romantic era music appreciation

Romanticism (1820–1900)

stylistic period in Western music

Romanticism in literature/painting

emphasized emotion

Major inspiration for Romantic art

nature

Exoticism

drawing inspiration from foreign cultures

Program music

instrumental music associated with a story/poem/idea/scene

Nationalism

inspiration from the composer’s homeland

How nationalism was expressed

folk songs/dances/national legends used in compositions

Romantic orchestra size

up to ~100 musicians

Polonaise

stately Polish dance in triple meter

Influence on young Liszt

Niccolò Paganini

Liszt before age 36

toured Europe as a virtuoso pianist

Thematic transformation

altering a melody’s character through rhythm/dynamics/orchestration

Mendelssohn at age 13

wrote high-quality sonatas

Who revived Bach’s music

Felix Mendelssohn

High point of Mendelssohn’s career

premiere of Elijah in England

How Mendelssohn gained international fame

conducting Bach’s St. Matthew Passion

Absolute music

nonprogram music

Rubato

slight pushing/pulling of tempo

Composer who modeled Romantic careers

Beethoven

Touring virtuoso composer

Franz Liszt

Violin virtuoso composer

Niccolò Paganini

Effect of rising middle class

more pianos

Essential middle-class instrument

piano

Art song

composition for solo voice and piano

Lied

German-text art song

Schubert songs

more than 600

Brahms close friends

Clara and Robert Schumann

Program symphony

multi-movement work based on a story/idea

Incidental music

music for plays to set mood or highlight action

Writer who influenced Berlioz

William Shakespeare

Inspiration for Fantastic Symphony

Berlioz’s love for Harriet Smithson

Idée fixe

recurring theme unifying Fantastic Symphony

Verdi’s first great success

Nabucco

Verdi’s goal in composing

to entertain the mass public

“La donna è mobile” opera

Rigoletto

Verismo

realistic operatic style about ordinary people

Composer best representing verismo

Puccini

Setting of La Bohème

Paris

Rodolfo in La Bohème

a young poet

Wagner’s opera house location

Bayreuth

Composer who influenced young Wagner

Beethoven

Writer of Ring of the Nibelung librettos

Wagner himself

Leitmotif

short musical idea linked to a person/object/thought

Verdi operas

Naked Raccoons In Las Vegas Always Outdance Flamingos:

Nabucco, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Aida, Otello, Falstaff;

Operas based on Nordic golden ring tale

Wagner’s Ring Cycle: Das Rheingold – Die Walküre – Siegfried – Götterdämmerung

Dwarves Wrestle Shirtless Giants