History of the Romantic Era 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