The document provides background information on Romantic music from 1820-1900. It discusses how the Enlightenment challenged existing theories and led to a focus on reason over religion. During this period, the Industrial Revolution caused urbanization and health problems. Romantic artists explored emotions, nature, mythology and nationalism in their works. Characteristics of Romantic music included greater expression of emotions, nationalism, use of program music, expanded orchestras and dynamics. The summary highlights the key events and styles that defined Romantic music.

1. Romantic MusicRomantic Music
1820 - 19001820 - 1900

2. The EnlightenmentThe Enlightenment
• The Age of Enlightenment began in the mid 1600’s
• Between 1600-1800 (Baroque and Classical period) a
collection of scientific and philosophical discoveries
had gradually changed the way we understood the
world around us
• This challenged many existing theories – scientific
discovery directly contradicted many religious beliefs.
• Reason and Rationalism, rather than Religion, became
the primary sources for decisions and understanding
• This laid the foundation for many of the values that
defined the Classical era – Order, Hierarchy, Symmetry
and Simplicity

3. • As the Classical era progressed there were significant
events that challenged these new ideals:
– The American Independence of 1775 and The French
Revolution of 1789 created the first Republic states and
initiated the end for the established Aristocratic and
Feudal societies of Europe. These were to be replaced by
the modern democracies
– The following Napoleonic Wars of 1804 – 1815 saw wars
across Europe which killed many people and started the
decline for many of the Old Empires
– Urbanisation: Because of the Industrial Revolution less
people were needed to farm the land and so many people
moved to cities to find work in the new factories. Often
living in crowded and filthy slums this lead to huge
sanitation and health problems and outbreaks of diseases
• The new world was not the one of order and reason
that many in the upper classes had imagined

4. • The Arts, previously dependant on the rich and powerful,
were finding a new audience in the rapidly emerging
middle classes
• In an attempt to escape the new realities of “modern” life,
Romantic artists shunned the Order and Symmetry of the
Classical era
• Instead they explored new subjects such as:
– Nature and the Sublime
– The Exotic (the recently discovered Far East)
– Intense human emotions such as Love, Grief, Joy, Death and
Beauty
– Mysticism, Myths and Legends
– The ideals of Hero and Heroine
• In exploring these new ideas Art, Literature and Music
became more contrasting and dramatic than ever before

6. Caspar David
Friedrich - The
Wanderer Above
the Sea of Fog,
1818

8. Thomas Cole - Voyage of Life, Youth, 1840

16. Characteristics of the Romantic
Period
• Greater range of tone colour, dynamics, and
pitch
• Greater harmonic vocabulary, colourful,
unstable chords
• Close link to the other arts, particularly to
literature
• Greater tension and less emphasis on balance
and resolution

18. Individuality of style
• Self expression and individuality of style
• Personalities reflected through composers’
music
• Flamboyance and intimacy, unpredictability
and melancholy, rapture and longing
• Love
• Nature
• Shakespeare

19. Nationalism & Exoticism
• Create music with national identity, using the
folk sons, dances, legends and history of their
homelands
• Create music with melodies from oriental
style (pentatonic), rhythms and instruments
from foreign lands

20. Program Music
• Instrumental music
associated with a story,
poem, idea or scene.
• The nonmusical element is
usually specified by a title or
by explanatory comments
called a program.
• A programmatic
instrumental piece can
represent the emotions,
characters and events of a
particular story, or it can
evoke sounds and motion of
nature.

21. • A lot of Romantic music was written to tell
stories-this is called programme music.
• Because of this romantic composers paid
much closer attention to the orchestration
(which instruments play which parts!) to make
sure they were getting the right tone colour
(sound) for the story they were trying to tell.

22. Expressive Tone Colour
• Orchestra grew to 100 musicians.
• The constant expansion of the orchestra
reflected composers’ changing needs as well
as the growing size of concert halls and opera
houses.
• The brass, woodwind, and percussion sections
of the orchestra took on a more active role.

