Romantic Era

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Romantic Era

• 1810 - 1900s

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Composers
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Johannes Brahms1833 - 1897

• Vienna, Austria (German)
• Piano player, efficient choral and orchestral
  conductor
• Never married he was very attached to Schumann
  and his wife
• Fell ill of liver/pancreatic cancer
• Favoured variations, classical forms like the
  sonata, symphony and concerto
• Wrote 260 songs
• German Requiem inspired by his mothers death
• Was influenced by folk music and the development
  of the piano
• Was an extreme perfectionist (severely
  self-critical) many of his early works were
  destroyed
• Brahms avoided technical displays
• Modeled his pieces after Beethoven and Schumann

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Robert Schumann1810 - 1856

• German composer and pianist
• Originally was going to study law
• Began to study piano but in his attempt to
  accelerate the process he permanantly injured
  his hand. (Devoted himself to composition because
  of this)
• Married Clara Wieck, another composer
• Until 1840 his compositions were primarily for
  piano then he wrote 168 songs.
• He tended to write for one form at a time
• 1844 Bipolar disorder imagined an A playing
  in his ear constantly. Eventually he recovered in
  1846.
• In 1854, his symptoms returned he thought he
  heard themes...
• Suffered from syphillis

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Franz Schubert1797 - 1828

• Austrian composer
• Died at 31
• Wrote approximately 600 lieder and 9 symphonies
• Studied piano, violin, organ, and singing
• It was assumed that he would become a teacher
  like his father, he was eventually forced to
  teach at his fathers school.
• He often had his friends in for evenings of music
  they called them Schubertiads.
• Schuberts fame is often limited to that of a
  song-writer but much of his output was not
  published or performed until the late 19th
  century.
• He established the German leider as a new form in
  the 19th century.
• Schubert uses harmony to represent emotional
  change and the accompaniment figuration used to
  illustrate poetic images (ie. moving water,
  shimmering stars, a church bell)

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Hector Berlioz1803 - 1869

• A French composer
• Sent to study medicine at the age of 18 was
  absolutely horrified by dissection so he left to
  study music.
• Experienced deep emotions apparent in his
  compositions.
• More famous as a conductor than a composer.
• Influential in the development of the symphonic
  form, instrumentation and programmatic ideas.
• Inspired by literary works, Beethoven and Chopin.
• Prolific writer as well, wrote musical criticism.

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Frédérich Chopin1810 - 1849

• Polish pianist and composer
• One of the most famous, influential and admired
  composers for piano works
• Known for poetry and expressive depth as well as
  technical displays for piano
• Forms piano sonata, waltz, nocturne, etude,
  prélude, ballade, and polanaise. He was the first
  to write ballades and scherzi as individual
  pieces.
• Gained a reputation for being a second Mozart
• Extremely influential on other composers of the
  time.
• Died of tuberculosis at the age of 39

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Franz Liszt1811 - 1886

• Hungarian virtuoso pianist and composer
• Known for his showmanship and great skill.
• Liszt practiced approximately 10 hours a day
  concerts were in high demand became a rock
  star! (Lisztomania)
• Invented the modern piano recital by playing
  recitals from memory and turning the piano so the
  audience could see the players hands.
• Wrote music for beginner to advanced which is
  among the most challenging piano works in
  keyboard repertoire.
• Liszt also composed leider and choral music,
  symphonic poems and orchestral works.
• He is known for thematic transformation (a method
  of development) and his development of the
  symphonic tone poem a single movement
  orchestral work.

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Peter Illyick Tchaikovsky1840 - 1893

• Russian composer
• Began a career as a civil servant before deciding
  to study music seriously.
• Eventually, taught music, but found it difficult
  and suffered a breakdown.
• His compositions were distinctly Russian in
  character, rich harmonies and stirring melodies
  he used international elements in addition to
  national folk melodies.
• Tchaikovsky is well known for his ballets Swan
  Lake, Sleeping Beauty, the Nutcracker, etc.
• Completed 10 operas
• His symphonies are generally of nationalistic
  character
• 1812 Overture Russian victory over Napoleonic
  Wars.
• Included 16 cannon shots and church bells

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Cèsar Franck1822 - 1890

• Belgian origin
• Composer, organist and music teacher
• Known for composing with in a cyclic form
• achieving unity through several movements in
  which all of the principal themes are generated
  from one motif.
• Much of his music is deeply serious, often
  joyful, passionate/mysterious and rarely
  light-hearted/humorous.
• His fame rests on a small number of compositions
  written later in his career
• D minor symphony (1886-88) for example
• Franck was in a serious traffic accident he
  wrote 3 chorals for organ and died of
  complications shortly after finishing the chorals.

