Prelude 5 The Romantic Era
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Introduction to the Romantic Era, 19th Century Music
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Prelude 5 The Romantic Era
- 1. THE ENJOYMENT OF MUSIC ESSENTIAL LISTENING EDITION by Kristine Forney Andrew Dell’Antonio Joseph Machlis THIRD EDITION Lecture Slides
- 2. Part 5 The Nineteenth Century “Music, of all the liberal arts, has the greatest influence over the passions.” —Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821)
- 3. Part 5 The Nineteenth Century
- 4. The Romantic Era • A time of fascination with imagination, individual emotion-- called “Romanticism” • Intellect and art still important; dreams became important too. • Music--composers were freed from conventional styles and forms to compose in their own voices. • Orchestras were bigger; timbres, more diverse. • Program music became more important. • Range of musical elements--melody, rhythm, harmony, dynamics, timbre, texture, and form grew tremendously during this period.
- 5. Political and Social Events of the Times • Monarchies had given way to more and more democracies. • Many countries which retained their monarchies also had democratic elements in their governments (e.g., Great Britain). • Lively cultural centers arose in Paris, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Leipzig, Dresden, Amsterdam, and London, where artists, musicians, philosophers, and others gathered.
- 6. Prelude 5: Music as Passion and Individualism • French Revolution, bourgeois society – “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” • Sympathy for the oppressed • Works of art centered around peasants, workers, children, and faith in humankind and its destiny. French Revolution
- 7. • Romantic poets and artists turned to the passionate and fanciful. • Individuality: “I am different from all the men I have seen.” —Jean Jacques Rousseau • The “Bohemian artist” • Novelists, writers, and poets: – Hugo – Dumas – Heine – Coleridge – De Lamartine – Byron – Emily Brontë – Shelley – Tolstoy – Keats – Poe – Hawthorne Romantic Writers and Artists Prelude 5: Music as Passion and Individualism
- 8. • Music conservatories in Europe and the Americas • Orchestral size • Music moved from palace and church to concert hall • New levels of expression – art of orchestration – vocabulary of expressive terms increased Prelude 5: Music as Passion and Individualism
- 9. Romantic Composers & Their Public • Founding of music conservatories in U.S.-Chicago, Cleveland, Boston • More young men & women studying to become professional musicians • Virtuosity-Franz Liszt, Niccolo Paganini, Clara Wieck Schumann • Romantic composers came from their own social class audience, needed family support for careers • Few able to support selves through composition alone: sell music to publishers, touring, teaching, music critics, some lucky enough to have patrons
- 10. • Rise of the virtuoso soloist and amateur music making – public concert hall and salons – musicians and audience as equals – soloists and conductors idolized • Mendelssohn, Liszt, Paganini Prelude 5: Music as Passion and Individualism Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2
- 11. Musicians • Musicians were self-sustaining. – Sources of income were published music, public concerts, commissions. – Public concert associations, ballet companies, symphony societies, and opera companies were formed all over Europe and the United States. – London Philharmonic Society, Paris Societe des Concerts du Conservatoire, New York Philharmonic, etc. • They became highly respected members of society.
- 12. The Nineteenth Century • Composers’ status rose tremendously as they were no longer employees of royalty and the aristocracy. • Performers received enormous fees. • Pianos and other instruments became widespread. – Many middle-class homes had their own pianos. – Demand for compositions for amateurs grew. • Music became a political force, calling for freedom, equality, and rights to assemble and associate with whomever people chose.