23. Instruments that have joined the
romantic orchestra...
• Cor Anglais
• Piccolo
• Bass Clarinet
• Trombone
• More percussion
• Tuba
• Piano
• Harp

24. The Romantic Orchestra
The Classical Orchestra might
include:
 Woodwind
 2 Flutes
 2 Oboes
 2 Clarinets in B-flat,
 2 Bassons
 Brass
 2 or 4 Horns(in any key)
 2 Trumpets (in any key)
 Percussion
 Timpani
 Strings
 8 First Violins
 8 Second Violins
 6 Violas
 4 Cellos
 3 Double Basses

26. Woodwind
Contrabassoon
Bass
Clarinet
Piccolo
Cor
anglais

27. Brass
Wagner Tuba
Tuba
Trombone
Cornet

28. Unpitched Percussion
Cymbals
Side
Drum
Castanets
Gong

29. Pitched Percussion
Xylophone
Celesta
Harp
Chimes

30. Orchestra
• These changes meant that it was more
possible to change
– The tone
– The timbre
– Pitch
– Volume

31. The Piano
• There were huge developments in piano music
• The Industrial Revolution led to
– The Piano was given a metal frame. This meant it could
have more, tighter strings and be louder, more
versatile, and be heard over much larger ensembles
– Wound metal strings were developed to give other
string instruments greater colour and strength

32. The Piano
 Romantic composers
began to explore the
full potential of the
keyboard
 Huge progression
made in
performance
technique

33. Colourful Harmony
• Exploration of new chords and novel
ways of using familiar chords
• More prominent use of chromatic
harmony, which uses chords containing
tones not found in the prevailing major
or minor scale.
• Chromatic chords add colour and motion
to romantic music. Dissonant, or
unstable, chords were also used more
freely than during the classical era.
• Romantic pieces tend to have wider
variety of keys and rapid modulations, or
changes from one key to another. The
feeling of tonal gravity tends to be less
strong.

34. Expanded range of Dynamics, Pitch
and Tempo
• Sharp contrast of dynamics,
ffff to pppp, crescendos,
decrescendos & sudden
changes
• Range of pitch extended eg
piano, piccolo,
contrabassoon
• changes of mood by
accelerando, ritardandos,
subtle variations of pace-
fluctuations in tempo.
RUBATO!

35. Mini  Monster
• Miniatures and monumental
compositions
• Short piano compositions to suit
demands of home music making
• Long orchestral, chamber,
concerto, opera and choral
works lasting 45 minutes or
more to suit the growing concert
halls and audience.
Mahler- Symphony of a Thousand
• An orchestra of 130
• Extra brass seated apart
• 8 solo voices
• 2 large mixed choirs
• Choir of 400 children

36. Classical/early romantic composers
• The Romantic era can be
separated into 3 major
sections, Classical/Early
Romantic, Romantic and
Romantic/20th
Century.
• Below are a list of
Classical/Early Romantic
composers you might need to
know, so take note!!
• Beethoven
• Rossini
• Franz Schubert
• Berlioz
• Mendelssohn
• Johann Strauss
• Robert Schumann

37. Romantic Composers
• Wagner
• Chopin
• Liszt
• Johann
Strauss 2nd
• Saint-Saens
• Bizet
• Brahms
• Mussorgsky

38. Late Romantic/20th
Century
• Tchaikovsky
• Grieg
• Elgar
• Puccini
• Mahler
• Sibelius.
• Rachmaninov

39. Late Romanticism (Higher)
Describes music of the late 19th
/ early 20th
centuries which keeps the
intensity of earlier 19th
century music
This style often required a massive amount of performers and
towards the end was considered to be excessive
Mahler- Symphony of a Thousand
• An orchestra of 130
• Extra brass seated apart
• 8 solo voices
• 2 large mixed choirs
• Choir of 400 children

40. Romantic Period Music Elements
• RHYTHM
• TONALITY
• MELODY
• TEXTURE
• HARMONY
• DYNAMICS
• TIMBRE
• STRUCTURE

41. RHYTHM
• Use of speed
fluctuations and
cross rhythm
tend to weaken
the barline,
resulting in a
‘softer’ pulse

42. TONALITY
• The major and minor
key system
continues, with
increased use of
modulation to
distant keys, and
enharmonic
relations.

