Orchestral Romantic Love Music

[Peter1953]

Romanticism and Love, that's a good marriage I think. I wonder whether (unsung) composers have written orchestral music specifically being meant as love music.

Strangely enough I recall a few pieces not from the Romantic Era, but each of them definitely written in a Romantic idiom. Famous is the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto (1959) by Ho Zhan Hao and Chen Kang. And I remember that John Veale has called the slow movement of his Violin Concerto (premiered in 1986) love music. And then there is Henriëtte Bosmans, who composed a Poème for Cello and Orchestra (1923), in which the cello 'ardently sings of the deepest love'.
But now back to the Romantic Era. Are there examples?

[alberto]

In Parry's Fifth Symphony the Lento section is titled "Love".

[Mark Thomas]

The first two movements of Raff's Lenore Symphony are together entitled Liebesglück (Love's Happiness) and, although not printed in the score, Raff referred in correspondence to the second movement as being a "love scene", with a (for the 1870s) fairly explicit programme!

[kolaboy]

Oh no...
If this continues to any great degree I feel an inevitable drift towards Rod McKuen's symphonic output 

As Beach Boy Brian Wilson once said, "Help Me Rhonda"...

[Balapoel]

my itunes "orchestral" + "liebe/love"


Barisons - Symphony No. 2 in Eb 'Romantic' (1939) 1 The Awakening of Love, 4 The Death of Love
Benoit - The Pacification of Ghent -2 Love scene
Dohnanyi - The Veil of Pierrette, Op. 18 -1 Pierrot's love-lament
Draeseke - serenade in D, Op. 49 - 3 Liebeszene
Hanson - Merry Mount Suite -3 Love duet
R. Franck - Liebesidyll, Amor und Psyche, Op. 40 (1905)
Herbert - Hero and Leander, Op. 33 -2 Love scene
Khachaturian - Gayane Suite No. 3 -5 Love duet
Kodaly - Hary Janos - First adventure - love duet, second adventure Orzse's love song
MacDowell - Suite No. 2, Op. 48 -2 Love Song
McEwen - The Demon Lover 
Raff - The Fairy of Love, Op. 67
Sibelius - Scenes Historiques, Op. 66 -2 Love Song

[mattbrown]

Of course, the Love Scene (orchestral interlude) in Berlioz' "Romeo and Juliet", still to me one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written by anyone. Gosh, am I heading toward Rod McKuen?  Heeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllppppppppppppppp!

[jerfilm]

i've always been partial to the duet in Frederic Delius'  Idyll: I once passed through a populous city.......I know, the word 'love' isn't in the title.......

J

[eschiss1]

Sticking more or less to Romantic composers (sorry) though not to orchestra-only (also sorry) (and can't tell you which are meant as love music, just that love is in the title...which may not mean the same thing in either direction...)
1. Boughton Symphony no.2 first movement - The Young Girl: The Old King or the The Young Lover
2. Robert Fuchs overture after Grillparzer, "Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen" Op.59
3. (not in my collection from here on...) Reger (semi-sung... only semi. Not even all that much) : Hymnus der Liebe Op.136 for baritone and orchestra
4. Cowen: A phantasy of life and love (Liebe und Leben), tone-poem (pub.1901)
5. Delius - poem of life and love for orchestra (1918)
6. Traugott Kramer - Musik zu Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen (1874)
7. "Immer Liebe" by Ernst, Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha Herzog II  (mezzo, baritone, choir and orchestra) (1844)

As to Delius, the orchestral interlude "The Walk to the Paradise Garden" does seem, from its context in the opera A Village Romeo and Juliet, to be about love and lust also, I gather (if I recall...)

[alberto]

Novak Bohemian Suite, third movement, "Two in love".

[alberto]

R.Strauss Love Scene (orchestral interlude) from "Feuersnot"
A.Magnard Hymne a Venus
R.Hahn Nuit d'amour bergamasque, symphonic poem
J.Sibelius Rakastava (The lover), version for string orchestra

[minacciosa]

For my money, Arnold Bax nails it (no pun intended) in the Woodland Love section of Spring Fire.

[Amphissa]

Didn't Mozart compose the Andante of his 21st Piano Concerto as an expression of his undying love for that tart, Elvira Madigan?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[Mark Thomas]

We'll have no talk of tarts here, please, unless their bottoms are made of pastry and their tops of jam! 

[JimL]

Rather a tart response, don't you think, Mark?

[chill319]

I nominate Claire de Lune as a subset of this Love category. Might spark a few more interesting unsung entries...