MUSC-101: Romantic Period Study Guide

Period dates

1820-1900

Inciting event of Romantic period

Storming of the Bastille (1789)

Individualism

A social theory favoring freedom of action for individuals over collective or state control

Emotionalism

A tendency to regard things emotionally

Subjectivism

The doctrine that knowledge is merely subjective and that there is no external or objective truth

Nationalism

Advocacy of or support for the political independence of a particular nation or people

Individual liberty

Hallmark of the Romantic movement

Period ideals

Freedom, liberty, and “love for all”

Romantic tonality

Obsure, unpredictable, and free

Romantic key changes

Used for dramatic effect and flow

New chord progresions

Led to harmonic expansion

Romantic counterpoint

Used very sparingly

Informal structures

Structure was hardly used

Symphony, sonata, and concerto length

Longer and more expansive

Traditionalist

A composer who adhered to classical forms yet used expansive harmonic and dynamic vocabularies and timbres

Romantic classicist

A composer who viewed themselves as a “free artist”

Romantic

A composer who viewed themselves as a “free artist” and explored emotional, diverse themes, such as Medieval stories and the supernatural

Originality

A key identifier of the Romantic period

Romantic church music

Saw a decline during this era

Solo recitals

Were incredibly popular

Older works

Gained performance popularity

Romantic opera

True-to-life stories and more realistic characters/settings

Romanticism was…

A reaction to the rationalism of the 1800s

Romantic inspiration

Taken from the natural landscape and composers’ homelands

Composers could no longer…

Recycle movements or melodies as they did in the Baroque and Classical eras

Dissonance

Used often

Variety shows

Popular entertainment during the Romantic period

Art song (lied / lieder)

Vocal works performed with accompaniment that followed the form of literature and told stories

Virtuoso

Someone with extraordinary technical skills

Chopin and Lizst

Major piano composers of the era

Piano works in the Romantic era

Quiet, intimate pieces (called nocturnes and preludes) or virtuosic, exhibistionist displays (waltzes, mazurkas, and polonaisses)

Clara Schumann

An outstanding Romantic pianist and virtuoso

Hector Berlioz

An iconic programmatic composer

Program symphony

Symphony inspired by program of composer’s creation

Incidental music

Orchestral music that evokes the text of a poem or other short piece

Idae fixe / leitmotif

Musical motif that references a specific character

Concert overtures, tone poems, symphonic poems

Forms of programmatic music

Tone poem

Large, one-movement works for orchestra that suggest a scene, story or mood

Overture

Musical introduction

Ballet

An art form involving dance, scenery, costumes, and music

Romantic ballet

Emphasized grace and form

Italian opera styles

Verismo and bel canto

French operas

More serious than Italian operas and consisting of one of two forms, grand opera and lyric opera

German operas

Longer and heavier than their counterparts

Richard Wagner

German opera composer that based his characters and stories off of Nordic mythology, wrote plays and directed his own “music dramas,” pushed major and minor tonality to its limits, used leitmotifs, and did not divide operas into arias or recitatives

“Der Ring des Nibelung”

Wagner’s most famous opera

Johannes Brahms

Romantic traditionalist that expanded on romantic tonality while still adhering to classic ideals, such as balance, clarity, and strict form

Antonin Dvorak

Composer that took inspiration from the American Heartland, and he opposed the “worship” of European artists and composers that so many of his peers took part in

Russian nationalist composers

Cesar Fui, Alexander Borodin, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mousergsky, and Nicholas Rimsky-Korsokoff