43. MELODY
• Melodies are often
longer and less
symmetrical,
although the four-
bar, song-like melody
still continues in slow
movements of
instrumental works
and vocal works.

44. TEXTURE
• Thicker and more
complex textures are
heard within the
homophonic
framework, with
more orchestral
doubling, and thicker
piano writing.

45. HARMONY
• While still
homophonic, and
based on triads,
Romantic composers
add notes to the
triad for a richer
harmonic style, and
make increasing use
of chromatic chords.

46. DYNAMICS
• An increased range
of dynamics (ppp-fff)
to highlight the
dramatic character of
the style.

47. Timbre
• Increased number of players
• Added larger and smaller sizes of previous instruments, such as piccolo,
cor anglais, bass clarinet and contra-bassoon.
• Harp, saxophone, trombone, tuba and more varied percussion.
• Unusual instrumental soloists (viola, double bass, timpani) in orchestra.
• To match the larger orchestral sound, voices were trained to produce a
bigger sound with greater projection. Vibrato became popular.

48. Structure
• Movements are often longer
• Music in several movements unified by the
same theme.
• Movements may be linked so that the piece
runs continuously
• In opera and symphonic works, the idea of
linking sections together to create flow of
music and action is developed.

49. STRUCTURE AND FORMS
IN THE ROMANTIC PERIOD

50. VOCAL GENRES

51. Schubert & the Art song (Lieder)
• The plural is lieder. Songs began to develop in the Romantic
period for solo voice and piano. There were two types:
• Strophic - same music for every verse
• Through-composed - different music for each verse. The
voice and words fit very closely together (reflect each other.)
• The piano is more than just an accompaniment in these compositions, it is
a partner to the voice. Schubert is perhaps the greatest composer of
German Lieds, he wrote over 600 (including: The Earl King, The Trout, To
Sylvia). Other composers of this style were Schumann, Brahms, Wolf and
Richard Strauss. Sometimes a composer might set a whole group of
poems linked to the same idea, perhaps even sketching a story, for
example, Schubert's Winter Journey.

52. Song Cycle
• Group of songs linked by a
common theme or within a text
written by the same author.
• Tends to be lieder and
therefore in German text
• Tends to be accompanied by
piano, but can sometimes be
accompanied by ensembles or
an orchestra

53. Romantic Choral Music
Requiem & Oratorio
• Requiem- Mass for the Dead
• Started with Mozart’s Requiem, and
composers during the Romantic period wrote
Requiems to be performed in concert halls.
• Berlioz, Brahms, Verdi, Faure

54. PIANO GENRES

55. • The most famous piano composers of the time were: Schubert, Mendelssohn,
Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms. They wrote sonatas, and short pieces such
as the
• waltz
• mazurka
• polonaise
• mood and character pieces:
– the impromptu
– the romance
– the song without words - the prelude
– the nocturne
– the ballade
– the intermezzo
– the rhapsody
• Many pieces shared contrasting moods, and were in Ternary form. Another piece
of the time was the etude (study). It was meant to improve the playing technique
of the player. This period saw the rise of the virtuoso, a person with extraordinary
musical skill, such as Paganini (violinist people thought he had made a pact with
the devil, because he was so good), and Liszt (pianist he was very concerned with
showmanship.)

56. ORCHESTRAL
GENRES

57. As links were formed between music, painting and literature, composers started to
compose programme music. - music that tells a story. (The opposite is absolute music -
music without a story.)
Musical devices used to express the story or inspiration include:
• musical motifs (or motives) - short melodic or rhythmic ideas used to represent
characters or images
• transformation of themes where a basic theme undergoes changes to mirror a
situation
• orchestral colour - use of instruments to represent characters or images
• direct imitation of sounds eg birdsong or thunder
• harmony, dynamics, tempo and key

58. There are three main types of programme music for orchestra:
• The Programme Symphony - e.g. Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, The
Symphonic Fantastique (About a young man who is in love. He dreams about her,
and she becomes a melody in his mind. This melody is an 'idée fixe', it keeps coming
round again, a recurring theme. It is by Berlioz,)
• The Concert Overture - It is a one movement programme piece for orchestra,
intended for performance at a concert. E.g. Fingal's Cave by Mendelssohn,
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, Romeo and Juliet.
• The Symphonic Poem (The Tune Poem) - It was invented by Liszt. It is a one
movement programme piece for orchestra. Liszt used a device called thematic
transformation ( a basic theme that is continually being changed in mood and
character, like the 'idée fixe'). Liszt wrote a thematic piece called Hamlet. Other
examples are: Danse Macabre (by Saint-Saëns), Vltava (by Smetana), A Night on the
Bare Mountain (by Mussorgsky), The Sorcerer's Apprentice (by Dukas), and Till
Eulenspiegel (by Richard Strauss).

