Romantic music





Romantic music can be defined as music in which expression of feelings is
given more importance than formal balance and internal order. The use of the
phrase in this sense is generally limited to the context of European
classical music.

Although there are moments of pieces through history where this can be said
to be the case, it became the dominant musical trend in classical music
during the 19th century, and the period roughly from 1800 to 1900 is often
called the "romantic period". Many composers after 1900, however, have
continued to write music in a style typical of the romantic period.

Although the word "romantic" is now usually used to mean "something related
to love", "romantic music" as spoken about by musicologists and academics is
not necessarily about this and does not always sound like what would
nowadays be thought of as "romantic" in the general sense. It is instead
related to the wider concept of romanticism which flourished in the arts
around this time.

Musical language

The musical language employed by the romantic composers was a good deal more
extensive and flexible than that of the classical composers, allowing for
the greater range of expression these composers sought.

Composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven, often regarded as the first romantic
composer, and later Richard Wagner expanded their harmonic language to
include chords previously unused, or to treat existing chords in different
ways. Wagner's Tristan chord, found in Tristan and Isolde, has had much
written about it attempting to explain exactly what harmonic function it
serves.

Composers modulated to increasingly remote keys. Modulations were not always
as extensively prepared as they were in the classical era, and sometimes
instead of a pivot chord, a pivot note was used. Franz Liszt and others
sometimes enharmonically "spelled" this note in a different way (for
example, changing a C sharp into a D flat) to modulate into even more
distant keys. The properties of the dimished seventh chord, which enables
modulation to almost any key, were also extensively exploited.

The forms which had been dominant in the classical era, such as sonata form,
began to be stretched and sometimes rejected. The relatively genteel minuet,
which had been the usual third movement in a symphony, sonata, or similar
work, was replaced by the scherzo, which allowed for more intense expression.

Influence from non-musical sources

Whereas instrumental music of earlier times was almost always absolute, that
is concerned with nothing apart from music itself, much romantic music is
program music - it is based on some other source.

Several composers wrote music based on books, poems or paintings or created
their own stories. Hector Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique, for example, has a
program written by Berlioz himself. Some composers took an interest in
describing nature in their music, a well known example being Beethoven
Symphony No. 6, the Pastoral. Yet others were interested in the
supernatural, with Carl Maria von Weber's operas Der Freischutz and Oberon
both having supernatural themes.

On a smaller scale, many composers wrote "character pieces", short works,
often with evocative titles, usually for solo piano, which express a
particular mood or idea and which are not in a fixed form. The first such
works were John Field's nocturnes, which greatly influenced Frederic Chopin
and a number of other composers. Felix Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words",
Edvard Grieg's "Lyric Pieces" and various works by Robert Schumann are in a
similar mould.

The romantic period also saw the establishment of song as an important part
of classical music. Songs with keyboard accompaniment had been written
before, but Franz Schubert is often held to be the first significant writer
of them. Robert Schumann and, later, Hugo Wolf were also significant song writers.

Romantic opera

In opera, there was a tendency for the forms usual in classical and baroque
opera to be loosened, broken, and merged into each other. This reached its
climax in Wagner, where arias, choruses, recitatives and ensemble pieces
cannot easily be distinguished from each other. Instead there is a
continuous flow of music.

Other changes occurred as well. The decline of castrati led to tenors being
given the heroic lead in operas as a rule, and the chorus took on a more
important role. Towards the end of the Romantic period, verismo opera,
depicting realistic, rather than historical or mythological, subjects became
popular in Italy.

Nationalism

A number of romantic composers wrote nationalist music, music which had a
particular connection to a particular country. This manifested itself in a
number of ways. The subjects of Mikhail Glinka's operas, for example, are
specifically Russian, while Bedrich Smetana and Antonin Dvorak both used
rhythms and themes from Czech folk dances and songs. Late in the 19th
century, Jean Sibelius wrote music based on the Finnish epic, the Kalevala.

Instrumentation and scale

As in other periods, instrumental technique was developed in the romantic
era. This was a trend that was begun by Ludwig van Beethoven's Third
Symphony, the Eroica, and continued through the period. Composers such as
Hector Berlioz orchestrated their works in a way hitherto unheard, given a
new prominence to wind instruments. Instruments previously rare, such as the
piccolo and cor anglais, came to be parts of the standard symphony
orchestra, and the orchestra as a whole grew. Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8
is known as the Symphony of a Thousand because of the large number of people
required to perform it.

