Romanticism

What is absolute music?

Music created for its own sake, focusing on musical elements like melody, harmony, and rhythm.

Ex: Beethoven’s 5th Symphony

What is program music?

Music that tells a story or paints a picture, using musical elements to depict emotions or events.

What was the Golden Age of the Piano?

The Romantic period, featuring virtuosos like Chopin, Liszt, the Schumanns, and Mendelssohn, and driven by Industrial Revolution technology, publications, and social expectations.

What are miniatures in Romantic music?

Short, intimate character pieces with descriptive titles (e.g., Songs Without Words), often performed in small venues.

What is a Lied (German art song)?

A type of miniature combining poetry, solo voice, and piano accompaniment.

Who was Amy Beach and what did she compose?

An American Romantic composer and pianist who wrote Three Browning Songs.

What are monumental Romantic works?

Large, dramatic compositions for big ensembles—such as symphonies, operas, or ballets.

What are the three main Romantic song structures?

Strophic (same music for each verse), Through-composed (no repeated sections), and Modified strophic (some variation between verses).

What is Franz Schubert best known for today?

His lieder (art songs) written for small, intimate performances.

How does Schubert’s “Gretchen am Spinnrade” depict the spinning wheel?

The piano part moves through every key in D minor, representing the spinning motion and Gretchen’s restlessness.

What did Giuseppe Verdi believe about opera?

That music should be theatrical and expressive; singing should never be boring. Known for operas like Rigoletto.

Define bel canto.

“Beautiful singing” — a style emphasizing lyric, expressive, and technically refined vocal lines.

What types of opera existed in the Romantic period?

Opera seria (serious opera) and opera buffa (comic opera).

Who was Richard Wagner and what did he create?

A German composer known for music dramas—operas that combined music, poetry, and drama—unified by leitmotifs (recurring themes representing people, places, or ideas).

What were minstrel shows?

19th-century theatrical shows featuring racial stereotypes such as blackface performances.

What are parlor songs?

Sentimental, nostalgic songs for solo voice and piano, designed for amateur home performance.
Example: “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” by Stephen Foster.

Who were Amy Beach and Fanny Mendelssohn?

Female Romantic-era composers and pianists who faced social barriers but contributed significantly as composers, patrons, and teachers.

Name three types of orchestral program music.

Concert overture (single-movement concert piece), Incidental music (accompanies drama), and Symphonic poem (one-movement orchestral depiction of a poetic idea).

What is nationalism in music?

Music created from within a culture, using folk tunes and legends to express national identity.

Who was Antonín Dvořák and what did he argue about American music?

A Bohemian composer who believed American music should be based on African American spirituals and folk songs.

What did John Knowles Paine believe about American music?

That American composers should embrace individuality rather than follow a single national style.

What did H.T. Burleigh contribute to American music?

He claimed that African American spirituals were the true folk songs of America and arranged them to elevate Black cultural identity.

What is exoticism in Romantic music?

Music created by outsiders depicting another culture, often highlighting “otherness” using folk tunes, pentatonic scales, chromaticism, or non-European instruments.
Example: Carmen (set in Spain by French composer Bizet).

What role did music play for enslaved Africans in America?

It fostered community and identity through communal singing traditions and spirituals, despite systemic oppression.

What is the pentatonic scale and how was it used in spirituals?

A 5-note scale commonly found in African and African American spiritual music.

Who were the Fisk Jubilee Singers and what was their contribution?

A group from Fisk University who toured the U.S. and Europe performing spirituals to fundraise and popularize African American music.

What was the goal of Black composers during the Harlem Renaissance?

To arrange and perform spirituals in concert settings, claiming a place for African Americans in “high culture.”

What are work songs?

Early African American songs that accompanied labor, using call and response, syncopation, and a steady pulse.
Example: “Hammer Ring.”