3-3; 4-3-3-1; timpani; three percussion; piano (celesta); harp; strings - with a duration of 13