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Jean Sibelius1865 - 1957

• Finnish composer
• Originally studied law, once he began to study
  music in Berlin and then Vienna.
• He settled outside of Helsinki and lived there
  for the rest of his life with his wife and 6
  daughters
• Sibelius suffered from stage fright and had
  sound-to-colour synesthesia.
• He wrote a set of seven symphonies as a way to
  support the Finnish national identity.
• Best known for his compositions called
• Finlandia
• Valse Triste
• and his violin concerto
• Soon after completing his 7th symphony he went
  into a 30 year period of silence (until his
  death).

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Listening

• Brahms
• Ein Deutsches Requiem (German Requiem)
• Selig sind da Leid tragen
• Trio for Piano, clarinet and cello, Op. 114
  Allegro
• Schumann
• Fantasiestücke clarinet and piano (3rd mvt.)
• Phantasiestücke Grillen and In der Nacht
• Fairy Tales, Op. 132 trio for clarinet, viola
  piano (1st mvt.)
• Schubert
• Lied Gretchen am Spinnrade
• Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D. 485, mvt. 1
  Allegro

• Berlioz
• Symphonie Fantastique mtv. 4
• Chopin
• Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2
• Liszt
• Nuages Gris
• Lovedream No. 3 in A-flat Major
• Tchaikovsky
• Waltz of the Flowers (Nutcracker)
• Symphony No. 6 in B minor (the Pathetique)
• Franck
• Symphony in D minor - Finale

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The 19th century Historical Background

• Industrial Revolution
• Leveled off society
• Larger wealthier middle class
• Smaller, less important aristocracy
• No more patronage
• Composers wrote for the musically uneducated
  middle class
• Had to sell their music
• Not to be played by amateurs of aristocracy but
  to be listened to and enjoyed by the middle class
• Had to be exciting to listen to
• Used more virtuosic playing
• Music critics became increasing popular
• Became a business music critics, printing press
  and publications and finding people to listen to
  their music
• Because they have to impress the public, their
  main purpose is to express and invoke emotions
  composers are in conflict as to whom they are
  writing their music for.

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Historical Background contd

• French Revolution brought
• Liberty and individualism
• Which brought a parallel revolution in music
• Individualism no patience with rules people
  want to be different experimentation
• Liberty express beliefs, interpretation of
  events which allow the individual to form
  personal points of view
• These ideas brought forth the main drive of
  romantic music which was to express personal
  emotions and convictions and evoke them in others.

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The Romantic Arts Movement1810 1900s

• Arts reflect the ideas and events of the time.
• Nationalism
• Use of folk songs/dances and ethnic flavours
• Folk legends subject for opera and songs
• Freedom to Create
• broke away from patronage system
• Broke away from previous restrictions on style,
  form, etc.
• Amateurs were writing
• Individualism
• Expressed deepest emotions, dreams and fears
• Expressed as an individual and others can relate
• All so different love the new!
• Virtuosity

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Arts Movement contd

• Music as the best art
• Music suited the Romantic expression because
  expression of emotion is not limited to words or
  pictures
• Combinations of art forms in opera very popular
• Symphonies with choirs music based on themes,
  art, poetry
• Discussion among artists regarding value of arts
  and criticizes the role of arts.

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New Instruments (developments)

• The Piano
• The instrument was made heavier and sturdier
• Capable of a sustained, singing tone and wide
  dynamics
• The expressive nature of this instrument was
  tests and exploited
• It quickly became the favourite
• In homes a large amount of music was written
  with the amateur in mind.
• It also was the standard accompaniment instrument
• It set the mood with its range of colour and
  dynamics

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New Musical Developments

• the Virtuoso Performer
• Displays of unheard of technical ability
  appealed to the worshipping audiences
• Pioneers
• Niccolo Paganni a violinist who was suspected
  of being in cohorts with the devil due to his
  astounding technical agility.
• Franz Liszt the composer/pianist who turned
  the piano sideways so the audience could see his
  hands.
• As you can guess, this performer needed a new
  style of music to amaze and thrill the
  audiences.
• Music was written for technical display and not
  the musical value.
• Many performers wrote their own.
• The virtuosi toured Europe throughout the 19th
  c. and into the New World

