Romantic Period

What are the dates of the Romantic period?

1815-1900

What makes the beginning and the end?

Defeat of Napoleon, New Century

What is the historical period of the literary genre Romance?

Middle Ages

What was the main topic of these long poems?

Adventures of Knights

Give an example of a well known Romance.

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

What was the Romantic period acting against?

The Age of Reason

Mention three concepts that replaced reason, logic, and scientific thinking.

Emotion, imagination, and individualism

Give five ideas that fascinated people at this time.

Nature, fantasy, the supernatural, legends, and dreams

Mention five developments that took place in the Romantic peered as demand for music increased.

Concert halls built

Conservatories were created

Music history began

Music journals were created

Professional orchestras were created

Why did the study of music history begin in this period?

People are interested in the music of the past, people are listening to music of the past

Music of previous historical periods was always left in the past until the 1800s, what historical period experienced a revival during this time?

Baroque

What is a conservatory?

A music school

Which was the first conservatory in Europe?

Paris Conservatory

Mention the name of a local conservatory?

New England Conservatory

What is the biggest music-related technological invention?

Phonograph

Who invented it and where?

New Jersey by Thomas Edison 1870s

Mention four ways in which this invention altered the way we listen to music.

Wider diffusion

Less engagement

Visual element is lost

Community experience is lost

From what social classes are the main consumers of music during this period?

Middle class

To what social class did most composers belong?

Middle class

Why were composers encouraged to use self-expression by their audience?

The audience wanted to identify with the musicians

Why were the composers before the Romantic period not able to use music for self-expression?

Because they were servants and writing music for other people

How were composers seen by society?

Artists

Composers were now self-employed? Mention four sources of revenue

Play music, publish music, teach music, take commissions

Mention three jobs that female musicians could have? 

Private teacher of piano

Opera singers

Soloists in public concerts (piano)

Harpists in an orchestra

How did female composers feel about their own music? Explain

They had self-doubt and lack of confidence because society told them they would never be as good as men

What type of genres did female composers write? Explain.

Songs, solo piano, and chamber music for the home

What was Clara Schumann’s profession?

Why couldn’t Fanny Mendelssohn become a professional musician? Explain

For women, music could only be an ornament, never your being and doing

How did Fanny Mendelssohn share her music with her audience?

Held a “salon” in her house in Berlin

Are orchestras privately owned in this period?

No, there was no more nobility and the middle class dominated culture

If a woman played in an orchestra, what instrument did she play?

What is tone color (or timbre), another element used in music?

The sound quality of a particular instrument or voice

What is orchestration?

The use and combination of the instruments in an orchestra

Who wrote the first book on orchestration?

Berlioz

Why is orchestration an important aspect of music in this period?

Orchestras are so large that you have to learn how to use the different instruments

What is the intention of German-speaking composers by setting German poetry to music?

To show off that the German language could be used in beautiful music

What is the German term for “art song”?

Lied or Lieder

Who performed these songs and where?

Homes by amateurs

Where are these songs performed TODAY and by whom?

Public concerts by professionals

What instrument was used to accompany these songs?

Piano

What role did the instrument have, besides playing the accompaniment?

It participates in the action, telling us a story

What is the texture of these songs?

Homophonic

What topic common to the Romantic period is present in the “Erlkönig” (The Elf King)?

Legends

Who wrote the poem?

Gothe

Who is the Elf King and how is Franz Schubert portraying him in the song?

He is a creature that takes little kids but he is portrayed as playful and deceitful

What character in the story is the piano portraying?

The horse

What is a song cycle?

A group of songs that tell a story

What story was Robert Schumann describing in Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love)?

A journey through love, heartbreak, and finally reconciliation

Which was the most popular instrument in the romantic period?

Piano

Why was this instrument more affordable?

Mass produced in factories

What did owning this instrument signal?

Wealth

What type of musician plays the piano? Where?

