The Romantic Period

What is the time period of the Romantic Period?

1820-1900

What period was the Romanticism in?

The Industrial revolution

-Resulted in social and economic changes

What did the Romantic period stress?

Emotion, imagination, and individualism

What was the emotional subjectivity basis of?

Art

What were the favorite artist topics?

-Fantasy and the supernatural

-Middle ages/concept of chivalry & romance

-Nature mirror of human heart

What did the Romantic period continue from the Classical period?

Forms

-Individual alteration and adjustment

What was greater in Romantic period than the Classical period?

Range of tone, dynamics, and pitch

What was expanded and complex?

Harmony and chords

What were the characteristics of Romantic Music?

Individuality of style, expressive aims and subjects, nationalism and exoticism, program music, expressive tone color, colorful harmony, expanded range of dynamics, pitch & tempo, and forms are miniature and monumental.

What was the individuality of the style?

Uniquely identifiable music

What approaches were explored?

ALL (Flamboyance, intimacy, unpredictability, melancholy, rapture, longing etc.)

What was the focus of songs and operas?

Love

-Lovers unhappy and facing obstacles

What topics drew composers?

Dark

What is nationalism?

Music with a national identity

What is exoticism?

Intentionally imply foreign culture and frequently in operas

What is program music?

Music with a story/poem/idea/scene

How did composers try to create unique sounds?

Blending existing rhythms and adding new instruments

What was tone color important for?

Emotional content

What made the harmonies colorful?

Chords built with notes not in traditional keys and harmonies not stable

What were the expanded dynamics?

ff, pp expanded to ffff & pppp

What pitches were added?

Extremely high and low pitches

What were the changes in MOOD frequently underlined by?

Shifts in tempo

What was new in society?

Urban classes and musical topics

What was public entranced by?

Virtuosity

What became a fixture in most homes?

Piano

Were the composers and audience in the same social class?

Yes

Were composers financially stable?

No; few

What did the composers regard themselves as?

"Free Spirits"

Who was The Art Song made for?

Solo voice and piano

What was The Art Song linked to?

Poems, translating mood, and atmosphere and imagery

What does strophic form do?

Repeats music for each verse

What does through-composed form do?

New music each verse

What is The Song Cycle?

Group of songs unified in some manner

What links The Song Cycle?

Storyline or musical ideas

Where was Franz Schubert born?

Vienna in 1797

What type of composer was Franz Schubert?

Early romantic composer

How many songs did Franz Schubert write when he was 18? 19? All together?

143/179 works; 2 symphonies, opera, and mass/600 songs altogether

What ethnicity is Robert Schumann?

German

Why couldn't Robert Schumann be a piano virtuoso?

Problem with hand

Who did Robert Schumann marry?

Piano teachers daughter

Where did Robert Schumann die?

Asylum

What kind of music did Robert Schumann write?

Piano pieces, art songs, symphonies

What ethnicity was Clara Wieck Schumann?

German

What was Clara Wieck Schumann known for?

1st well-known women composer and leading concert pianist

Who was Clara Wieck Schumann friends with?

Johannes Brahms

When did Clara Wieck Schumann stop performing?

At age 36

What did Clara Wieck Schumann write?

Songs, piano pieces, a concerto...

What was Frederic Chopin born as?

Polish Musician

What was Frederic Chopin considered?

Poet of the piano

What was Frederic Chopin known for?

Beautiful tone, rhythmic flexibility, and extensive use of piano pedals

What did Chopin avoid?

Concert halls

When did Chopin develop personal style?

At an early age

what does Chopin's music do?

Evokes a variety of moods and captured the spirit of the polish people

Where was Franz Liszt born?

Hungary as a composer

What kind of pianist was Franz Liszt?

Virtuoso

How long did Franz Liszt tour?

As a pianist until he was 36

What was Franz Liszt known for?

Incredible performer, "rock star"

What did Franz Liszt do when he retired?

Became a court conductor and later took minor holy orders

Why was Franz Liszt's music controversial?

Bombastic and vulgar, not ideal music

Who created the Symphonic Poem (Tone poem)?

Franz Liszt

What kind of composer was Felix Mendelssohn?

German composer

What did Felix Mendelssohn write?

Symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and other works before being a teenager

what was Felix Mendelssohn responsible for?

Revival of Bach's music

How did Felix Mendelssohn die?

Stroke while touring

What was Mendelssohn's music like?

More conservative, avoiding emotional extremes, and projects elegance and balance

What is program music?

Instrumental music associated with a story, poem, idea, or scene.

What is program music usually performed with?

Written explanation of piece

What is absolute music?

Non-program music

In Romantic Period, what was Program music made for?

Piano or orchestra

What is a Program Symphony?

Multi-movement/orchestral

What is concert overtures?

Modeled on opera overture

What is symphonic poem (tone poem)

1 movement, orchestral, flexible form

What is Incidental music?

For use before or during play

What kind of composer was Hector Berlioz?

French composer

What kind of music does Hector Berlioz write?

Wrote unconventional, passionate, unpredictable music

What award did Hector Berlioz win?

Prix de Rome for symphonie fantastique

What did Hector Berlioz do for support?

Worked as music critic

Was Hector Berlioz one of the first great conductors?

Yes

What was the style of Hector Berlioz's music?

Imaginative, innovative orchestrations

What grew in the nation in the Romantic Period?

National identity (Ch.12 in notes)

What did composers deliberately give to their works?

Distinctive national identity (Ch. 12 in notes)

Where was the strongest impact of Romantic music?

Germany, Austria, Italy and France

What did Antonin Dvorak of during his teenage years?

Played orchestra under Smetana

What was Antonin Dvorak director of?

National Conservatory of Music in New York

Where did Antonin Dvorak later return to?

Prague Conservatory

What kind of composer was Peter Tchaikovsky?

Late Romantic Russian composer

Where did Peter Tchaikovsky study music and at what age?

Russia at 21

Who was Peter Tchaikovsky supported by?

Benefactress or patron

Where did Peter Tchaikovsky travel?

Europe and United States

What did Tchaikovsky write?

Symphonies, concerti, overtures, operas, and more

What did Tchaikovsky fuse?

Russian folk and European Style

What kind of composer was Johannes Brahms?

German composer

Who was Johannes Brahms close friends with?

The Schumanns

What did Johannes Brahms study?

Early composers in detail (Bach, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven)

What was Brahms music like?

Somewhat conservative because of musical forms