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Romanticism

• Expression of feeling became more intense and
  personal as the 1800s progressed.
• Form and tonal relationships were experimented
  with Imagination was explored and used to
  recapture a cherished past or to reach a
  wonderful future.
• Music, especially instrumental, was free from the
  burden of words and could perfectly communicate
  pure emotion.
• Important genres
• Instrumental music
• Orchestral
• Piano
• Chamber
• Art Song (or Lieder)
• Program Music

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Romantic Forms

• Form the shape or structure of a piece of
  music.
• Set forms have a specific structure with
  defined styles and sections.
• Free forms do not have set sections and are
  through composed.
• Composite forms are forms of pieces made up of
  2 or more movements.
• Single-movement forms pertain to individual
  movements of a larger piece or a piece that is
  only one movement.

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Lied (plural - Lieder) German for Song

• Definition A German poem usually lyric and
  strophic, also a song having such a poem for its
  text most commonly, a song for solo voice and
  piano accompaniment in German-speaking countries
  during the Classical and Romantic periods.
• In Germany, any song is called a lied - whether
  it be a folk, work, childrens or political.
• But when discussing lied in English and more
  specifically referring to the Classical and
  Romantic eras, lied refers to art song
  (Kunstlied) of the 19th and late 18th centuries.

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Lied continued

• Initially, these songs were composed as a social
  pastime for amateurs, but later became more
  musically significant and a strong part of the
  concert repertoire of the professional singer.
• Franz Schubert composed over 600 lieder and
  through his compositions he was able to establish
  this genre, or style, into a more serious
  artistic level.
• Schubert performed lieder at private social
  gatherings with amateur and professional singers,
  and very few were performed in public concerts or
  published during his lifetime.
• Many other composers wrote several hundred
  lieder, drawing from both major poets and lesser
  known ones.

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Programmatic Music

• Definition Program music is a form of art music
  intended to evoke extra-musical ideas, images in
  the mind of the listener by musically
  representing a scene, image or mood.
• Romantic composers were especially fond of
  associating music with literature, landscape, or
  the visual arts.
• Programmatic music was also used as a means to
  gain respect for instrumental music.

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Programmatic music continued

• Also, this type of music was a way for the
  uneducated listeners to understand a piece of
  music by reading the program and letting their
  imaginations roam.
• Not every piece of music came with a program, but
  many would have interesting titles assigned to
  them.
• The symphony orchestra was an excellent medium
  for this style of music, because of its rich
  variety of instrumental colours and colour
  combinations that aid in characterizing and
  distinguishing between states of mind, events, or
  even individual characters.

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Hector Berliozs Symphonie Fantastique (1830)

• A five movement piece, representing the various
  images of the musicians fevered brain
• Mvt. 1 The Musician is unhappy and melancholy
  before he one day meets his beloved and the
  volcanic love she inspires in him.
• Mvt. 2 At the scene of a ball, during which he
  meets his new love again
• Mvt. 3 A pastoral scene of great tranquility,
  however, he becomes agitated as he worries about
  losing her.
• Mvt. 4 A march to the scaffold the Musician
  dreams he has killed his beloved and is being
  marched to the guillotine.
• Mvt. 5 The Dream of the Witches Sabbath, the
  Musicians version of a hellish punishment after
  his death. The beloved and a troop of grotesque
  spirits torture and mock him.

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Symphonie Fantastique

• All of the great Romantic themes are encased in
  this one piece Love, Melancholy and Horror
• The melody representing the beloved is found in
  all movements, but is changed radically.
• This piece has brilliant orchestration and
  requires a HUGE orchestra.

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Assignment Romantic Composition

• Hector Berlioz and many other composers from the
  Romantic Era wrote pieces of instrumental music
  based on a program or a story.
• The audience would be given the background story
  so that they understood what was going on.
• Also at that time, composers were writing
  leitmotifs for each of the main characters. Those
  leitmotifs were the musical ideas to be
  associated with a character or scene throughout
  the piece (think Darth Vader).
• Your assignment is to choose (minimum) three
  characters and write a short story about them (no
  shorter than a page). Then, write music a motif
  for each character.
• Each motif should be no shorter than 8 bars. They
  dont have to be fancy, but they should portray
  the character well.
• Due Monday, May 25th

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