Music in the Romantic Era

1820-1900
The Times
General Characteristics
Age of Extremes, Age of Unending Lyricism
Roman a French Medieval novel

Timeframe: ends clearly with Modernism;

beginning is more fluid
Ludwig Von Beethoven
1770-1827

Crucial figure in the transition from Classical to Romantic

Romantic period began around 1815. Works from this
period are characterized by their intellectual depth, their
formal innovations, and their intense, highly personal
expression. For example, the String Quartet, Opus 131
has seven linked movements, and the Ninth Symphony
adds choral forces to the orchestra in the last movement
String Quartet in Bb Major, Opus 130, 4th Movement
French Revolution Ideals: Libert, Egalit,
Fraternit

Romantic times stressed: Individuality,

Emotion, Imagination
Importance of nature. Romantics
idealized nature in both visual art and
music for its power, beauty and
unpredictability

Caspar David Friedrich

1774-1840
Social and Political Influences
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.
Inventions
Nationalism and the Spread of
Democracy
One of 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.
Napoleon Bonaparte

After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the monarchy was

restored in France and the old aristocratic order
returned.
Revolutionary fervor and optimism gave way to disbelief
and dissatisfaction and romanticism to a more realistic
view of the world.
People yearned for reform and a new society.
The Arts in the
Romantic Period
Stressed Individualism and Emotion
Breaking away from rules and
convention
Glorification of Nature
Nostalgia
The Macabre and the supernatural
Exotic Influences
Realism
Literature and Writing
Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Romanticism was born towards the end of the 18th century with the works of these
two great German writers. Goethe wrote poetry, novels and plays; Schiller was a
playwright. Both of their writings were used to express romantic fascination with
emotion, life and death, sin and redemption, guilt and selflessness.
Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

French poet, playwright, novelist, essayist,

visual artist, statesman, human rights activist
Explored the Romantic theme of conflict
between the individual and society
Les Miserables, 1862
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)

English novelist and social campaigner

Novels are works of social commentary
Fierce critic of poverty and social stratification
Karl Marx (1818-1883)

German philosopher and economist

The ideas of Marx, while most influential in the 20th century , said
that the history of society is one of struggle between the ruling class
(capitalists) and the working class (proletariat) who are being
exploited.
He predicted a revolution.
He believed in a society in which all people give according to their
means and take according to their needs.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

In On the Origin of Species, Darwin argued that all species of

life on earth, whether human, animal or plant, were the result of
what he called natural selection.
He coined the phrase survival of the fittest to explain why some
species continue to exist while others die out. He believed that
man was simply the end of a long chain of organisms that
stretched back to the first forms of life.
This theory challenged not only religion but also had social
repercussions.
Art Song and Song Cycle
Lieder, chansons, art songs
Compositions for solo voice and piano
Poetry and music are intimately fused
Typical forms used: strophic and through-
composed
Franz Schubert (1787-1828)

Austrian composer
Prolific and gifted composer who wrote
600 lieder, piano sonatas, character
pieces, 15 string quartets,
9 symphonies

Erlknig (1815)
poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Through-composed form
Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)
German composer and pianist
Married Robert Schumann and
premiered many of his piano
compositions
Composed a piano concerto,
piano trio, solo piano pieces and
songs

Romance
Visual Art
Architecture

Sculpture

Painting
Architecture
The Romantic period did not produce its own distinguishing
architectural style. Instead architects chose from the building styles
of the previous eras resulting in an eclectic style

Supreme Court Building, Washington DC, Greek Revival

House of Parliament, London, Gothic Revival

Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England, Eastern culture

Opera Garnier, Paris, Neo-Baroque
A few buildings erected during the period
showed how the Industrial Revolution had
affected architecture.

Crystal Palace, London, made for Worlds Fair 1851

Tour Eiffel, Paris

Sculpture
Francois Rude (1784-1855)

Arc de Triomphe Departure of the Volunteers

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875)

The Dance, Opera Garnier

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)

The Burghers of Calais

The Thinker
The Kiss

The Gates of Hell

Painting
Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)
Leader of the Romantic movement,
represented social concerns

Liberty Leading the People, 1831

Camille Corot (1796-1875)

View Near Volerra, 1838

Francisco Goya (1746-1828)

The Third of May, 1808

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)

Burial at Ornans, 1850

Impressionists
Provided transition to the 20th century

Impression Sunrise, 1872

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Rouen Cathedral, 1894

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Dejeuner sur lherbe, 1863

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

The Rehearsal, 1874

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Le Moulin de la Galette, 1897

Post-Impressionists
Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Starry Night, 1889

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Day of the Gods, 1894

Music
Musical Milieu
Public and Subscription Concerts

Founding of Conservatories
Composer
Composers gradually left the patronage system and
became free agents of their own works.
This meant that the composer, their music and their
livelihood depended on the publics approval.
For the first time, a composers work might not be
publicly performed during his or her lifetime.
Romantics saw themselves as outsiders, isolated from
mainstream society, struggling to express their creative
ideas.
In general, composers held higher social status than in
the Classical period.
Performer
Rise of virtuosic performers
the public was captured by virtuosity and
showmanship

Niccolo Paganini Franz Liszt

Conductor
Resulted from the orchestras growth in numbers and complexity
Became necessary to have one person to lead and control the
orchestra
Frdric Chopin (1810-1849)
Polish composer and pianist
Lived in Paris for most of his life
Associated with George Sand (Aurore
Dudevant)
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).

Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2,

1830-1831
Night piece
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Hungarian composer and virtuosic pianist
Showman
Daughter married Wagner
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

Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor,

1851
General Musical
Characteristics
Individuality

Expressive Aims and Subjects

Nationalism and Exoticism

Rise and Importance of Program Music

Musical Elements
Melody
Age of lyricism unending melody
Melodies appealed to the emotions
Phrases tended to be longer and irregular in
length
Themes were more complex and utilized
chromaticism
Advent of theme transformation (Berlioz,
Wagner)
Harmony
Basically tonal
By end of the 19th century chromaticism
(movement by half steps) stretched
tonality to the breaking point
Chromaticism imbued greater dissonance
and tension into the sound
Rhythm
Metric
Rhythmic effects were used for color rubato
Articulations in the instruments tended to be
heavy and intense
A new vocabulary of music terms arose that
indicated how to achieve the composers desired
sound cantabile, dolce, con amore, allegro
agitato. These designations produced a more
emotional sound and response.
Texture
Essentially homophonic
The sonority tended to be thick, heavy and
lush
Timbre/Instrumentation
This period saw a full exploration of the instrumental
families.
Instruments were used for both their individual and
collective color potential.
Instrumental timbre was used to convey mood and
atmosphere.
The orchestra became much larger from 70 players to
more than 100 (resulting in the necessity of a conductor).

Instruments could play louder and carry farther.

Instruments were capable of major changes in dynamics.
Strings
String sections increased in
size and were given more
difficult accompaniment parts
(scales, arpeggios)
Woodwinds
Development of new instruments
saxophone (baritone and tuba) were invented
by Adolf Sax
piccolo, bass clarinet and English horn were
added.
Important improvements in wind
instruments
Boehm system of fingering for flutes and
clarinets achieved better facility and intonation
for the performer and greater musical range
English Horn

Piccolo

Saxophone

Bass Clarinet
Brass
Addition of valves and improvement to valves on brass instruments allowed
the playing of a full chromatic compass for the first time and to more easily
play quick runs of notes

Tubas and Trombones were added

Percussion
Expanded to include bass drum, snare
drum, cymbals and other exotic
percussion instruments (gong, castanets)
Vocal Genres
Opera
Music Drama
Mass and Requiem
Art Song
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Italian composer of 15 operas,
a Requiem, a string quartet
His music became a symbol
of the Italian liberation
movement (struggle against
Austrian domination)

Rigoletto, 1851
Act III La donna mobile
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
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)

La Bohme 1896
Act I: Rodolfo and Mimi arias
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
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

Die Walkre (The Valkyrie), 1856

The second of the four music dramas in Der Ring des
Nibelungen
Wagner uses Nordic mythology to warn that society
destroys itself through lust for money and power.
Act I, Love Scene
Instrumental Music
Absolute music tended to reflect the Classical heritage of Mozart and
Haydn; it tended to be more traditional in compositional style and
instrumentation

Symphony, concerto, sonata, string quartet

Program music was compositionally guided by a story, poem, idea or scene;

it tended to be more progressive in compositional style and instrumentation

Program symphony, Tone poem, Symphonic poem

Character Pieces

In contrast to the large instrumental genres, these were smaller pieces

typically for piano called character pieces
Dynamics
Gradual
Much wider range extremes of dynamic
variation
Used extensively throughout the
compositions
Form
Stretching of the classical forms:

sonata-allegro
rondo
theme and variation
minuet and trio
Composers
Traditionalists
Tended to compose in the style of their
teachers (classical era). While extending the
elements of music, they rarely went outside of
the norms.
Composer Examples: Brahms, Tchaikovsky
Schumann, Mendelssohn, Franck, Schubert,
Chopin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov,
Puccini, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara
Schumann
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
German composer 4 symphonies, violin
concerto, string quartets, 200 lieder,
German Requiem
Befriended by the Schumann family
Classicist in the Romantic period often
criticized for being out of step with the
music of his time.
Avoided newly invented forms (program
symphony, tone poem)
Preferred to say new things within
traditional forms

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, 1885

4th movement
Progressives

Tended to extend the boundaries of traditional

sound and scope in their compositions. They
utilized new instrumental techniques and
color. They used increasingly more
chromaticism.
Composer Examples: Wagner, Liszt, Berlioz
and Verdi
Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
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

Symphonie fantastique, 1830

Program symphony in five movements
Uses ide fixe thematic transformation

Fourth Movement: March to the Scaffold

Nationalists
Following the many wars and conflicts of the
19th century country boundaries in Europe
became more defined. Nationalistic music
(music that highlighted folksongs, dances,
folklore) abounded. Most nationalistic music
followed a more traditional pattern of
composition and sound. Many composers
utilized nationalistic melodies, dances and
stories.
Composer Examples: Smetana, Mussorgsky,
Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Chopin, Verdi,
Puccini, Liszt
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
Russian composer
One of the Russian Five: Mily Balakirev,
Cesar Cui, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai
Rimsky-Karsaov Modest Mussorgsky
Utilized Russian folksongs often based on
church modes, irregular in meter

Pictures at an Exhibition, 1874

Originally a cycle of piano pieces inspired by
pictures in a memorial exhibition honoring
Mussorgskys recently deceased friend, the
Russian architect and artist Victor Hartmann.
10 pieces with descriptive titles
This work is best known in its orchestrated
version by Maurice Ravel (1922)

Great Gate of Kiev

Bedich 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

The Moldau, 1874

Part of Ma Vlast, a cycle of
symphonic poems