59. It is music specially composed to be heard at certain
points during the performance of a play. (To set the
mood, to cover the scenery changed or as background
music)
Incidental Music
In the Hall of the Mountain
King- E. Grieg
Deep in the caves beneath
the mountains. Evil and ugly
trolls stealthily emerge from
the shadows and surround
peer. Faster and faster they
dance round him, pinching
and scratching him until he is
terrified.

60. Suites
These are several pieces of incidental music gathered together, intended for
a play or dance. e.g. Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker (All three by
Tchaikovsky), A Midsummer Nights Dream (by Mendelssohn), Peer Gynt (by
Grieg)

61. The Concerto
Changes were made to the form of the Concerto during the Romantic period. Instead
of a double-exposition, there was now a single exposition, usually with the soloist
entering immediately, sharing the themes with the orchestra. The cadenza was now
written out by the composer. Other changes included:
• Different numbers of movements were used by different composers (Mendelssohn
wrote pieces with three movements, Liszt did pieces with one movement.
• Larger orchestra
• Growth of the virtuoso
• More excitement and 'drama'. More 'competition' between the orchestra and the
soloist.
• Piano and violin became the main Concerto instruments

62. Opera

63. Wagner
Wagner wrote many operas, especially German operas. People said Wagner was the
'most powerful force since Beethoven.' His operas are called music dramas. Some
examples of his works are: Rhinegold, The Master Singers and the Valkyrie. Wagner was
a master of orchestration. He had a huge orchestra. The operas were on a large scale,
and sometimes took four or five hours to perform. Woven into the texture are many
short themes called Leitmotiv. Each one represents a character, emotion, object or
place.

64. Leitmotiv
 A theme occurring through the work which
represents a person, event or idea
 Linked to the story with a person, object or
idea.
 Leitmotiv is still used frequently today in TV
programmes, film music, video games, music
and advertising
For example: Jaws theme, Star Wars Imperial
March

65. 19th Century Nationalism
By the middle of the 19th Century, music was dominated by Germany. However,
composers from other countries began to feel they should break away. They used folk
tunes, dance rhythms and local legends for this purpose. Some examples of 19th
Century Nationalism are:
Russia:
• Mussorgsky - A Night on the Bare Mountain
• Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade
• Borodin - Prince Igor
Bohemia:
• Smetana - Ma Vlast (Vltava)
Norway:
• Grieg - Peer Gynt
Spain:
• Albeniz
• Granados
• Falla

66. The Main Characteristics of Romantic Music
• Freedom of form and design. It was more personal and
emotional.
• Song-like melodies (lyrical), as well as many chromatic
harmonies and discords.
• Dramatic contrasts of dynamics and pitch.
• Big orchestras, due mainly to brass and the invention of the
valve.
• Wide variety of pieces (i.e. songs up to five hour Wagner
operas)
• Programme music (music that tells a story)
• Shape was brought to work through the use of recurring
themes: idee fixe (Berlioz), thematic transformation (Liszt),
leitmotif (Wagner)
• Great technical virtuosity.
• Nationalism (a reaction against German influence)

67. Features of Romantic Music
• New Structures
– Symphony and Opera – both extended to new, epic lengths
– Programme Music
– Piano Concerto
– Prelude
• Pieces express a WIDE RANGE of FEELINGS and EMOTIONS
• MELODIES become LONGER, less structured and more
developed
• MODULATIONS become more frequent and to more
UNUSUAL KEYS
• More extravagant, EXTENDED and DISSONANT CHORDS are
used

