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The Romantic Era
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Romanticism is a more radical kind of expression, it seeks out the new, the curious, and the adventurous. It is characterized by restless seeking and impulsive reaction. Romantic art differs from classic art by its greater emphasis on the qualities of remoteness and strangeness. A fundamental trait of Romanticism is boundlessnes. Throughout the Romantic period, the human mind was peculiarly attracted by disproportionate and excessive features. The tiny piano piece and the brief lyrical song, forms which had been of no consequence during the Classical period, now assumed the highest significance. On the other hand, the moderate length of the classical symphony and opera was hugely extended (Mahler's symphonies, Wagner's operas). As against the classic ideals of order, equilibrium, control, and perfection within acknowledged limits, Romanticism cherishes freedom of expression, movement, passion, and endless pursuit of the unattainable (fantasy and imagination); a search for new subject matters. Because its goal can never be attained, romantic art is haunted by a spirit of longing. The creations of the romantic artist were emotional in character rather than guided by structural rules.
The Romantic movement in music co-incides with a general Romantic movement in all arts. At this period, the arts of literature and painting began to influence music. In the Romantic era, music acquired poetic or philosophical meaning. Antiquity, folklore, history and exotic cultures were examined as possible sources of inspiration. Romanticism in literature appears to precede the first signs of Romantic music (for example Goethe [1749-1832] and Wordsworth [1770-1850]). The romantic movement was fostered especially by a number of German writers and poets. Their influence on musicians was pervasive and enduring. Weber and Wagner were attracted by the legends of Northern Europe; Schumann by the pseudo-philosophic romantic literature of his day; Chopin by his national poet Mickiewicz; Berlioz by the earlier romantic poet Shakespeare; Liszt by the contemporary French romantic poet Lamartine and by various French romantic painters, and so on. Thus, a fertilization of music by poetry, fiction, philosophy and painting took place, and with it was associated a further fertilization by the spirit of nationalism. Weber, Schumann, Wagner expressing the German spirit; Chopin, Poland; Liszt, Hungary; Dvorak, Bohemia; Grieg, Norway, and so on.
In the Romantic period, the triadic system was exploited to the farthest consequences, chromatic alterations were used extensively (see below), unprepared and -towards the end of the century- unresolved appoggiatura chords were used. Free modulation into distant keys without pivot chords became a common practice. The increasing boldness of composers in modulating to ever more distant keys, and in coloring, or altering the notes of their chords more and more together with the less frequent use of perfect cadences, the strength of a single tonal center became diluted and tonality started to disintegrate.
Romantic traits can be identified in the music of Monteverdi (Poppea), JS Bach (chromatic organ works, program music) or Handel (expressive arias). It is possible to sense the ground for the predominant Romanticism of the nineteenth century being prepared from the time in 1740s when 'feeling' came to be consciously valued when the galant style and its German counterpart Empfindsamkeit were at its height (especially in the works of CPE Bach). Another precedent for Romanticism is found in the musical connections with the literary movement known as Sturm und Drang (dramatic works of Gluck in 1760s and some of Haydn's symphonies from the early 1770s such as Trauersinfonie and the Farewell). These temporary movements, however, did not progress to Romanticism. Classicism and Romanticism represent qualities which co-existed throughout the periods of musical history (1750-1900) [concurrent tendencies] normally assigned to one or the other. The change from Classic to Romantic is, in essence, a change of emphasis, not a sudden, total transformation. Musical Romanticism is more style than language characterized by Nationalism, Realism, Impressionism, and Expressionism. It remained faithful to tonality and to metrical periodicity. Emotion became more urgent and intense as form became freer and tone color richer. Remaining mainly tonal, Romantic music became more chromatic, the melodic structure remained periodic but phrase structure became less regular. Music became more poetic than abstract, more melodic than harmonic and more organic than mosaic.
Romantic Era Composers - These are just a few of the composers of the Romantic Era. This, by all means, is not a complete listing.
Gioacchino Rossini
Born: Pesaro, February 29, 1792
Died: Paris, November 13, 1868
Producing his first opera at the age of eighteen, Rossini composed dozens, many of which are still in the repertoire today, while others are being once again explored. Rossini excelled in the opera buffa, or comic opera of the day -- indeed, the music he wrote for these comic works has been described as "the perfect distillation of comedy into music." Whether in comic or serious opera, his vocal style reflected the highly embellished, virtuosic melodic line again in favor at the time. This style is apparent in the aria "Una voce poco fa" from The Barber of Seville, widely regarded as Rossini's masterpiece in the opera buffa genre.
Franz Liszt
Born: Raiding, near Ödenburg, October 22, 1811
Died: Bayreuth, July 31, 1886
Hungarian composer Franz Liszt began his career as the outstanding concert pianist of the century, who, along with the prodigious violinist Niccoló Paganini (1782-1840), created the cult of the modern instrumental virtuoso. To show off his phenomenal and unprecedented technique, Liszt composed a great deal of music designed specifically for this purpose, resulting in a vast amount of piano literature laden with dazzling scales, trills, arpeggios, leaps, and other technical marvels. In this vein, Liszt composed a series of virtuosic rhapsodies on Hungarian gypsy melodies, the best-known being the all too familiar Hungarian Rhapsody no. 2. This kind of music is worlds apart from the generally more introspective, poetic music of pianist-composer Frédéric Chopin.
Liszt is often credited with the creation of the symphonic poem: extended, single-movement works for orchestra, inspired by paintings, plays, poems or other literary or visual works, and attempting to convey the ideas expressed in those media through music. Such a work is Les Préludes, based on a poem in which life is expressed as a series of struggles, passions, and mysteries, all serving as a mere prelude to . . .what? The Romantic genre of the symphonic poem, as well as its cousin the concert overture, became very attractive to many later composers, including Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Dvorák, Sibelius, and Richard Strauss (1864-1949).
Franz Schubert was born in Vienna in 1797. When he was very young his father and his older brother taught him to play the violin and the piano. In a couple of months he had learnt more about playing the piano than his brother knew. So when the family realized Franz's abilities they did everything they could with their little income to procure a good education for the boy. He was therefore sent to the Stadtkonvikt in Vienna. Here he met Antonio Salieri who was very impressed by him: "He must be taught by God himself", he said.
Musical Biographies:
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th edition
Internet Public Library
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