The Romantic Era

1820-1900

  1. The Times
  2. General Characteristics
  3. Age of extremes, Age of Unending Lyricism
  4. “Romantic” – From the word “roman”
  5. There is a certain amount of overlap between the Classical and Romantic periods. Beethoven is often seen as both the last important Classical composer and the first Romantic

Listening: Beethoven – String Quartet in Bb Major, Opus 130, 4th mvt.

  1. The ideals of the Romantic age were liberty, equality and humanitarian issues.
  2. These ideals stressed the importance of emotion, imagination and individuality.
  3. This timeframe recognized the importance of nature.
  1. Social and Political Influences
  2. Industrialism

Occurred in Britain first

Power shifted from aristocratic landowners to middle class city dwellers.

Populations moved from an agrarian center to an urban center.

  1. Inventions
  2. Nationalism
  3. Napoleon
  1. The Arts in the Romantic Period
  2. Stressed Individualism and Emotion
  3. Breaking away from rules and convention
  4. Glorification of Nature
  5. Nostalgia
  6. The Macabre and the Supernatural
  7. Exotic Influences
  8. Realism
  1. Literature and Writing

Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)

Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

Charles Dickens(1812-1870)

Karl Marx (1818-1883)

Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Listening: Art Song and Song Cycle

Franz Schubert (1787-1828)

Erlkönig (1815) poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)

Romance

  1. Visual Art
  2. Architecture
  3. Sculpture

Francois Rude (1784-1855): “Departure of the Volunteers”,

Arc de Triomphe

Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875): “The Dance”, Opera Garnier

Auguste Rodin (1840-1917): The Gates of Hell, The Thinker, The Burghers of Calais, The Kiss

  1. Painting

Eugene Delacroix (1798-1863)

Liberty Leading the People, 1831

Camille Corot (1796-1875)

View Near Volerra, 1838

Francisco Goya (1746-1828)

The Third of May, 1808

Gustave Courbet (1819-1877)

Burial at Ornans, 1850

Impressionists:

Claude Monet (1840-1926)

Impression Sunrise, 1872

Rouen Cathedral, 1894

Edouard Manet (1832-1883)

Dejeuner sur l’herbe, 1863 (Luncheon on the Grass)

Edgar Degas (1834-1917)

The Rehearsal, 1874

Pierre Auguste Renoir (1841-1919)

Le Moulin de la Galette, 1897

Post-Impressionists:

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, 1886

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Starry Night, 1889

Paul Gauguin (1848-1903)

Day of the Gods, 1894

  1. Music

A. Musical Milieu

Funding of public concerts and subscription concerts

Founding of conservatories

Artists/Musicians Life

Virtuosic performers

The “conductor” emerged

Listening: Piano Compositions

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Nocturne in E-Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2, 1830-1831

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor, 1851

  1. Music’s General Characteristics
  2. Individuality
  3. Expressive Aims and Subjects
  4. Nationalism and Exoticism
  5. Rise and importance of Program Music
  6. Musical Elements
  7. Melody
  8. Harmony
  9. Rhythm
  10. Texture
  11. Timbre/Instrumentation
  12. Full exploration of the instrumental families.
  13. Strings
  14. Woodwinds
  15. Brass
  16. Percussion
  17. Piano
  18. Genres
  19. Vocal - Opera/Music Drama, Mass, Art Song

Listening: Opera and Music Drama

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Rigoletto, 1851

Act III – La donna è mobile

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

La Bohème 1896

Act I: Rodolfo and Mimi arias

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Die Walküre (The Valkyrie), 1856

Act I, Love Scene

  1. Instrumental: Absolute and Program genres; Character Pieces

Absolute music: Symphony, concerto, sonata, string quartet

Program music: Program symphony, Tone poem, Symphonic poem

Character Pieces

  1. Dynamics
  2. Form
  1. Composers
  2. From Patronage to Free Agent
  3. Traditionalists, Progressives, Nationalists

Traditionalists

Composer Examples: Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Franck, Schubert, Chopin, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Puccini, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Schumann

Listening: Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, 4th movement, 1885

Progressives

Composer Examples: Wagner, Liszt, Berlioz and Verdi

Listening: Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

Symphonie fantastique, 1830

Fourth Movement: March to the Scaffold

Nationalists

Composer Examples: Smetana, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Wagner, Chopin, Verdi, Puccini, Liszt

Listening: Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Pictures at an Exhibition, 1874

Great Gate of Kiev

Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)

Ma Vlast, 1874

The Moldau