History of the Romantic Era of Music

• introduction
• composers
• see also:
  • History of Music
  • History of Medieval Era of Music
  • History of Renaissance Era of Music
  • History of Baroque Era of Music
  • History of the Classical Period of Music

Introduction:

• although the romantic era of literature only spanned 2 decades 1830-50, when applied to music, it is generally considered to include 1830-1900, when music was more emotional, with more picturesque expression being more important than formal or structural considerations as in the classical era.
•  romantic era literature included works of Byron, Scott, Wordsworth, Goethe, Hugo, Gautier & Balzac.
• there is blurring of the boundaries, with nationalism, impressionism & post-romanticism all impinging upon romanticism music
• new instruments:
  • arpeggione - (guitare d'amour) invented 1823, guitar-shaped 6 string cello with fretted fingerboard, played with a bow
  • guitar, whilst an ancient instrument, became popular during 19thC
  • accordion - invented 1829 by Damian of Vienna
  • bass tuba - invented 1835
  • trumpet fitted with 3 valves - mid 19thC
  • saxophone - invented 1846 by Sax, a Belgium instrument maker, but not popularised till mid-20thC by jazz/blues
• music styles:
  • csardas:
    • Hungarian dance in 2 parts (slow introductory lassu followed by excited main section in duple time, friss) which has a wild gypsy flavour, but its origin is probably from aristocrats in the 1830's & popularised at fashionable balls.
  • nocturnes
  • polonaises
  • mazurkas
  • cotillon:
    • elaborate ballroom dance popular in 19thC as final dance of the evening
    • music was simply that of various waltzes, mazurkas, etc.
    • in earlier centuries was akin to quadrille
  • Vienna waltzes
    • eg. Strauss dynasty
  • american military march:
    • eg. Sousa
  •  

Composers:

• Weber, Carl (1786-1826):
  • German composer, pianist, conductor
  • liberated German music from Italian influences & showed how to shape folk songs into operatic and other forms
  • was a significant influence on the Romantic composers that succeeded him such as Chopin, Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner
• Berlioz (1803-69):
  • French composer & conductor
  • music composed:
    • orchestral:
      • Symphony Fantastique (1830)
    • opera:
      • Les Troyens (1856-8)
    • vocal:
      • Grand' messe des morts (requiem) (1837)
      • Les nuits d'ete (1840-56)
• Chopin, Frederic (1810-49):
  • Polish composer, pianist
  • taking the name 'nocturne' from John Field, he transformed the form, as he did everything, by harmonic imagination & melodic distinction
  • there are bold, prophetic passages in his musical ornamentation derived from his admiration for Italian opera
  • his Polish works such as his mazurkas & polonaises, a raw passion elemental in its strength
  • music compositions:
    • piano:
      • nocturnes
      • polonaises
      • mazurkas
      • Fantasie Impromptu (1835)
• Schumann, Robert (1810-56):
  • German composer, pianist, conductor
• Liszt, Franz (1811-86):
  • Hungarian composer & pianist - perhaps the greatest pianist of all time
  • a friend of Berlioz & Chopin & influenced Wagner, R. Strauss
  • his piano works are in a category of their own, the symphonic poems developed a new art form, being compelling & imaginative, the religious works moving & visionary
  • he remains a romantic enigma of music, a genius with a touch of charlatan, a virtuoso with the flair of an actor-manager, a man generous to colleagues and to the young
  • his championship of Wagner in the Weimar years, with its subsequent effect on Brahms & Schumann, thereby causing the great schism in 19thC music, had incalculable results on the art
  • music compositions:
    • symphonic poems:
      • Orpheus (1854)
    • sacred choral:
    • secular choral
    • piano:
      • Liebestraume (1850)
      • Berceuse (1854)
      • Hungarian rhapsodies (1846-85)
• Wagner, Richard (1813-83):
  • German composer, conductor & writer
  • one of a handful of composers who changed the course of music
  • expounded his theory of music drama, unifying music & drama, superseding all other considerations
  • his music was richly expressive, intensely illustrative, and on the grandest scale, dominated the 19th C & split the music world into opposing factions
  • the chromaticism of Tristan, he took tonality to its limits & opened the way for the Schoenbergian revolution
  • his operas required a new technique of singing & a new breed of singers with the intelligence to convey the subtleties of his art.
  • music compositions:
    • opera:
      • Tannhauser (1845)
      • Lohengrin (1848)
      • Der ring des Nibelungen:
        • Das Rheingold (1854)
        • Die Walkure (1856)
        • Siegfried (1857)
        • Gotterdammerung (1874)
      • Tristan und Isolde (1859)
    • orchestral:
      • Rule, Brittania (1837)
      • Faust (1840)
• Smetana, Bedrich (1824-84):
  • Bohemian composer, pianist & conductor
  • regarded as founder of Czech music
  • music compositions:
    • opera:
      • The Bartered Bride (1866)
• Strauss, Johann I (1804-49):
  • Austrian composer, conductor & violinist
  • founder of 'Strauss Waltz Dynasty', father of Johann II
  • main surviving musical work: Radetzky March (1848)
• Strauss, Johann II  (1825-99):
  • Austrian composer, conductor & violinist
  • eldest son of Johann I, friend & admirer of Wagner
  • deservedly known as the 'Waltz King', composing nearly 400 waltzes which have come to epitomise Viennese gaiety & sentiment, best known are:
    • Blue Danube (1867)
    • Roses from the South (1880)
    • Emperor Waltz (1888)
    • Tales from the Vienna Woods (1868)
• Saint Saens, Camille (1835-1921):
  • French virtuoso pianist, organist & composer who excelled in Mozart & praised for his purity & grace of his playing
  • revived interest in older music esp. Bach, Handel & Rameau & later, influenced Faure & Ravel
  • operas - Samson & Delilah (1877)
  • witty frolic - Le carnaval des animaux (1886)
  • symphony #3 "organ"
  • Danse macabre