arts

1. 11/15/2022 1
The Romantic Era
The Nineteenth Century:
Opera, Brahms, and
Nationalism

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By Mark Evan Bonds
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By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Some Important Romantic
Composers of Opera
 Italian
 Rossini--operas in
Italian and French
 Verdi--an innovator in
Italian opera
 Puccini--settings in
foreign lands
 German
 von Weber--stage
effects and mysticism
 Wagner--music
dramas
 French
 Offenbach--French
comic opera style,
operettas
 Bizet--cool reviews by
audiences and critics,
but later acclaimed

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By Mark Evan Bonds
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Romantic Opera:
Background Information
 Opera was “grand.”
 Musical and “extra-musical” ideas of
Romanticism could be expressed fully.
 The libretto, staging, acting, costumes,
sets, and characters added to the
expression of the instrumental music.
 Audiences loved the spectacle.
 Opera performers were “stars.”

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Subjects of Typical
Romantic Operas
 Beethoven--Fidelio--
heroism, love, death
 Von Weber--Der
Freishcültz--magic,
supernatural,
mysterious
 Verdi--La Traviata--
love, death, beauty
 Wagner--Die
Walküre--hero,
supernatural, love
 Bizet--Carmen--
common man, love,
death, exotic cultures
 Puccini--Madama
Butterfly and
Turandot--distant
lands, travel, exotic
cultures, love, death

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Earlier Opera vs.
Romantic Operation
 Before 1800
 A series of songs
(arias and duets)
 Thin plot lines
 Choruses and
instrumental music
are fillers,
introductions, or
interludes
 During arias,
action stops
 After 1800
 Performers act as
characters in a
tightly knit plot
 Choruses and
instrumental music
integral to story
 Opera showcases
not only musical
brilliance but
grand spectacle of
drama

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Italian Romantic Opera:
Characteristics
 Italian = dominant language
 Bel canto style continues
 Verdi’s innovations--typical of period
 High quality librettos; arias grew out of plot
and blended with action
 Plot and staging discouraged interruptions of
mood and story for applause
 Human, believable characters
 Instrumental passages integral to mood,
highly expressive; not just fillers

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Giuseppe Verdi (1813-
1901)
 Born in Busseto, Italy, where he studied
music until age 18.
 Couldn’t play piano well enough to study at
Milan Conservatory, so studied privately.
 Composed more than 25 operas, many for
Milan’s famous opera house, La Scala.
 Was also a politician--appointed to Italian
parliament and elected to the senate.
 Established a home for retired opera singers.

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Giuseppe Verdi(1813-1901)
 Music education funded
by prosperous merchant
 Married merchant’s
daughter
 Wife & two children died
 Gave up composing for a
year due to these
tragedies, failed opera
 Nebucco-story of
Nebuchadnezzar,
relaunched career
 Re-married, composed
opera in his eighties

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Guiseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
 Verdi lived in an unmarried relationship with a
woman; this is reflected in the story of La Traviata.
 Verdi sought to reform cultural and political
conventions through his art and his activities.
 Advocated for the unification of Italy.
 Elected to the newly constituted Italian parliament
in 1860.
 Other important compositions
 Operas Il Travatore, Rigoletto, Aïda, Otello,
Falstaff
 Requiem--a Mass for the Dead

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Verdi
 Subjects of operas &
sources
 Rigoletto-Victor Hugo
 “La donna mobile”-Duke’s
aria, expresses pleasure-
seeking personality
 Knew it would be popular,
waited until opening night to
rehearse it
 La Traviata-Alexander Dumas
 Pretty Woman opera
 Othello
 Macbeth

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Verismo
 After the Romanticism of Bellini
and others, Italian opera
entered a “realistic”(verismo)
phase, with true to life
individuals and true emotions
expressed
 Strong emotional situations,
speed of action, and contrast
with plenty of opportunity for
exciting, lusty, ferocious
melodies and rhythms

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Verismo
 A typical plot involves:
 X(soprano) and Y(tenor)
have a project in common.
They may or may not
achieve it in the fact of
Z(mezzo or bass
antagonist). Paternal or
maternal type(W) may help
or interfere. X and Y are
forced to make a moral
choice which usually
causes their downfall.

