The
symphonic poems of the Hungarian composer
Franz Liszt are a series of 13 orchestral works, numbered S.95–107. The first 12 were composed between 1848 and 1858 (though some use material conceived earlier); the last,
Von der Wiege bis zum Grabe (
From the Cradle to the Grave), followed in 1882. These works helped establish the genre of orchestral
program music—compositions written to illustrate an extra-musical plan derived from a play, poem, painting or work of nature. They inspired the
symphonic poems of
Bedrich Smetana,
Antonín Dvorák,
Richard Strauss and others.