Romantic Era

14/01/26

Features of Romantic Era

  • Lyrical melody- larger range of expression and emotion- larger range and non-balanced phrases

  • Narrative in the music

  • Less ornamentation

  • Dramatic use of dynamics

  • Rubato tempo

  • More dissonance used- extended chords

  • Longer form structures- less constrained

  • Instrument tech developed and more keys and notes can be played and size of orchestra increases

Development of the piano

  • Sustained and soft pedal expressive variety

Chopin

Rubato

  • Conflicting accounts to which Chopin engaged in his practise- ‘Chopin could not play in strict time’

  • Chopin’s instructions to keep the left hand metronomic so you can be free with the right hand

Maurizio Pollini

Use of rubato- small use of it

Listeners experience or understanding- Easier to follow along as it has more of a pulse

Personal preference-

Evgeny Kissin

Use of rubato- Larger use of rubato especially at the ends of phrases

Listeners experience or understanding- more intimate/emotional- has more depth

Personal preference- This one

Ballade as Artform

  • a poem in three rhyming stanzas- often on love and loss

  • Form of verse set to music

  • Tale of fantastical nature- sometimes enacted on stage by he storyteller

  • Balletic dance