In addition to using larger orchestral forces, works in the Romantic era
tended to become longer. A typical symphony by Haydn or Mozart will last
twenty to twenty-five minutes; Beethoven's Eroica, once again, will last at
least forty-five minutes, a significant increase; some of Beethoven's later
symphonies are even longer. The trend towards long, large scale works which
require substantial orchestral forces probably again reached its peak in the
later symphonies of Mahler.

The instrumental virtuoso also became more prominent. The violinist Niccolo
Paganini was one of the musical stars of the early 19th century, his fame
usually put down as much to his charisma as his technique. Franz Liszt was
also a very popular virtuoso pianist. Typically in the 19th century,
virtuosi such as these were more likely to attract an audience than some
particular composer's music being on the program.

Romanticism in music, in the end, represented a trend that made larger and
larger demands on the orchestras playing it, on individual performers, and
on the listeners. These trends tended to more sharply distinguish what we
have come to call "classical music" from "popular music."

Romanticism in the 20th century

Romanticism survived into the 20th century, and a number of composers, among
them Sergei Rachmaninov, Jean Sibelius, Richard Strauss and Kurt Atterberg,
continued to write music in a romantic style. However, new tendencies such
as neo-classicism and serialism challenged the preeminence of the romantic
style, and by the middle of the century, very few significant composers were
writing in a style that would have been recognised by the romantics.

Later in the 20th century, a number of pieces and composers have been
described as "neo-romantic", John Adams' Violin Concerto being one example.

