Romantic Music Overview

Step 1

  • Listen to the 3 examples below to answer the following questions

  1. Share your overall impression of Romantic Period Music.  Romantic period music is very full with rich harmonies and is also taking more leisures with time and instrumentation choices. Even the piano piece by Hensel contains beautiful chord progressions and rolling phrases. 

  2. How does this music sound similar to Classical Music? Romantic music still has a lot of the same instrumentation as classical music, where strings were very heavily prevalent along side complimentary brass and woodwind parts. Music was still written in concertos, sonatas, etc as well. 

  3. How does this music sound different from Classical Music? Unlike Classical composers, Romantic composers aimed for a store powerful expression of emotion, often revealing their innermost thoughts and feelings. As Romantic composers widened the range of their musical material, we find richer harmonies, more passionate melodies, and greater use of chromaticism. There was an enormous increase in the size of the orchestra. The tuba was added to the brass section, valves were invented, giving the brass more flexibility. Composers wrote for woodwind instruments in threes of even fours. The piccolo, cor anglais, bass clarinet and double bassoon were added. A larger range of pitch and volume was now possible. New combinations of instruments were brought about. A rich variety of compositions resulted, ranging from piano pieces and songs to large spectacular works. Music in the Classical era also tends to consist also of shorter movements, because composers were still learning ways to extend their pieces. 

A.  Finagals Cave by Felix Mendelssohn

B.  Slavonic Dances by Anton Dvorak

C.  Song without Words by Fanny Mendelssohn

 

Step 2

  • What musical elements help create the emotion and imagery of Love Dream by Franz Liszt? The use of rubatos, or the strethcing of time, is the most prevelent elements that adds to the musical expression. I also felt that the rolling phrases from lower to higher also added to this effect. The gradual build up throughout the piece also adds feeling of anticipation. The tempo is also inreasing as the piece builds. As the piece starts to close, there is almost a bookend where it ends slow with the stretching of time. 

(Musical Elements; Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, Tempo, Texture, Timbre, Form, Purpose, Harmony, Melody, Expression, Mood, Language, Style, etc.)

 

Step 3

  • Describe the instrumental timbres used in Brahms Symphony No. 1. There is a heavy use of strings that are used to balance out the added use of brass and woodwinds. It is definitely set to more bright timbres, as violins, flutes, and oboes are very evident. As the piece progresses and the horns begin to play louder, the timbre becomes a little more dark as the piece becomes more aggressive. 

 

Step 4

  • Answer the following questions regarding Waldesnacht No. 3 by Brahms(2017-2018 All State Audition piece) 

  1. Provide a text translation for this excerpt

Wondrously cool woodland night,

whom I greet a thousand times:

after the uproarious tumult of the world,

o how sweet is your rustling!

Dreamily I nestle my weary limbs

in your tender moss,

and it seems to me as if once more

I were free from all my insane anguish.

Distant fluting song, emerge and

stir a wide yearning,

with thoughts of the beloved,

ah! beguile the resented distance!

Let the woodland night lull me,

still every pain,

and a blissful satisfaction

permit me to drink in with its fragrances.

In narrow, secret circles,

you, wild heart, will know well

that peace hovers above with hushed

wing-beats, slowly descending.

Lovely birds, sing your lovely songs,

sing me gently into slumber!

Distracting torments, dissipate again;

wild heart, now good night!

  1. Is this an example of a miniature or grandiose composition? It is a miniature.

 

Step 5

  • Describe musical elements of Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn. As it opens with a simple texture of brass, it sets up a call and response between the orchestra and trumpets, where they come together and play with gusto and heavy accents. It has a very steady tempo that keeps the piece moving forward. The major key also keeps its joyful tone. 

(Musical Elements; Pitch, Rhythm, Dynamics, Tempo, Texture, Timbre, Form, Purpose, Harmony, Melody, Expression, Mood, Language, Style, etc.)

 

Step 6

  1. What is a nocturne? A nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. Historically, nocturne is a very old term applied to night Offices and, since the Middle Ages, to divisions in the canonical hour of Matins.

  2. Describe characteristics of Romantic music conveyed in this piece. Nocturnes generally have more of a melancholy, yet peaceful mood that is very rocking and flowing. They are not limited to major or minor keys, but from this piece you can tell there are moments where it flows from minor to major chords, giving it that rocking back and forth feeling. 

Period Research

  • Gather resources of your own choosing to answer the following questions

  1. Provide approximate dates for the Romantic Period punctuated with notable world/historical events.

 Romantic music is a period of Western classical music that began in the late 18th or early 19th century.


  1. What impact did female composers have on the music of the Romantic Period? Women were making great strides in establishing careers as professional musicians, and they received training as singers, instrumentalists, and composers. Piano provided women of the middle and upper classes with a performance outlet that was socially acceptable, where other women broke away from the tradition and overcame societal stereotypes. 

  2. What impact did the Industrial Revolution have on the music industry?  One major impact of The Industrial Revolution was the vast improvement in instrument construction, and with new technical resources at their disposal, composers were able to write more complex music for instruments, and so it could be said that these technical resources had a major stylistic impetus. Mass construction of instruments became possible, and so they became cheaper, extending the possibility of music-making to the masses rather than an intellectual preserve of a few. Other technological innovations included the addition of valves to the brass,  which enabled composers to create more interesting parts for them (particularly trumpets, because hand horns far more versatility through hand-stopping).  Also, most musicians rebelled against ugliness of the "dark satanic mills" that came out of the industrial revolution, where their music reflected the pre-industrial nature scenes. 

  3. Provide music examples of how the English Horn and Harp were used to color orchestral music.

One example of music in the romantic period featuring the English Horn would be the Gaetano Donizetti's Concertino in G major (1816), and an example of harp in romanic music would be Méthode complète pour le harpe (1844) by Théodore Labarre 

  1. Use adjectives to describe the similarities between French Impressionism and the music of Debussy. abstract, atonal, detached, suggestive, explorative. 

  2. Choose an impressionistic art image that best partners with TheAfternoon of a Faun 

  3. Image result for impressionistic paintingsclaud monet 

  1. Choose a musical selection by Debussy that best parters with Water Lilies. First Arabesque

  • Bonus Credit:  See your instructor to access the DVD; Song of Love

Honors Track:

Option 4

Use Chapter 16 from the Listen Book to provide detailed examples of art, literature, music, etc.

using images, video and narrative for the following topics:

1.  The Cult of Individual Feeling

2.  Music and the Supernatural

3.  Music and Other Arts

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