It's a one-movement orchestral composition that aims to evoke a specific mood, idea, or story through its music. It's different from a traditional symphony, which typically has multiple movements, and is more like a musical equivalent of a poem.
Here are some important points to remember:
* It's a piece of music, not a poem in the literary sense.
* It's typically played by an orchestra.
* It's a single, continuous movement.
* It often tells a story or evokes a specific mood or idea.
Some famous examples of symphonic poems include:
* "Also sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss
* "The Moldau" by Bedřich Smetana
* "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" by Paul Dukas