- 13. Romantic Composers & Their Public • Composers wrote to fulfill inner need, rather than by commission • Wanted to be judged by posterity • Musicians wrote for middle-class; now increased in size • Industrial revolution
- 14. Romantic Composers • Beethoven & Wagner-prolific • U.S. composers-Stephen Foster, Henry Gilbert, • Schubert-symphonies, art song • Chopin-keyboard music only • Verdi-Italian opera • Rossini-Italian opera • Tchaikovsky-ballet • R. Strauss-Tone poem • Sibelius, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Liszt, Mussorgsky, Franck, Berlioz
- 15. • Romanticism should be: – Subjective and emotional – Translating human soul into music – Sorrow, passion, tenderness, exuberance, despair
- 16. • Memorable melodies • Make instrument “sing” • Expressive harmony • Expanded forms • Chromaticism and dissonance • Longer symphonies Prelude 5: Music as Passion and Individualism Romanticism in Traits Verdi: Rigoletto, “La donna è mobile” Wagner: Prelude to Tristan and Isolde Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, II Wagner: Die Walküre, Act I
- 17. Characteristics of Romantic Music • Individuality of Style – Self-expression, “echo of innermost feeling”- Tchaikovsky – Highly emotional music – Unique – Reflects personality of composer
- 18. Characteristics of Romantic Music • Evocative Titles for Musical Works: musicians gave their works titles which depicted Romantic themes or subjects (e.g., love, nature, adventure) • Emotional Music: Romantic music attempted to express the gamut of human emotions through the musical elements: increased length of compositions, larger orchestras
- 19. Characteristics of Romantic Music • Program Music: music written to tell a story or describe something – Sometimes the composer included a story, called a “program.” – The composer told the story or described something through the elements of music. • Musical sounds imitate non-musical situations • “Union of the Arts”
- 20. Characteristics of Romantic Music • Rhythm: changing tempos within sections; rubato common; more complex meters and rhythms • Melody: long, flowing, emotional melodies; some short themes to express specific ideas or people; major and minor tonalities with chromaticism (using notes not in scale); instrumental melodies with wide leaps: not easy to grasp or sing
- 21. Characteristics of Romantic Music • Harmony: key centered (tonal), but many changes of key (modulations) and much chromaticism; harmonies complex and not easy to follow • Dynamic Expression: extremes of dynamics used (ppp to fff); crescendo and decrescendo used extensively • Texture: mainly homophonic with some polyphony
- 22. Characteristics of Romantic Music • Forms – Continued use of classical genres and forms: symphony (often with titles), solo concerto. opera – New small piano forms (nocturne, ballade, étude, waltz, mazurka) – New orchestral forms: ballet, symphonic tone poem, concert overture
- 23. Form: Miniature & Monumental • Age of contradictions • Movements longer(Symphonies-45 minutes) • New techniques-more use of theme throughout symphony • Thematic transformation-ex. Lyrical melody becomes grotesque dance tune • One movement goes directly into next • Generalizations of period difficult-great diversity
- 24. Prelude 5: Music as Passion and Individualism • Industrial Revolution – valves added to brass instruments – cast-iron frame and thicker strings in piano Romanticism in Music
- 25. Performance Media • Larger concert halls & opera houses • More emphasis on horn & percussion sections • More woodwind instruments • Addition of other percussion • Greater instrumental flexibility • More use of upper & lower registers • Higher level of virtuosity • New ways of blending & combining tone colors for intense sound
- 26. Romantic Subjects for Artistic Works • Nature • Beauty • Love • Death • The supernatural • The mystical, magical, and mysterious • Adventure • Travel, distant lands, exotic cultures • Drug-induced states • The brotherhood of man • The individual and the common man • The superman and hero
- 27. Nationalism • Nationalism--pride in country became important; the nation as a central social identity rose to prominence. – Groups were united by language and culture. – Composers created music to reflect their national pride, often using folk music of their countries as the basis for compositions. • Transportation changed. – Railroads and steamships made long distance travel feasible. • Communication expanded--telephone and telegraph invented. • Populations grew.
- 28. • Nationalistic folklore and exotic subjects –Folk songs and dances • Exoticism Prelude 5: Music as Passion and Individualism Romanticism in Music Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2 Smetana: The Moldau Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite, No. 1, “Ase’s Death”
- 29. by Kristine Forney Andrew Dell’Antonio Joseph Machlis Lecture Slides THIRD EDITION THE ENJOYMENT OF MUSIC ESSENTIAL LISTENING EDITION http://wwnorton.com/web/enjoyess2
Editor's Notes
- “Music, of all the liberal arts, has the greatest influence over the passions.” —Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) Artwork: Portrait of Giuseppina Strepponi (1815–1897).