Composers of the romantic era

   * Adolphe-Charles Adam (1803 - 1856), French composer best known for his
     ballet score Giselle
   * Isaac Albˇniz (1860 - 1909), the first well known Spanish composer
     since the baroque, composed nationalist piano works such as Iberia
   * Daniel Fran¨ois Esprit Auber (1782 - 1871), French opera composer, well
     known in his time, but rarely performed today
   * Francis Edward Bache (1833 - 1858), English composer-pianist
   * Michael William Balfe (1808 - 1870), English opera composer, best known
     for The Bohemian Girl
   * Amy Beach (1867 - 1944), an American, the leading female composer of
     her time
   * Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), German regarded by many as the first
     romantic composer and one of the most significant composers in history
   * Vincenzo Bellini (1801 - 1835), Italian opera composer, known for I
     Puritani, Norma and La Sonnambula among others
   * Hector Berlioz (1803 - 1869), French composer famous for his
     programmatic symphony, the Symphonie Fantastique
   * Frans Berwald (1796 - 1868), Swedish composer, little known in his
     lifetime, but his four symphonies are better known today
   * Georges Bizet (1838 - 1875), French composer famous for his opera
     Carmen
   * Arrigo Boito (1842-1918), Italian composer and librettist, known as a
     composer exclusively for his opera Mefistofele
   * Alexander Borodin (1833 - 1887), Russian chemist and nationalist
     composer, one of The Mighty Handful, wrote the opera Prince Igor
   * Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), German composer seen as following in the
     footsteps of Beethoven. His first symphony was once called "Beethoven's
     tenth"
   * Max Bruch (1838 - 1920), German composer, today known almost
     exclusively for his Violin Concerto No. 1
   * Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896), Austrian composer whose large-scale
     symphonies are often compared to Wagner
   * Ferruccio Busoni (1866 - 1924), Italian composer-pianist, known for his
     operas Doktor Faust and Turandot and his many transcriptions and
     arrangements of Johann Sebastian Bach
   * Joseph Canteloube (1879 - 1857), French composer, best known for his
     Songs of the Auvergne
   * Whitefield Chadwick (1854 - 1931), little known today, but one of the
     first significant American composers
   * Gustave Charpentier (1860 - 1956), French composer best known for his
     opera Louise
   * Ernest Chausson (1855 - 1899), French composer influenced by Franck and
     Wagner, seen as a bridge from them to Claude Debussy
   * Frˇdˇric Chopin (1810 - 1849), Polish composer-pianist, his output
     includes a number of Polish dances such as mazurkas
   * Carl Czerny (1791 - 1857), Austrian composer best known today for his
     studies and excercises for the piano
   * Lˇo Delibes (1836 - 1891), one of the first significant ballet
     composers since the baroque, known for his Coppelia and Sylvia
   * Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848), Italian opera composer, known for
     Lucia di Lammermoor and L'elisir d'amore among others
   * Paul Dukas (1865 - 1935), French composer, almost exclusively known
     today for his piece of programme music, The Sorceror's Apprentice
   * Antonin Dvor‡k (1841 - 1904), Czech composer, famous for his
     symphonies, especially the late ones.
   * Gabriel Faurˇ (1845 - 1924), French composer, known for his chamber
     music and a requiem among other pieces
   * Cˇsar Franck (1822 - 1890), Belgian-born composer, noted for his
     Symphony, also a significant composer for the organ
   * Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817 - 1890), probably the most significant 19th
     century Danish composer
   * Edward German (1862 - 1936), English composer known for his comic opera
     and light music
   * Alexander Glazunov (1865 - 1936), Russian, influenced by Wagner and
     Liszt
   * Reinhold Gliere (1875 - 1956), Russian who wrote pieces in a romantic
     style well into the 20th century
   * Mikhail Glinka (1803 - 1857), Russian whose operas such as A Life for
     the Tsar are based on specifically Russian themes
   * Karl Goldmark (1830 - 1915), Hungarian influenced by Wagner
   * Louis Gottschalk (1829 - 1869), American composer, incorporated Creole
     melodies into his work, a forerunner of ragtime
   * Charles Gounod (1818 - 1893), French composer, best known for his opera
     Faust
   * Edvard Grieg (1843 - 1907), Norwegian composer who wrote a famous Piano
     Concerto and several books of "Lyric Pieces" for the piano
   * Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858 - 1919), Italian opera composer, known
     almost exclusively for I Pagliacci
   * Franz Liszt (1811 - 1886), Hungarian composer-pianist, wrote a number
     of tone poems and extended piano technique
   * Carl Loewe (1796 - 1869), German composer of lieder
   * Gustav Mahler (1860 - 1911), Austrian composer of innovative
     large-scale and sometimes programmatic symphonies
   * Fanny Mendelssohn (1805 - 1847), sister of Felix Mendelssohn who
     herself wrote piano music and songs
   * Felix Mendelssohn (1809 - 1847), German composer, known for his
     symphonies, violin concerto and the overture Fingal's Cave among other
     works
   * Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791 - 1864), German composer, whose spectacular
     operas such as Les Huguenots were popular in his day, but are less
     often performed now
   * Jacques Offenbach (1819 - 1880), French operetta composer, known for
     The Tales of Hoffmann
   * Giacomo Puccini (1858 - 1924), late romantic Italian verismo opera
     composer (La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly)
   * Max Reger (1873 - 1916), prolific German composer, known for his
     Variations on a Theme of Mozart
   * Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936), Italian composer best known for
     symphonic poems The Fountains of Rome and The Pines of Rome
   * Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 - 1908), Russian composer, member of The
     Mighty Handful, wrote operas, the Capriccio espagnol and Scheherezade
     but probably best known for "The Flight of the Bumblebee"
   * Gioacchino Rossini (1792 - 1868), Italian opera composer, best known
     for The Barber of Seville and overture to various other operas
   * Anton Rubinstein (1829 - 1894), Russian composer-pianist
   * Camille Saint Saens (1835-1921), French composer perhaps best known for
     The Carnival of the Animals
   * Pablo Sarasate (1844-1908), Spanish virtuoso violinist and composer
   * Franz Schmidt (1874-1939), Austrian composer, influenced by Mahler
   * Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Austrian composer, regarded as the first
     significant leider writer, also known for his chamber music, piano
     works and symphonies
   * Clara Schumann (1819-1896), wife of Robert, and pianist who also wrote
     piano music
   * Robert Schumann (1810-1856), German composer, a significant lieder
     writer, also wrote many short piano pieces
   * Alexander Scriabin (1872 - 1915), Russian composer known for his
     harmonically adventurous piano sonata and theatrical orchestral works
   * Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884), Czech nationalist composer, perhaps best
     known for his cycle of symphonic poems, Ma Vlast
   * Johann Strauss, Sr. (1804-1849), Auatrian dance music composer
   * Johann Strauss, Jr. (1825-1899), Austrian composer, known as "The Waltz
     King", composer of "The Blue Danube"
   * Joseph Strauss (1827 - 1870), Austrian dance music composer
   * Arthur S. Sullivan (1842 - 1900), English operetta composer known for
     his collaborations with W. S. Gilbert
   * Francisco Tarrega (1852-1909), Spanish composer who wrote many works
     for guitar
   * Piotr Ilyitch Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), Russian composer known for his
     symphonies and other works
   * Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901), Italian opera composer
   * Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883), German opera composer, regarded as one of
     the most significant composers of the 19th century
   * Charles-Marie Widor (1845 - 1937), French composer, noted for his works
     for the organ
   * Hugo Wolf (1860 - 1903), Austrian song composer
   * Eugene YsaŲe (1858 - 1931), Belgian virtuouso violinist and composer