Romantic Period

Wagner

opera composer

music dramas

opera - Wagner

• called this to show correlation between music + drama

unending melody

continuous music flow w/o interruption

• no breaks for applause

speech song

combining the speech-like quality of a recitative with the lyricism of an aria

Verdi

known for serious unhappy ending opera

leitmotif (leading motives)

short musical idea associated with a person, object or thought in drama

expressive vocal music

Verdi opera

late verdi

flexible, greater musical continuity, more like Wagner

early Verdi

unhappy, conventional

strophic form

same melody sung for each stanza of text

program music

used to give context for music because the audience couldn’t distinguish it anymore

absolute music

Imagination belonged to the listener (audience decides meaning/context)

types of program music

1. concert overture

2. program symphony

3. symphonic poem

theme and variations form

variations that sound completely different from the thematic source while retaining the theme’s basic structure

Brahms

absolute music

dark, rich

F. Chopin

wrote exclusively for piano

• nocturnes

• preludes

• waltz

absolute music

Chopin music

variety of moods

elegant + graceful

• very melodic

nocturne

night piece: slow lyrical, intimate composition for piano

etude

study piece designed to help a performer master specific technical difficulties

polonaise

piece in triple meter, originates as a processional dance for the Polish nobility

outline:

• introduction

• AA

• B

• A

• coda

atonality

music style that lacks a key/central style

Mahler

popular music, military marches, sacred themes + classical elements in symphonies

alteration of symphonic structure

endings are different than beginnings

reflecting ongoing evolution