Great Unsung Tone Poems

[LateRomantic75]

What are some of members' favorite unsung tone poems? Mine are:

-All of Karlowicz's are fantastic, and Anna and Stanislaw Oswiecim is probably my favorite among them. In my view, he was one of the greatest "tone poets" ever. He has often been compared to R. Strauss, but I prefer the Pole's music to the German's.
-Melartin: Traumgesicht. Discovered this masterpiece thanks to the generosity of our own mjkfendrich. A truly riveting work, full of drama and atmosphere.
-Bax: Tintagel. Maybe not that "unsung", but hardly oft-performed. It's a perfect marriage of Wagnerian chromaticism and Debussian atmosphere.
-Cuirlionis: The Sea and The Forest. Absolutely gorgeous impressionist works. It's a pity Cuirlionis didn't compose more (but apparently he composed a Symphony!).
-Novak: De Profundis: A powerful wartime work with a strong sense of defiance and tragedy. The implementation of the organ into the orchestral texture is quite effective. His Toman and the Wood Nymph is an atmospheric, tuneful work showcasing Novak's lighter side.
-Suk: A Summer's Tale. All Suk's tone poems are masterful, but A Summer's Tale is especially wonderful in its rich Mahlerian glow.
-Atterberg: Alven. Following the trajectory of a river akin to The Moldau, Alven is a sumptuous work which includes a surprisingly modernistic section (for Atterberg) which depicts the hustle and bustle of the harbor.
-Reger: Four Bocklin Tone Pictures. This work immediately dispels any notions that Reger was a "dry" or "academic" composer. The Hermit Playing the Violin movement is especially atmospheric and haunting.
-Zemlinsky: Die Seejungfrau: Zemlinsky's masterpiece IMO, a magically lush work with masterful orchestration and a beautiful soprano solo.
-Marx: Eine Naturtrilogie: As one Amazon reviewer so aptly put it, this work is like "Strauss without the bombast". A superbly evocative work all-around.
-Oskar Lindberg: Hemifran. A melancholy, nationalistic work in the vein of Rachmaninov or early Sibelius. Lindberg's From the Great Forests is another lush tone poem in spirit of Alfven and Atterberg.
-Biarent: Trenmor. A darkly dramatic tone poem by one of Belgium's greatest composers. A captivating work from start to finish.
-Raitio: Antigone. Raitio composed some of the most vibrantly colorful and viscerally exciting music of the early 20th century. His music is filled with a Scriabinesque voluptuousness, and a primal, Nordic power foreshadowing what Tveitt would write later on.
-Koechlin: Le Docteur Fabricius. Koechlin's music is imbued with a great visionary power, not least this transcendent, mystical work which is one of the masterpieces of musical Impressionism.

[mbhaub]

Mine:

Balakirev: Tamar
Glazunov: The Sea
Schoenberg: Pelleas und Melisande
Converse: The Mystic Trumpeter
Herbert: Hero and Leander
Rimsky-Korsakov: Night on Mt. Triglav

[Alan Howe]

Any reasons, please? Otherwise this is going to be another list-fest 

[alberto]

Zemlinsky "Die Seejungfrau" has no soprano solo (I have heard three recordings and two live performances).

[LateRomantic75]

Zemlinsky "Die Seejungfrau" has no soprano solo (I have heard three recordings and two live performances).

Don't know where I got that idea! And lucky you to have seen two live performances of it!

[LateRomantic75]

Re edurban's post: Great choices! The Schoenberg isn't so "unsung", but it is one of my very favorite tone poems and hardly ever performed. The Converse is a great work, as is his Flivver Ten Million, which includes some novel orchestral sounds (including car horns, IIRC). Two other American tone poems I love are Henry Kimball Hadley's shimmering The Sea and Louis Adolphe Coerne's swashbuckling Excalibur.

[X. Trapnel]

I think of Loeffler's La Mort de Tintagiles and A Pagan Poem as the strongest musical examples of the Symbolist aesthetic in America, to my taste more dramatic and melodically inspired than the decorative and rather pallid music of Griffes, which has gotten far more attention, perhaps because he's American born and his piano sonata places him on the cusp of modernism, an aural transition from art nouveau to art deco.

