Music of the Romantic Era A. Gabriele
Western Art Music Antiquity - 2000 B.C. to 400 A.D. Middle Ages - 400-1450 Renaissance - 1450-1600 Baroque - 1600-1750 Classical - 1750-1820 Romantic - 1820-1910
Historical Milestones of the Romantic Period 1825 - Erie Canal opens 1838 - Invention of photography 1846 - Neptune discovered 1859 - Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of the Species 1861-1865 - American Civil War 1869 - Transcontinental Railroad completed 1872 - Brooklyn Bridge opens 1876 - Telephone invented 1877 - Phonograph invented 1886 - Statue of Liberty presented to New York 1893 - Henry Ford builds first car 1903 - Wright Brothers first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, NC 1905 - E=mc 2 - Einstein s Theory of Relativity
Social and Political Influences...
Nationalism and the spread of Democracy These are the most meaningful and definitive forces in the 19th century. Throughout Europe people began to promote their own national identities and resist outside authority. This push for national identity created new countries (unification of Italy, formation of German empire, United States). The principles and practices of democracy were on the rise.
Industrialism Occurred first in Britain Power shifted from aristocratic landowners to middle class city dwellers. Populations moved from an agrarian center to an urban center.
Arts of the Romantic Period Emphasis on Individualism and Emotion Breaking away from rules and convention Glorification of Nature Nostalgia The macabre and the supernatural Exotic influences Realism
Literature Nathaniel Hawthorne Mark Twain Ralph Waldo Emerson Henry David Thoreau Charles Dickens Edgar Allen Poe Emily Dickenson Victor Hugo
Visual Art Paul Cezanne Edouard Manet Edgar Degas Claude Monet Vincent van Gogh Edvard Munch Georges Seurat
Musical Life of the Romantic Period The first conservatories were founded. dependent on public approval held higher social status Niccolo Paganini and Franz Lizst Composers gradually left the patronage system: became free agents of their own work This period saw the rise of the virtuoso performer. The public was captured by showmanship Conductors became more important in this period becaus of the growing orchestra and more complex music.
Elements of Music in the Romantic Period Rhythm Harmony Melody Dynamics Timbre Texture Form metric, rubato created variation for color, new vocabulary used for more emotional sound: cantabile, dolce, con amore, allegro agitato. tonal like before, but increasing chromaticism (half-steps) created more dissonances and tension appealed to the emotions, longer and more irregular in length, increasing chromatic, themes transformed gradual with crescendos and decresendos, wider range, more contrast, new vocabulary: morendo full exploration of instrument families, timbres used for individual and collective color potential to convey mood and atmosphere, the orchestra grew to 70-100 players homophonic; thick, heavy, and lush orchestration stretching of the classical forms; longer development
New Woodwind Instruments piccolo alto and bass clarinet contrabasson English horn saxophone
Brass Instruments instruments improved, and more valves were added trombones and tubas become a permanent fixture of the orchestra
Percussion expanded to include the snare drum, bass drum, cymbals and exotic instruments like the gong and castanets
Vocal Formats Opera gained new intensity and increased in popularity. There is a bigger orchestra and the dramas were longer in length. The key composers of opera were Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner. The Art Song became popular out of the tradition of Franz Shubert. It was a marriage of music and literature. Composers often set poetry to music. The song cycle was invented and was a group of songs of a similar theme.
Instrumental Formats Absolute music reflected the Classical heritage of Mozart and Haydn; it expanded on the classical forms but was traditional in style and instrumentation: Sonata, Concerto, Symphony, and String Quartet. Program music was a composition guided by a story, poem, idea, or scene; it was more progressive in style and instrumentation. Program Symphony Tone Poem or Symphonic Poem
Composers in the Romantic era are said to fall into 3 camps. Traditionalists tended to compose in the style of their teachers from the Classical Period. While they extended the elements of music, they rarely went outside the norm.
Johannes Brahms German composer of 4 symphonies, a violin concerto, string quartets, 200 lieder (art songs), and a German Requiem only composed absolute music; no program music preferred to express new things with the old classical forms and extend what Beethoven did Listen: Brahms Symphony No. 3
Robert and Clara Shumann German composers He was a music critic also; she was a famous pianist and premiered many of his piano compositions Robert composed 4 symphonies, 1 opera, and many piano works. She composed a piano concerto, piano trio, solo piano pieces and art songs. Listen: Clara Shumann s Romance in Eb minor for piano
Felix Mendelsohn German composer, pianist, organist, Recognized as a musical prodigy at a young age, but his parents were cautious not to capitalize on his talent He wrote in all the different formats of the Romantic era.
Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky Russian composer composed symphonies, chamber music, concerti, but his most famous works is his music for ballet Listen: Four Little Swans from Swan Lake
Frédéric Chopin Polish composer and pianist Lived in Paris for most of his life The only major composer to have completely oriented his creative life around the piano. Piano compositions are generally dances or free-form works (preludes, etudes, nocturnes and impromptus). Listen: Nocturne in E-Flat Major,
Giacomo Puccini Italian opera composer Unlike Verdi and Wagner did not involve himself in politics Known for his beautiful lyricism (critics often cite a popular less-crafted style of composition) Listen: Nessun Dorma from Turandot
Progressives tended to extend the boundaries of traditional sound and scope in their compositions. They used increasingly more chromaticism and expanded harmony.
Richard Wagner German composer for the stage music dramas Rejecting Italian opera, Wagner worked out a theory about combining poetry, music, philosophy and drama into one complete art work music drama. He had complete control of every aspect of these music dramas music, libretto, staging, costumes Incorporated German folktales and legends Used leitmotifs thematic transformation Extreme use of chromaticism Listen: Ride of the Valkyries
Franz Lizst Hungarian composer and virtuosic pianist Innovative composer both harmonically and formally. Used complex and unusual chords Created the symphonic poem and utilized thematic transformation (influenced Wagner) Composed two symphonies, symphonic poems, piano music, orchestral and operatic transcriptions Listen: Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
Hector Berlioz French composer of programmatic works. Most of his works call for huge instrumental and vocal forces Very influential in his techniques and writing about orchestration Listen: Symphony Fantastique
Following the many wars and conflicts of the 19th century, country boundaries in Europe became more defined. Nationalists utilized melodies, dances, and folklore from their homelands.
Modest Mussorgsky One of the Russian Five: Mily Balakirev, Cesar Cui, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Karsakov Utilized Russian folksongs often based on church modes, irregular in meter Listen: Pictures at an Exhibition, 1874 10 pieces with descriptive titles
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) Bohemian (Czech Republic) composer of opera and symphonic poems, pianist and conductor Founder of the Czech national music Music steeped in folk songs dances and legends of Bohemia
Giuseppe Verdi Italian composer of 15 operas, a Requiem, a string quartet His music became a symbol of the Italian liberation movement (struggle against Austrian domination) Listen: La donna è mobile from Rigoletto