Introduction to Romanticism and Romantic Music

  

                19th century Romanticism was an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual 
        movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in 
        most facets was at its peak from approximately 1800 to 1850, but it continued on 

        in music into the 20th century through composers like Richard Strauss and Sergei 
        Rachmaninoff.   

       1750 - 1800:  The Classical Era & the Enlightenment 

                Romanticism was largely a reaction to the rationalism, science, early urban
        sprawl, industrialization, and the social and political norms of the 18th century 
        Enlightenment, an intellectual movement that advocated for the improvement of 

        society through rational philosophy.  Attacks on monarchy, aristocratic privilege 
        and religious dogma were combined with calls for human rights, democracy, 
        freedom of speech and a free press, separation of church and state, free market 
        economics, the abolition of slavery, the advancement of science, rule-based ethics, 

        and more.  The Enlightenment spawned the American and French revolutions.

                The arts of the late 18th century are called "neoclassical" (just "classical" in 
        music) and were also based on rational principles.  Classical arts stressed reason, 
        order, logic, simplicity, clarity of form, balance and proportion, adherence to con-
        vention and (most importantly for our purposes) moderation of the emotions.  

        That began in classical antiquity with philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics).  

                Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were the  most important composers 

       of the Classical era.  "Dignified, refined, and elegant" was the aesthetic ideal of classicism.  

       With rare exceptions, their music was bright and exuded contentment, happiness and 

       optimism.  Only a tiny bit of their music expressed sadness, grief or drama.  On the other 

       hand, romantics, while often  emotionally positive, leaned much more toward darker

       emotions, even emphasizing anxiety, despair, terror, disillusionment, insanity, and death.    

      Themes of 19th Century Romanticism

 

                 Romantics stressed emotions over reason,  nature over science, and extreme
        subjectivity.  Music, literature, and the visual arts were usually more passionate, 
        dramatic, intimate, and individualistic than in the 18th century neoclassical era.  
        Romantic arts often evoked fantasy, magic, tragedy, the super-natural,  and other-

        worldliness. 

 
                 The movement emphasized intense emotions as a new source of aesthetic 
       experience, and emphasized such emotions as apprehension,  horror and terror, 
        and awe—especially that experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories 
        of sublimity and the beauty of nature.  It stressed spontaneity and improvisation 
        (as in the new musical genre, the impromptu) over logic and planning.  Inspired by  
        poets, romantic composers brought a new lyricism to their melodies. 


      New Musical Genres and Nationalism in Music

                In Early Romantic music, existing genres such as the symphony and the 
        sonata decreased in use as new genres became popular (e.g. études, fantasies, 
        nocturnes) as composer sought more freedom of expression.  Frédéric Chopin 
        was one of several composers who used folk musics of their native countries to 
        promote nationalism in a time when smaller countries were dominated by larger 
        ones (Chopin's mazurkas and polonaises were derived from Polish folk music at 
        a time when Poland was ruled by Russia).  Franz Liszt references his homeland 

        music in his Hungarian Rhapsodies.  By mid-century Russian, Czech, and 

        Scandinavian composers are developing styles from their homelands.

      Program Music in the Romantic Era  
 
                Many Romantics also turned to instrumental 'program music' that, unlike 
        'absolute music', is about a topic, either real or imaginary.  While program music 

        had been around for centuries (e.g. Antonio Vivaldi's 1725 work The Four Seasons), 
        romantics greatly increased use of program music and explicitly drew on poetry, 

        literature, and visual arts for inspiration to create instrumental narratives.  
            Hector Berlioz's symphonies, Robert Schumann's solo piano works, and Franz 
            Liszt's symphonic poems were important works of program music in the early 
        Romantic era.  

      The Rise of the Public Instrumental Concert and the Virtuoso

               By the 1830s the upper-middle class is wrestling control of the arts from the 

        aristocracy, instrumental music is becoming more popular than opera, and public 

        concerts are all the fashion.  This began the age of the instrumental virtuoso, usually  

        a pianist or violinist with extraordinary technical skills.  Franz Liszt becomes the first 

        internatioanl superstar of classical music.  Between 1838 and 1846, Liszt played over 

        1,000 concerts throughout Europe creating a phenomena known as 'Lisztomania'.  

        Classical virtuosos have drawn huge audiences ever since.

      The Main Takeaways:  Classicism vs. Romanticism

                Classicists focused on the intellect, reason, and control of the emotions.  Simplicity, 

        balance, and elegance were their aesthic ideals.  They believed in to social conformity 

        that led to conformity within the forms of musical expression.  They were rule followers 

        instead of rule breakers.  Simplicity, elegance and optimism permeated most of their music. 

                Romantics focused on individualism and exploring a wide range of human emotions.  

        They sought new a new spiritualism inspired by nature.   Passion and drama were key 

        features of their music which was often complex and quite disturbing.  If rules got in their

        way, they broke them.  They can be likened to the Beat Generation and the hippies of the 

        1950s and 1960s.

                  (section commented out)