[sdtom]

I just got done listening to "Vox Maris" and Enescu does tell an interesting tale about the sea. My favorite tone poem is alas not unsung as it is Tchaikovsky's "Hamlet Fantasy Overture" but the Enescu piece does qualify. Sainton's "The Island" depicts the turbulence and the calm with thematic material that ended up impressing John Huston.
Tom

[Dave]

I concur with all of the above (esp. Sainton's "The Island" and Glazunov's "The Sea"). Glazunov's "The Forest" I think is likewise great (wonderful effects with the orchestra). His "Stenka Razin" is marvelous. Also,

Bela Bartok's "Kossuth" is simply superb.
Rachmaninoff's "Prince Rostislav" (a rather arresting beginning) and "Isle of the Dead" (very much in the neighborhood of "The Miserly Knight")
Rimsky-Korsakov's "Skazka" (or "Fairy-tale", of 1880, dedicated to Glazunov, which curiously points to his later compositions after the 1900s, including "Kashchey the Immortal")
Heino Eller's Symphonic Poems esp. "Phantoms"
Lyapunov's "Hashish" (a bit like Tamara, yet....)
Frank Bridge's "Isabella" and "Mid of the Night" (the latter a tad long-winded, but highly attractive).
Otar Taktakishvili's "Mtsyri" (romantic in vein, sublime, and heroic).
Arnold Bax's "Nympholept" & "In Memoriam" (the latter is definitely heart-wrenching).
Boris Lyatoshynsky's "Grazyna" (an afterthought)

[sdtom]

The Moby Dick restored soundtrack is still available with some wonderful liner notes about Sainton's involvement.
http://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.225050
Tom

[LateRomantic75]

Sainton's The Island is certainly a very moving work-rather Baxian and hauntingly atmospheric.

Bridge's Isabella and Mid of the Night are fine works, but IMO his Enter Spring and The Sea (which I unexplainably forgot to mention in my first post) are masterpieces of the first order.

[LateRomantic75]

Ippolitov-Ivanov's Mtsyri is a beautiful piece of exotica, and features and ecstatically floating soprano solo.

Flor Alpaerts' large-scale tone poem Pallieter is a lush and dramatic work influenced by R. Strauss, Schreker, and Debussy.

Ernst Pingoud's symphonic poems, heavily influenced by Scriabinesque mystery, are also worth mentioning, especially La poeme d'espace.

[X. Trapnel]

Ludomir Rozycki's Anhelli, based on a poem Juliusz Slowacki (poem and program unknown to me) is a beautiful, rather Sibelian tone poem equal to any of those by Karlowicz

[Dave]

Ippolitov-Ivanov's Mtsyri is a beautiful piece of exotica, and features and ecstatically floating soprano solo.

Flor Alpaerts' large-scale tone poem Pallieter is a lush and dramatic work influenced by R. Strauss, Schreker, and Debussy.

Ernst Pingoud's symphonic poems, heavily influenced by Scriabinesque mystery, are also worth mentioning, especially La poeme d'espace.

I forgot about Bridge's other works you'd mentioned (and Ippolitov-Ivanov's). I got to check out Alpaerts and Pingoud (hope I find them on Amazon). Thanks for the mentions.
I should have also mentioned Boris Lyatoshynsky's "Grazyna" which I customarily play alongside Bartok's "Kossuth" and Rachmaninoff's "Prince Rostislav." It's Scriabinesque in its mysticism (with an arresting funeral march towards the end).

[sdtom]

Ippolitov-Ivanov's Mtsyri is a beautiful piece of exotica, and features and ecstatically floating soprano solo.

Flor Alpaerts' large-scale tone poem Pallieter is a lush and dramatic work influenced by R. Strauss, Schreker, and Debussy.

Ernst Pingoud's symphonic poems, heavily influenced by Scriabinesque mystery, are also worth mentioning, especially La poeme d'espace.

You'll have to fill me in on the recording as I've never heard it to my knowledge.
Tom