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Verdi
 Verdi’s ideas are of unswerving
fidelity to themes, certain
emotions, and morals
(behavioral, political, social,
sexual)
 Glorifies honor, patriotism, and
father-daughter relationships
 Exhibits hatred of oppression,
inequality, and tyranny
 Through all, judges his
characters with understanding,
compassion, and indulgence

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Guiseppe Verdi
(1813 - 1901)

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Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
 Born in Lucca, Italy; family were church
composers; started out wanting to do that
 After seeing Aida, went to study opera
composition at Milan Conservatory
 An important Italian opera composer of
the Late Romantic Period
 Settings for some important operas are
exotic: Madama Butterfly (Japan),
Turandot (China), The Girl of the Golden
West (California, U.S.A), Tosca

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Giacomo Puccini(1858-
1924)
 Younger, not as
sophisticated
 Used verismo
 Characters rejected heroic,
mythological concepts
 La boheme
 Story of artsy, hippie
lifestyle on Left Bank of
Seine in Paris

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La boheme
 Poet, painter, philosopher,
musician
 Struggling for money & food
 Mimi meets Rodolfo(poet),
they fall in love
 She dies of TB
 Not as long as typical 19th
century opera
 Still very popular

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French Opera: Characteristics
 Paris became opera capital of Europe.
 Known for elaborate productions
 French opera
 Popular with middle class audiences
 Enjoyed the spectacle--singing, dancing, costumes,
staging, sets
 Large choruses, ballet, and lavish sets particularly
important in French grand opera
 Less elaborate staging; lighter subjects; less
pretentious; emphasis on satire and wit
 Jacques Offenbach--first to write in this style

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Carmen
 A landmark in French opera
 Classified as opéra comique because it
included spoken dialogue; it was really a tragic
story.
 Story of two doomed lovers in Seville, Spain
 Began a trend of operatic realism (called
verismo) that inspired such famous operas as
La bohéme and Tosca (Puccini).

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Opera Divas
 Diva--means “the goddess.”
 More than a singer; a diva is a
phenomenon.
 Life story fascinates audiences as much
as virtuosic singing.
 Famous operatic divas
 Maria Callas, Renata Tebaldi, Joan
Sutherland, and Kiri Te Kanawa

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German Opera: Characteristics
 German composers began to compose in
German: Mozart (The Magic Flute), von
Weber--Der Freischütz (The
Freeshooter).
 Librettos involved magic, mysticism, the
supernatural, distant and exotic lands and
cultures, love, and heroes.
 Rejected the stories of court intrigues and
farces.

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5-22
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German Opera
 Very different from Italian
 Language more guttural, music
heavier, less light-hearted
 Nordic gods instead of Greeks
 Carl Maria von Weber-Der
Freischutz
 Based on German folklore
 Offers mysticism, rustic scenes,
etc.

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By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
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Wagner’s Music Dramas
Romantic Opera in The Extreme
Gesamtkunstwerk
Elaborate Staging,
Sets, Costumes
Extremely Long,
Complex
Lietmotif
Music Drama
 Unification of drama & music
 Musical theme represents person,
place, idea
 As long as 5 hours-intermissions
long enough to go to dinner and
return
 Expensive and sometimes garish
 The idea: a total asthetic
experience in one

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Wagner
 Created “Grand Opera”, or
Music Drama
 Wrote own libretto
 Mythological topics,
appealed best to emotions
 Philosophical overtones:
good vs. evil, contest
between physical &
spiritual, redemption
through love
 Characters pawns of
uncontrollable forces

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Wagner
 Grand Opera
 Longer, more instruments,
more characters
 Doubled winds, added
percussion
 Not accepted at time, more
after Wagner’s death
 Full of emotion
 Eliminated recitative, aria,
chorus to achieve unending
melody
 More chromatic harmony, no
idea for tonic
 Orchestra more important,
bigger and louder

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Der Ring des Nibelungen
 Greatest musical
achievement
 Opera Cycle
 “It ain’t over till the
fat lady sings.”

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Richard Wagner The
Valkyrie, Act III
 Story: In The Valkyrie, the main characters are
Wotan (chief of the gods), his daughter
Brünnhilde (a warrior-like Valkyrie). Brünnhilde
has intervened on behalf of a human couple, and
Wotan condemns her to death. She pleads for a
lesser sentence and is stripped of her godlike
powers, put into a deep sleep, and surrounded
with a ring of fire that can be crossed only by
someone who isn’t afraid of Wotan’s spear. In
this scene Wotan is saying goodbye to his
beloved daughter and summons Loge to create
the circle of fire.

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Richard Wagner
The Leitmotif
 Leitmotif--a brief musical phrase or idea that is
connected dramatically to some person, event,
or idea in the drama
 When the leitmotif is heard, it causes the
audience to recognize the person, event or idea.
 Similar to the “shark theme” in Jaws.

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Wagner and Tolkien:
The Ring and Lord of the Rings
 Both contain 4 works; the first is a prelude to the
rest of the story; based on Nordic myths.
 Both emphasize the power of the ring and the
grief it brings the owner who covets the power.
 The plots center on people’s efforts to own and
control the ring.
 Both start with a state of purity that is corrupted
later and then restored.
 Both feature giants, dragons, dwarves, a riddling
match, and a shattered sword recast to be more
powerful.

