song cycle
noun
: a group of related songs designed to form a musical entity
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Golijov turned the story into a piercing song cycle premiered and released on album by Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble, which could assimilate its multicultural influences, from Delta Blues to Middle Eastern sounds. 
Brett Campbell | For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 1 Sep. 2022 Hummon had embarked on a modest song cycle about Douglass, after reading one of his three autobiographies that was performed at a Nashville church in the mid-2010s. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 23 July 2022 To pick a grand and traditional institution, Los Angeles Opera displays a 3-1 score sheet — two operas and one orchestral song cycle by living composers and an opera by Verdi (go back two weeks to March 19 and add a third new opera). Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2022 The album is a song cycle inspired by Marie Curie’s life and research. BostonGlobe.com, 9 June 2022 Under lockdown, Van Etten wrote and recorded a song cycle inspired by these events, but one that will not be dated by them. Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 6 May 2022 Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner will finally release a formal studio recording of his orchestral song cycle, 41 Strings, which was first commissioned for a special Earth Day event in 2011. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2022 An adaptation of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s classical song cycle, A Winter’s Journey is set in Bavaria in 1812 and follows the wanderings of a lovelorn poet who undertakes a life-or-death hike across mountains, ice and snow. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Jan. 2022 How about a song cycle based on a book set in an actual mental institution? Chris Willman, Variety, 8 Nov. 2021 See More
Brett Campbell | For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 1 Sep. 2022 Hummon had embarked on a modest song cycle about Douglass, after reading one of his three autobiographies that was performed at a Nashville church in the mid-2010s. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 23 July 2022 To pick a grand and traditional institution, Los Angeles Opera displays a 3-1 score sheet — two operas and one orchestral song cycle by living composers and an opera by Verdi (go back two weeks to March 19 and add a third new opera). Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2022 The album is a song cycle inspired by Marie Curie’s life and research. BostonGlobe.com, 9 June 2022 Under lockdown, Van Etten wrote and recorded a song cycle inspired by these events, but one that will not be dated by them. Frank Digiacomo, Billboard, 6 May 2022 Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner will finally release a formal studio recording of his orchestral song cycle, 41 Strings, which was first commissioned for a special Earth Day event in 2011. Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2022 An adaptation of Winterreise, Franz Schubert’s classical song cycle, A Winter’s Journey is set in Bavaria in 1812 and follows the wanderings of a lovelorn poet who undertakes a life-or-death hike across mountains, ice and snow. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Jan. 2022 How about a song cycle based on a book set in an actual mental institution? Chris Willman, Variety, 8 Nov. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1870, in the meaning defined above