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Absolute Music Definition  

Absolute music is instrumental music that is completely abstract and about absolutely nothing other than the music itself. This is in contrast to program music, which is instrumental music that has some extra-musical meaning and draws inspiration from and/or is intended to evoke images related to human drama, scenery, historic events, literature, etc. Examples of the former include concertos and most chamber music; examples of the latter include tone poems, romantic songs and operas.