- Part 5 Table of Contents
- The Romantic era sprang from the social and political upheavals that followed the French revolution. The height of the Romantic era was during the second quarter of the nineteenth century. The French Revolution was a consequence of the clash between the old and new political and social order. As a result, power was transferred from the aristocracy to the middle class. The slogan of the French Revolution: “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” was inspirational to the artists of the time. Sympathy for the oppressed manifested itself in works that centered around peasants, workers, and children as well as faith in humankind and its destiny. Artwork: The spirit of the French Revolution is captured in Liberty Leading the People, by Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863).
- As a reaction to the rational ideals of the eighteenth century, Romantic poets and artists emphasized intense emotional expression through passionate, fanciful, or picturesque subject matter. Individuality of style was sought after. “I am different from all the men I have seen. . . . If I am not better, at least I am different.” —Jean Jacques Rousseau Society in the Romantic era was indifferent to artistic and cultural values, causing artists to feel more isolated. Thus the bohemian artist emerged—a rejected dreamer, who starved in substandard living accommodations, with a nonconventional manner of dress and behavior. They were pessimistic artists whose emotions were fed by regret for the lost happiness of childhood and disenchantment with their current reality. Many well-known novelists, writers, and poets were active during this era. [See list]. Artwork: Sympathy for the oppressed underscored the dramatic character of the Romantic movement. The Burden by Honoré Daumier (1808–1879).
- As a result of democratization, educational opportunities were broadened, which led to a rise in new music conservatories that were able to train more and better musicians. Thus, composers could count on performers with considerably more advanced skills than in the past. Orchestras increased in size, expanding dynamic capacity. Also, new instruments such as the piccolo, English horn, and contrabassoon were introduced, which extended the high and low ranges and added a variety of new timbres. New levels of expression, such as an increased dynamic range from very loud (fff) to very soft (ppp), added new drama to the music, and orchestration became an art form in itself. In order to communicate their expressive intent with more precision, composers adopted a more expansive vocabulary of expressive terms. Pictured: The trombone multipavillions was one of the many new, and unusual, instruments created by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax, inventor of the saxophone.
- Nineteenth-century musicians were reliant on both the middle-class audience and the aristocracy for support, causing their venues to range from the public concert hall to a private salon. In the spirit of the ever-increasing establishment of a democratic society, musicians were considered as equals with the audience. Popular soloists and conductors were even idolized by the public, such being the case with conductor Felix Mendelssohn, pianist Franz Liszt, and violinist Niccolò Paganini.
- Romantic-era melodies were marked by lyricism, lending immediate appeal as the instrumentalists would also strive to play them in a “singing” style. Themes from Romantic symphonies, concertos, and other instrumental works are often used in popular songs, and indeed, were popular among the general public of the day. Romantic-era harmonies were made highly expressive through the use of more chromaticism and dissonance than previously. Also, composers expanded on instrumental forms, increasing the amount of time required for performance of such works as symphonies, which before averaged twenty minutes and now ranged from forty minutes to even an hour. Composer output was significantly decreased in general, because now composers wrote with more deliberation in an endeavor to achieve individuality of style. Haydn (of the Classical era) wrote over 100 symphonies, Mozart more than forty. Schubert, Dvorak, and Beethoven wrote nine, and Schumann and Brahms, only four each. Musical examples: Verdi: Rigoletto, “La donna è mobile”; Wagner: Prelude to Tristan und Isolde; Dvorak: Symphony No. 9, II; Wagner: Die Walkure, Act 1. [link to excerpts]
- The Industrial Revolution resulted in a rise in affordable, quality musical instruments. Technical improvements as well as the invention of new instruments gave composers a palette for musical expression that was previously unknown. Some of these improvements included the addition of valves to brass instruments for greater flexibility in motion, and providing the piano with a cast-iron frame and thicker strings for a deeper and more brilliant tone.
- National idioms were created as composers made increasing use of folk songs and dances from their native lands. Among the more well-established nationalistic styles were: Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Bohemian, Scandinavian, and eventually American. Exoticism is a musical style in which rhythms, melodies, or instruments evoke the color and atmosphere of far-off lands. This trend became prominent as many Western composers were inspired by the culture of Asia and the Far East, and Russian, German, and French composers became inspired by the cultures of Italy and Spain. Musical examples: Liszt: Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2; Smetana: The Moldau; Grieg: Peer Gynt Suite, No. 1, “Ase’s Death.” [link to excerpts]