68. • The HARMONY is often CHROMATIC and DISCORDANT,
especially when portraying strong emotions
• INSTRUMENTS are used in EXTREME RANGES and parts
become more difficult and technical – leads to a return of
the VIRTUOSO performer
• ORCHESTRAS become significantly bigger and more
powerful. They especially have much bigger BRASS sections
• DYNAMICS are used in extremes and often with sudden
changes. ACCENTS and SFORZANDOS are used to make the
music more dramatic
• TEMPO becomes less rigid and often changes within works.
RUBATO is used to give a piece more expression
• The importance of NATIONAL IDENTITY is expressed
through the use of FOLK TUNES and DANCE RHYTHMS

70. To sum-up the romantic era...
• Freedom of form and design. It was more
personal and emotional.
• Song-like melodies (lyrical), as well as many
chromatic harmonies and discords.
• Dramatic contrasts of dynamics and pitch.
• Big orchestras, due mainly to brass and the
invention of the valve.

71. Romantic era cont...
• Wide variety of pieces (i.e. songs up to five
hour Wagner operas)
• Programme music (music that tells a story)
• Shape was brought to work through the use of
recurring themes.
• Great technical virtuosity.
• Nationalism (a reaction against German
influence)

72. Famous WorksFamous Works
• Wagner Gotterdammerung from The Ring
• Dvorak New World Symphony 4th Movement
• Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2 1st
Movement
• Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2
• Berlioz Symphony Fantastique

73. Specific features
 A huge exploration of emotional
expression
 Composers used feelings, emotions,
books, paintings and poetry to get ideas
 Composers, poets, writers and painters
were concerned with imagination,
fantasy and drama

74. Specific Features
• Intensity was created by the use of
– Chromaticism
– Discords
– Modulation

75. Revision concepts
• All voice types
• Suite (Higher)
• Concerto (General)
• Symphony (General)
• Programme music (General)
• Dissonance/discord (Credit)
• Chromatic (General)
• Strophic (Credit)
• Through composed (Credit)

76. New concepts (Higher)
• Lied/lieder
• Song cycle
• Leitmotiv
• Symphonic/tone
poem
• Nationalist
• Late Romantic
• Sprechgesang

77. Programme music (General)
• This is music that paints a picture or
tells a story through sound

78. Listening Track 5
You are asked to compare two excerpts of music.
In the column on the left (concepts) of the
answer pages musical concepts are listed.
As you listen, tick the musical concepts used by
the composer under the headings given in.
One mark per tick. The marks are at the bottom
of the columns.
You will hear each example three times

79. CONCEPTS EXCERPT 1 EXCERPT 2 COMMON TO BOTH
EXCERPTS
MELODIC and HARMONICMELODIC and HARMONIC
Legato
Melismatic word
Glissando
Tremelando
Syllabic word
RHYTHMICRHYTHMIC
Diminution
Accents
Cross rhythm
STRUCTURALSTRUCTURAL
Leitmotiv
Homophony
Programme music
Ritornello
STYLES/FORMSSTYLES/FORMS
Sprechgesang
Basso continuo
Romantic
Sonata
MARKS 3 3 4
Excerpt 1 Excerpt 2

80. Symphonic/ Tone Poem (Higher)
• Specific type of programme music
• One movement for orchestra
• Can be quite long
• Some contain leitmotiv

81. Nationalist (Higher)
• Reaction against German dominance in
music influence
• Describes composers strong feelings
about his/her country
• A lot of programme music was written
in the Nationalist style

82. Nationalist (Higher)
• Identifies composer’s
nationality through
folk tunes and folk
dance rhythms, etc.

83. Listening Track 7
Identify the following:
Tonality
Nationalist
Feature played by the trumpets:

84. Listening Track 8
Identify the following: Late
Romantic
Orchestration
Specific role? Why?

85. Sprechgesang
• German for “speech song”
• This is a style of singing that is halfway
between speech and song
• Singers hit the note approximately rather
than with precision
• Since the early 1990’s in Germany,
sprechgesang has had a new pop culture
meaning of “German-language rap music”

86. Listening Track 9
Identify the following:
Antiphonal choir Xylophone
Major Countermelody
Double stopping Pizzicato
Discords Anacrusis
Sprechgesang