Romantic Period

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Romantic Period

• 1825-1900

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• The word romantic in the Romantic Period does
  not refer necessarily to love, but more to
  heroism, adventure, and mystery.

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The Romantic generation developed a fondness for
fictional characters that went on exciting
journeys. The Romantic generation were also
tired of all the happy endings from the previous
periods. They were partial to tragic endings.
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• The six main characteristics of the Romantic
  Period were

1) Individualism People started to care less of
their family and community and concentrate more
energy into what was best for themselves.
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• 2) Reverence of Nature Now that great cities
  were more common, people wanted to get back to
  nature and its beauty and importance in our lives.

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• Here are more nature paintings from the Romantic
  Period.

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• 3) Pursuit of the Supernatural The wild imagery
  and adventures associated with ancient Greek
  Myths sparked peoples interest, causing these
  myths to be revived in the art and music of the
  time. Do you know these Greek myths?

Pegasus
Medusa
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• More Greek Myths

Centaur
Zeus
King of the Greek Gods
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The Greek version of the devil
Warrior Women
Mephistopheles (He appears in many Romantic
operas)
Valkyries (The song you heard at the beginning
of this presentation is called Ride of The
Valkyries.)
The Hydra

• Even more
• Greek Myths

7 headed monster
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Romania
Czechoslovakia

• 4) Nationalism Artists and composers began to
  take pride in their nationality or country of
  origin. Composers tried to find original folk
  songs from their homeland and then use these
  melodies in their orchestral compositions.

Hungary
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• 5) Emotional Expression Composers wanted to
  express their emotions in their music and for
  people to feel emotions when they listened to
  this music. It didnt matter if the emotions
  were the same, as long as some emotional response
  was conjured up. What emotion does this song
  from Tchiakovskys Romeo and Juliet evoke?

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• 6) Giving meaning to music Music of the
  Romantic Period began to take on story lines.
  Music now had some deeper relevance than just
  something nice to listen to. This type of music
  is called program music, and it tells a story
  through a program (like the one to the left) or
  simply through the title.

Symphonie Fantastique The Concert Program I.
PassionsA young musician sees the woman of his
dreams and falls hopelessly in love. Each time
her image comes into his mind, it evokes a
musical thought that is impassioned in character,
but also noble and shy, as he imagines her to be.
This key melody returns throughout all five
movements. Each time it returns it represents
the artist thinking about this woman. II. A
Ball The artist finds himself in the swirl of a
party, but the beloved image appears before him
and troubles his soul. The key melody returns,
but it is now in 3/4 time. III. Scene in the
CountryIn the distance, two shepherds play a
duet. The country setting, the gentle evening
breeze, the hopeful feelings he has begun to
have--all conspire to bring to his spirit an
unaccustomed calm, and his thoughts take on a
more cheerful cast. He hopes not to be lonely
much longer. But his happiness is disturbed by
dark suspicions. What if she is deceiving him!
One of the shepherds resumes his playing, but the
other makes no response.... In the distance,
thunder. Solitude. Silence. The key melody is
here again. It starts out very pretty with 2
oboes, but as he starts to suspect her of
deceiving him, the sounds of a storm (cymbals,
timpani) overcome this key melody. IV. March to
the Scaffold Convinced that his love is
unreturned, the artist takes an overdose of
opium. It plunges him into a sleep accompanied by
horrifying visions. He dreams that he has killed
his beloved, has been condemned and led to the
scaffold, and is witnessing his own execution.
The procession advances to a march that is now
somber and savage, now brilliant and solemn. At
its conclusion, a final thought of the beloved is
cut off by the fatal blow. You have been
listening to this movement. Near the end, the
intense marching music stops while he thinks of
his beloved one last time, but the key melody is
suddenly interrupted by a loud accent and the
rolling of snare drums. What do you think this
represents? V. Dream of a Witches' Sabbath He
sees himself in the midst of a frightful throng
of ghosts, witches, monsters of every kind, who
have assembled for his funeral. Strange noises,
groans, bursts of laughter, distant cries. The
key melody again reappears, but it has lost its
modesty and nobilty it is no more than a vulgar
dance tune, trivial and grotesque it is she,
coming to the sabbath. A joyous roar greets her
arrival.... She joins in the devilish party.... A
funeral song and a round-dance are combined in
this movement for even more of a shocking and
evil effect.
(Click to hear ending only)
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• Before the Romantic
• Period, absolute music
• was the norm. Absolute
• music is music with no
• subject matter. It was
• written for the sake of
• enjoying the music and
• nothing else. Titles
• Are based on at least 2
• things

