This presentation contains information on the evolution of Musical Romanticism, including Late Romanticism and Impressionism. The presentation also includes a list of 52 important Romantic and Impressionist composers.

1. The Evolution of
Musical Romanticism
Including Late Romanticism
& Impressionism

2. Romanticism in music, as a general trend,
is usually said to begin in approximately 1820,
when the early Romantic-period composers
who followed Beethoven began composing
their music in the new Romantic style.
The leading early-Romantic composers
include Carl Maria von Weber, (1786-1826)
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) and
Franz Schubert, (1798-1828) among others.
These early Romantic composers were all
rooted in the traditions of the Classical period,
and their music, like Beethoven’s,
reflects this influence.

3. A second generation of Romantic
composers, whose music is not as
deeply-rooted in the Classical style,
began composing music in the 1820s.
This second-generation of Romantic
composers, including the Italian opera
composers Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
and Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) and the
French composer Hector Berlioz
(1803-1869) enjoyed success forging
a new style of music that moved
further away from the Classical style.

4. Berlioz in particular created a sensation in
1830 when his gargantuan Symphonie
Fantastique was premiered in Paris.
In Germany, Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
emerged during the late 1820s in his
teenage years as a composer with
a distinctly new and important voice.
In 1829, Mendelssohn presented and
conducted the first performance of J.S. Bach’s
great Saint Matthew Passion, the first
performance of this landmark work since
Bach’s death in 1750, which eventually led to
a resurgence in interest in Bach’s music
throughout Europe.

5. The 1830s saw the emergence of such
important early-Romantic composers as
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) and
Robert Schumann, (1810-1856).
In the 1840s, pianist-composer Franz Liszt,
(1811-1886) and operatic composers
Richard Wagner, (1813-1883) and
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) came to the
public’s attention. By the 1850s, they all
emerged as leading composers in their
respective genres of Romantic music.

6. During the 1850s, composers of opera and
operetta, such as Charles Gounod (1818-
1893) and Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
in Paris and Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-1899)
and Franz von Suppé (1819-1895) in Vienna
were becoming popular with the public.

7. In the 1860s and 1870s, musical Romanticism was in
full swing throughout Europe, as more and more
composers came to the public’s attention.
Composers such as the
German composer Johannes Brahms,
Austrian composer Anton Bruckner, (1824-1896)
Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, (1824-1884)
French composers Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
and Camille Saint-Saëns, (1835-1921)
Russian composers Modest Mussorgsky
(1839-1881) and Peter Illych Tchaikovsky, (1840-1893)
and Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, (1843-1907)
all gained attention with compositions that would
eventually become part of the standard repertoire.

8. In the 1880s, as musical Romanticism
was flourishing in Europe, a backlash against
what some perceived as the hyper-emotional
or overly-heavy aspects of the music of
some Romantic composers began to emerge
in the form of a new musical trend that came
to be known as Impressionism.

9. Musical Impressionism, based in France,
became a trend that was so distinctive
that in retrospect, some historians came to
regard it as a separate period or sub-period
of Western musical history.
However, unlike the other periods of Western
musical history, during which virtually all the
important composers adhered or contributed
to the musical trends of their respective
periods, Impressionism in music was only
embraced by a few composers.

10. But because the works of several of these
composers (Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel
and Ottorino Respighi) have come to be
accepted as highly significant,
Impressionism is a trend that is worthy
of serious consideration and study.
It is also important to note that many other
composers adopted Impressionist influences
in some of their works, and that trend
continued through the 20th century
and beyond.

11. However, it is important to note that during the
heyday of musical Impressionism, musical
Romanticism continued to flourish
without interruption in the works of
such Late-Romantic composers as:
Austrian composer Gustav Mahler, (1860-1911)
German composer Richard Strauss, (1864-1949)
Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and
Russian composers Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
and Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).

12. A quick examination of the dates of the lives
of many of the composers who were born in the
late 19th century shows that for many of these
composers, musical Romanticism, like
Impressionism, continued well into the 20th
century. This is true, despite the fact that a new
period of musical history, the Modern period,
began in the early 1900s.
Many of these Late-Romantic composers would
eventually incorporate modernistic elements
into their works.

13. The following seven slides contain a
chronological list of 51 important composers
of the Romantic and Impressionist periods.
This list is sorted by the years of the composers’
births, not the years in which
they emerged as prominent composers.
The purpose of including this list is to introduce
some of the lesser-known Romantic period
composers, so that you can familiarize yourself
with their names. Please read through all of the
names on the list, focusing on the last names.
This is by no means a complete list of all
Romantic-period composers.

14. Important Composers of the Romantic Period
Early Romantic Period:
Ludwig van Beethoven German 1770-1827
Niccolò Paganini Italian 1782-1840
Carl Maria von Weber German 1786-1826
Gaetano Donizetti Italian 1797-1848
Vincenzo Bellini Italian 1801-1835
Frédéric Chopin Polish 1810-1849
Robert Schumann German 1810-1856

15. Important Composers of the Romantic Period
Early Middle Romantic Period:
Franz Liszt Hungarian 1811-1886
Richard Wagner German 1813-1883
Giuseppe Verdi Italian 1813-1901
Mikhail Glinka Russian 1804-1857
Felix Mendelssohn German 1809-1947
Charles Gounod French 1818-1893
Jacques Offenbach French 1819-1880
Franz von Suppé Austrian 1819-1895

16. Important Composers of the Romantic Period
Middle Romantic Period:
César Franck French 1822-1890
Bedřich Smetana Czech 1824-1884
Anton Bruckner Austrian 1824-1896
Johann Strauss Jr. Austrian 1825-1899
Johannes Brahms German 1833-1897
Camille Saint-Saëns French 1835-1921
Georges Bizet French 1838-1875
Modest Mussorgsky Russian 1839-1881

17. Important Composers of the Romantic Period
Middle Romantic Period:
Peter Illych Tchaikovsky Russian 1840-1893
Emmanuel Chabrier French 1841-1894
Antonin Dvorak Czech 1841-1904
Arrigo Boito Italian 1842-1918
Jules Massenet French 1842-1912
Edvard Grieg Norwegian 1843-1907

18. Important Composers of the Romantic Period
Late Romantic Period:
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Russian 1844-1908
Gabriel Fauré French 1845-1924
Engelbert Humperdinck German 1854-1921
Leoš Janáček Czech 1854-1928
Edward Elgar English 1857-1934
Ruggero Leoncavallo Italian 1857-1919
Giacomo Puccini Italian 1858-1924
Gustav Mahler Austrian 1860-1911
Pietro Mascagni Italian 1863-1945

19. Important Composers of the Romantic Period
Late Romantic Period:
Richard Strauss German 1864-1949
Jean Sibelius Finnish 1865-1957
Erik Satie French 1866-1925
Enrique Granados Spanish 1867-1916
Franz Lehár Austrian 1870-1948
Alexander Scriabin Russian 1872-1915
Sergei Rachmaninoff Russian 1873-1943
Gustav Holst English 1874-1934

20. Important Composers of the Romantic Period
Late Romantic / Impressionist Composers:
Claude Debussy French 1862-1918
Frederick Delius English 1862-1934
Ralph Vaughan Williams English 1872-1958
Maurice Ravel French 1875-1937
Manuel de Falla Spanish 1876-1946
Ottorino Respighi Italian 1879-1936