Chapter Nineteen Introduction to Romanticism Romantic Inspiration Romantic

Chapter Nineteen: Introduction to Romanticism

Romantic Inspiration & Romantic Creativity • Self-expression, striving to communicate with passion no matter what imbalance (or excess) • Human imagination and the wonders of nature • Love: Longing and despair • Nature: Exploring the darker side of (human) nature • Fascination with the occult, supernatural, and the macabre • Wide range of expression shown in the musical expression marks that came into being

The Musician as “Artist, ” Music as “Art” • The duty of the artist was “the upbringing of mankind” • Composers were no longer servants to the aristocracy • Music no longer merely entertainment, but Art • Serious tone in the concert hall • “Art for Art’s sake. ” • Rebellion against Classical ideals • Evolution beyond Classical music

Romantic Ideals Change the Listening Experience • More serious tone in the concert hall • Sat in respectful silence for the revered figure of the Romantic artist-composer • Audience was emotionally engaged • Belief in the artist as superhero, reverence for the object as a “work of art, ” and expectations of silence and formal dress at a concert developed in the Romantic period

The Style of Romantic Music • Romantic Melody: Broad, sweeping themes – Lyrical and expressive, building to a grandiose climax – Longer phrases, irregular in shape – Rhythmically flexible

• Colorful Harmony: Contributes to the emotional intensity – Use of chromatic harmony, temporary dissonance – Rich, lush sounds – Unexpected harmonic shifts • Romantic Tempo: Rubato – Rubato: Italian for “robbed” time – Exaggerates the rhythmic flow – Gives performers more artistic freedom – Heard especially in the music of Frédéric Chopin

• Romantic Forms: • Monumental: Romantic composers expanded those used in the Classical Era – Length of individual movements increased dramatically • Miniature: Composers tried to capture the essence of a single mood, sentiment, or emotion – Character piece – Usually for the piano – Use of simple binary (AB) or ternary (ABA) form – Sometimes given a whimsical title, such as bagatelle, humoresque, arabesque, musical moment, caprice, romance, intermezzo, or impromptu – Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms

The Romantic Orchestra • Technological advances that led to the modern symphony orchestra transformed 19 th-century music • Industrial revolution improved instruments – Flute – now made from silver, new fingering mechanism that increased the technical abilities of the instrument – Trumpet and French horn: Valves, improving technical facilities as well as intonation • Orchestra expanded by new instruments – Ophicleide, English horn, Cornet, Harps added • Greater size, great volume Mozart (1788) Berlioz (1830) Mahler (1889) Symphony in G minor Symphonie fantastique Symphony No. 1 Total players: 36 Total players: 89 Total players: 129 20 minutes 55 minutes 90 minutes

The Conductor • Larger, more complex music needed a musical “traffic cop” • Conductors started using a baton • Interpreter of the music

The Virtuoso • The nineteenth century was the age of the solo virtuoso • Musicians strived to raise their performance skills to unprecedented heights • Performing tricks and gimmicks • Franz Liszt (1811 -1886) • Niccolò Paganini (1782 -1840) • “The attraction of the virtuoso is like that of a circus performer; there’s always the hope that something disastrous will happen. ”

Coda • Increased attention to literature in the Romantic Era inspired new musical genres: the art song (Lied), the program symphony, and the tone poem • Technological innovations led to a much larger, more powerful piano, as well as the musical literature specifically written for it • Political events caused musical reverberations in the form of nationalistic musical style in both instrumental music and opera – Unification of Germany and Italy