Type of piece
Number or key
Symphony No. 7 Concerto No. 22 Toccata in d
minor String Quartet Op. 8
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Symphonie FantastiqueThe Concert Program I.
Reveries -- PassionsA young musician, afflicted
with that moral complaint which a celebrated
writer Chateaubriand calls "undirected
emotionalism," sees the woman of his dreams and
falls hopelessly in love. Each time her image
comes into his mind, it evokes a musical thought
represented by an idee fixe that is impassioned
in character, but also noble and shy, as he
imagines her to be. II. A Ball The artist
finds himself in the swirl of a party, but the
beloved image appears before him and troubles his
soul. III. Scene in the CountryIn the
distance, two shepherds play a ranz des vaches in
dialogue solo oboe and English horn. The
pastoral setting, the gentle evening breeze, the
hopeful feelings he has begun to have--all
conspire to bring to his spirit an unaccustomed
calm, and his thoughts take on a more cheerful
cast. He hopes not to be lonely much longer. But
his happiness is disturbed by dark premonitions.
What if she is deceiving him! One of the
shepherds resumes his playing, but the other
makes no response.... In the distance, thunder.
Solitude. Silence. IV. March to the
Scaffold Convinced that his love is unrequited,
the artist takes an overdose of opium. It plunges
him into a sleep accompanied by horrifying
visions. He dreams that he has killed his
beloved, has been condemned and led to the
scaffold, and is witnessing his own execution.
The procession advances to a march that is now
somber and savage, now brilliant and solemn. At
its conclusion the idee fixe returns, like a
final thought of the beloved, cut off by the
fatal blow. V. Dream of a Witches' Sabbath He
sees himself in the midst of a frightful throng
of ghosts, witches, monsters of every kind, who
have assembled for his funeral. Strange noises,
groans, bursts of laughter, distant cries. The
beloved melody again reappears, but it has lost
its modesty and nobilty it is no more than a
vulgar dance tune, trivial and grotesque it is
she, coming to the sabbath. A joyous roar greets
her arrival.... She joins in the devilish
party.... A funeral knell, a parody of the Dies
Irae. A sabbath round-dance. The Dies Irae and
the round-dance are combined.
But now, in the Romanitc Period, Program music
became very popular. Program music is music that
tells a story and the music follows it
As you have Already seen, the music May actually
contain a program so you can read along as you
listen.
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Flight of the Bumblebee
But Most program music doesnt need anything to
read. The composers want you to use your
imagination, so they just give you a title and
let your imagination Run free. Here are two
examples
Harold in Italy
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• Two important freedoms of the Romantic Era

• 1. Freedom of Religion People started to agree
  that it was wrong to force somebody to follow one
  particular religion, like Catholicism or
  Lutheranism.

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• 2. Freedom of Self People got the courage to do
  something unexpected or different with their
  lives and not follow in their fathers footsteps
  in the exact same business.

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• Comparing the Classical with the Romantic Period

Classical Romantic
Tradition
Pursuit of New Ideas
Expressing Emotions
Controlled Emotions
Order, Balance, Symmetry
Supernatural, Bizarre
Program Music
Absolute Music
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Romantic Period

• The End