Alexander Glazunov's Poème épique (1933 - 34) is a competent but undistinguished entry from the last page of the composer's catalogue. Written only two years before Glazunov's death in Paris, the Poème épique dates from a period in which disappointment and disillusion encroached upon the composer's life to a degree that virtually destroyed his creative muse. The Poème épique can be seen as an escape from reality, in a manner of speaking, since it reverts to the idiom of the teenaged Glazunov; the music is inoffensive, but contains no new statement or idea.

Composed in honor of the Académie des Beaux Arts de l'Institut de France, the Poème épique uses the organization's name as a source for its musical material (i.e. the notes A, C, A, D, E (mi) and E)—a mildly amusing aspect of an otherwise unmemorable work.

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