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Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883)
 The most controversial composer who
ever lived--some love him; some hate
him.
 Controversial figure--had very
questionable character to achieve
goals; an anti-Semite who may have
influenced Hitler
 Operas are full of social and political
ideas.
 Rienzi-1st success
 Born in Leipzig, son of police officer.
 Studied music of Beethoven.
 Held a series of positions as conductor.

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Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883)
 Fled Germany in 1848; first to house of Liszt, then
to Switzerland; lived there for 10 years.
 Second wife: Cosima Liszt
 King Ludwig II of Bavaria supported him and his art.
 Built a large opera house in Bayreuth--called
Festspielhaus (“a festival drama house”).
 1876-1st Bayreuth Festival, continues today
 Oversaw the building of the opera house and all the
performances there
 Buried at opera house

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Richard Wagner
Other Operas
 The Flying Dutchman
 Tannhäuser
 Lohengrin
 Tristan und Isolde
 Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
 Parsifal

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Some History of Late 19th
Century
 Professional composers supported themselves; they
were celebrities.
 Public concert societies promoted and staged
concerts
 Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestra Societies
sprang up in Europe and the U.S.
 New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, etc.
 Concert audiences grew and so did the demand for
new music; composers had enthusiastic audiences.

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The Role of the Conductor
 Primarily to keep the musicians playing
together
 Also to interpret the music through
communicating nuances of dynamics,
rhythm, texture, and timbre.
 Instrument IS the orchestra.
 Famous conductors--Arturo Toscanini
(NBC Orchestra in United States), Leonard
Bernstein (New York Philharmonic)

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Two Movements in Mainstream
Concert Music
 Radical: led by
Wagner
 Form of music
subservient to
emotional expression
 Wandering tonality
 Loose, vague forms
 Reliance on extra-
musical associations
 Music dramas, operas
 Traditional: led by
Brahms
 Forms and tonality still
important; should be
recognizable
 Minimal extramusical
associations
 Minimal emotionalism
 Chamber music, solo
concertos, symphonies

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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
 Born in Hamburg, Germany, Son of shiftless double-
bass player
 A pianist who toured with the violinist, Remenyi, at age
20
 Went to Düsseldorf to study with Robert Schumann (and
met his wife, Clara, with whom he maintained a close
relationship).
 Moved to Vienna--never committed to a single job.
 Destroyed compositions he felt were inferior along with
many personal documents.

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Johannes Brahms
(1833 - 1897)
 Lived his life as a veritable recluse--a very private
individual.
 Robert Schumann, praised him as the “savior of
music.”
 One of the “three B’s” of German music--Bach,
Beethoven, and Brahms
 Interested in the music of the past
 His music synthesized ideas from past and from the
current time.

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Johannes Brahms(1833-1897)
 “A Classicist adrift in
the torrents of
Romanticism”
 No opera or tone
poem

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Brahms’ Music: Characteristics
 Imitated Beethoven’s symphonies, but not
innovative like Beethoven.
 Audiences called his 1st symphony,
“Beethoven’s 10th.”
 Avoided extreme changes in musical
expression (like those of Liszt and Wagner).
 Used and expanded classical forms.
 Used recognizable tonality with some
chromaticism.

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Ein Deutches Requiem
 Composed early in career, 1868, after
Schumann’s death
 Does not involve traditional Latin text
 Personal statement of faith based on German
verses, Old & New Testament
 7 movements; bass, soprano soloists; chorus;
orchestra
 4th movement: How Lovely is Thy Dwelling
Place; chorus & orchestra

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Brahms with friend, Johann
Strauss, Jr.

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Johannes Brahms
Other Compositions
 Symphony no.1 in C Minor
 Symphony no. 2 in D Major
 Symphony no. 3 in F Major
 Piano Concerto no. 1 in D Minor
 Piano Concerto no. 2 in B-flat Major
 Violin Concerto in D major
 Academic Festival Overture
 Clarinet Quintet in B Minor

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Nationalism
 Refers to deliberate,
conscious attempt to
develop artworks
characteristic of a
particular country or
region
 Attempt to break away
from German-Austrian
style
 Proof that other countries
had composers also
 Political climate of Europe

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European Politics of the Late
19th/Early 20th Century
 Citizens demanded democratic forms of
government
 French and American Revolutions sparked
similar unrest in many countries throughout
Western Europe, Russia, and Scandinavia
 Europe became industrialized; farmers moved
to cities; people recognized shared heritage.
 National pride developed, and musicians
incorporated folk traditions in their works.