Amateurs in homes

Who was the most likely person to play this instrument in the home?

Single women looking for a husband

Why do we call this period the “Age of the Virtuoso?”

There were so many amazing performers

Mention the names of two virtuoso pianists

Chobin and Liszt

What type of gathering took place in a salon?

A social gathering

What composer/pianist was a favorite of Parisian salons?

Chopin

What composer/pianist loved to play in large venues?

Liszt

What is Liszts mania?

Women going crazy for him

Mention two older genres for solo piano still performed during this time?

Piano sonata

Dances

Mention three new genres for solo piano.

Character pieces

Nocturnes

Etudes

What is a music nocturne trying to evoke? Explain its connection to the Romantic period

Trying to evoke the night and dreams, trying to be mysterious

The Romantic period was obsessed with concepts like dreams

What is an Etude used for?

Exercise and training

What story was Schumann describing in “Carnaval”?

A masquerade ball

How is he using the pieces “Eusebius” and “Florestan”? Explain

To show the two sides of his personality, shy extroverted

What is programmatic music? Provide a title that reflects this music

Uses a descriptive title to convey non-musical ideas

Joyful Playtime

Why did it become so popular during this period?

Because it uses imagination and expresses emotion

What is the opposite of programmatic music?

Absolute music

What is this music about? Provide a title that reflects this music

Music about musical ideas

Symphony no. 7 in G Minor

Why were Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies so problematic for Romantic composers?

They were so groundbreaking that composers did not know what to do

What story is Hector Berlioz telling in Fantastical Symphony?

A story about unrequited love about an actress who played Ophelia

How was the audience able to follow the story?

The titles of the pieces

What is a “fixed idea” and who is represented by it in Fantastical Symphony? 

A melody that represents a person or idea

The love interest the actress

What dance does Berlioz use for the second movement?

The Waltz

Why is he not using a minuet?

They are now out of style

Mention four ways in which this symphony is innovative?

Programmatic music

Using a title

Fixed idea

5 Movements

What four ideas common in the Romantic period are represented in this symphony?

Fantasy

Unrequited love

Dreams

Supernatural

Why was Johannes Brahms so fearful of writing a symphony?

He was convinced that music could only be used to express musical ideas, nothing else

For how long did he work on his first symphony (1876)?

20 years

What was his approach when writing his four symphonies?

He took a more traditional approach

Why was he so opposed to programmatic music?

He thought that music could only be used to tell musical ideas

Why do we call the Romantic period the “Golden Age of Opera”?

Best operas, overture, and arias

Mention four developments in the field of opera.

More people than ever attend opera, it was a sign of wealth and sophistication

Opera houses are built

Opera companies are founded

Composers more respected than librettists

What country dominated opera production?

Italy

Mention the names of two opera composers.

Giacomo Puccini

Giuseppe Verdi

How are recitatives from this period different from the recitatives of previous periods?

They are now song-like + orchestra

What change does this bring to opera?

Action seamlessly moves between recitatives and arias

In what country does Madame Butterfly take place?

Japan

What idea common to the Romantic period does this reflect?

The fascination with exoticism and far off lands that were different from everyday life

What was a common feature in the ending of operas at this time?

They were always tragic

Why was Europen music the most widespread in the world?

Colonization

What two types of European music arrived first in the U.S. (early 1600s)?

Folk music from the British Isles

Protestant church music for home and church (in English and singable)

Who brought them and when?

The first settlers in the 1620s

What is the significance of the Bay Psalm Book (1698 Edition) and where was it published? 

First time this book has musical notation, printed in Boston

Who was William Billings (1746-1800)?

The first American composer of European music

Where did he live?

Boston

What type of music did he write? 

All sacred music

Where was his music performed and by whom?

At home and church performed by amateurs

Thomas Jefferson (1748-1826) was an amateur violin and cello player. Who was his favorite composer?

Haydn

What is a parlor song?

Music for the home performed in the parlor of the home