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New Republics Formed
 1830: The
Netherlands became
independent
 1830 Belgium
became independent
 1861: Italy unified its
city-states
 1871: Germany
unified into an empire
 1872: Portugal
became republic
 1917: Russians
overthrew Czar;
beginning of Soviet
Union

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Changes in Transportation
 Passenger trains took people all over Europe:
replaced stagecoaches
 Steamships replaced sailing ships; allowed
relatively easy Transatlantic crossings
 Musicians, writers, and artists traveled and
experienced other cultures; they included them in
their compositions, poems, and artworks.

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19th Century Nationalism
in Russia: The Russian
Five
 5 Russian
composers band
together
 Promote purely
Russian music
 Incorporate history,
folklore, legends,
native instruments,
native music
 Nikolai Rimsky-
Korsakov
 Modest Mussorgsky
 Alexander Borodin
 César Cui
 Mily Balakirev

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Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
 Born in Pskof, Russia: aristocratic family
 Worked in the Russian Guard and
composed on side
 Trained by Balakirev
 Incorporated inflection of Russian language
in his compositions
 An original and influential composer

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Modest Mussorgsky(1839-1881)
 Considered least
accomplished during lifetime
 Now greatest of Russian Five
 Not interested in musical
career, entered military
academy
 Skilled at piano & singing,
popular at parties
 Alcoholic, bizarre behavior
 Died age 42
 Rarely finished works, much
completed by Rimsky-
Korsakov

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Modest Mussorgsky
(1839-1881)
 Some famous works
 Opera: Boris Godunov
 Songs: The Nursery, Sunless, Songs and
Dances of Death; many others
 Orchestral music: tone poem Night on Bald
Mountain (one of pieces in Disney’s Fantasia)
 Piano music: Pictures at an Exhibition

51. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-51
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Pictures at an Exhibition
 Promenade
 The Great Gate of
Kiev
 Rock version by
Emerson, Lake, &
Palmer

52. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-52
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
 Born in Tikhvin, Russia
 Served 11 years in Russian Navy as Inspector of Naval
Bands
 Then taught composition and orchestration at St.
Petersburg Conservatory of Music
 Arranged and edited collections of Russian folk music
 Edited many of Mussorgsky’s and Borodin’s works for
performance
 Famous students: Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev
(20th century composers)
 Best known for symphonic poems and operas

53. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-53
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
(1844-1908)
 Some famous works
 Opera: Sadko, Mozart and Salieri,
Snegurochka (Snow Maiden), Le Coz d’or (The
Golden Cockerel), Skzka o Tsare Saltane (Tale
of Czar Saltan): includes “The Flight of the
Bumble Bee”
 Orchestral music: Symphonic suite
Scheherazade; Overture: Capriccio espagnol;
Russian Easter Overture

54. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-54
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(1840-1893)
 Born in Votinsk, Russia
 Studied law, worked in Ministry of Justice until age 23
 Studied at St. Petersburg Conservatory of music with
Anton Rubinstein
 Taught music at Moscow Conservatory until age 37 when
he retired to compose
 One failed marriage, lived with brothers in St. Petersburg
 Supported financially by Nadezhda von Meck, required
they never meet
 1893-contracted cholera

55. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-55
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
 Toured Russia, London, Europe as guest
conductor
 Guest conductor with New York philharmonic
for opening of Carnegie Hall
 NOT accepted into Russian Five; believed to be
too cosmopolitan and influenced by music of
other nations be be a Russian nationalist
 Suffered hatred because of his homosexuality;
probably committed suicide at age 53

56. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-56
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
(1840-1893)
 Some famous works
 Opera: Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades,
Mazeppa
 Orchestral music: Ballets: Swan Lake,
Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker; Overtures:
Romeo and Juliet, 1812 Overture, March slav; 6
symphonies No. 2 Little Russian, No. 3 Polish,
No. 5 Pathétique; Concertos: 3 piano, 1 violin;
Miscellaneous: Capriccio italien, Capriccio
espagnol

57. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-57
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Bedrich Smetana(1824-1884)
 Small town in Bohemia
 Studied in Prague
 Pianist for Kaiser
Ferdinand
 Became deaf toward end
of life
 No believer in “absolute
music”
 The Moldau(1874)
 Best known work from
Ma Vlast(My Country)

58. Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds
5-58
Listen to This
By Mark Evan Bonds PRENTICE HALL
©2009 Pearson Education, Inc.
Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458
Other Nationalist Composers
 Edvard Grieg-Norway
 Peer Gynt Suite-incidental music for Henrik Ibsen play
 Jean Sibelius-Finland
 Finlandia-became national of country
 Edward Elgar-England
 Pomp & Circumstance
 Ralph Vaughan-Williams-England
 Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
 Manuel de Falla, Isaac Albañiz, Enrique Granados-Spain