Romantic music is a stylistic movement in Western Classical music associated with the period of the 19th century commonly referred to as the Romantic era (or Romantic period). It is closely related to the broader concept of Romanticism—the intellectual, artistic, and literary movement that became prominent in Western culture from about 1798 until 1837.
Romantic composers sought to create music that was individualistic, emotional, dramatic, and often programmatic; reflecting broader trends within the movements of Romantic literature, poetry, art, and philosophy. Romantic music was often ostensibly inspired by (or else sought to evoke) non-musical stimuli, such as nature, literature, poetry, super-natural elements, or the fine arts. It included features such as increased chromaticism and moved away from traditional forms.
Background
The Romantic movement was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe and strengthened in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. In part, it was a revolt against social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts, music, literature, and education, and was in turn influenced by developments in natural history.
One of the first significant applications of the term to music was in 1789, in the Mémoires by the Frenchman André Grétry. It was E. T. A. Hoffmann who established the principles of musical romanticism, in a lengthy review of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony published in 1810, and an 1813 article on Beethoven's instrumental music. In the first of these essays Hoffmann traced the beginnings of musical Romanticism to the later works of Haydn and Mozart.
It was Hoffmann's fusion of ideas already associated with the term "Romantic", used in opposition to the restraint and formality of Classical models, that elevated music, and especially instrumental music, to a position of pre-eminence in Romanticism as the art most suited to the expression of emotions. It was also through the writings of Hoffmann and other German authors that German music was brought to the center of musical Romanticism.
Traits
The classical period often used short, even fragmentary, thematic material while the Romantic period tended to make greater use of longer, more fully defined and more emotionally evocative themes.
Characteristics often attributed to Romanticism:
- a new preoccupation with and surrender to nature;
- a turn towards the mystic and supernatural, both religious and unearthly;
- a focus on the nocturnal, the ghostly, the frightful, and terrifying;
- a new attention given to national identity;
- discontent with musical formulas and conventions;
- a greater emphasis on melody to sustain musical interest;
- increased chromaticism;
- a harmonic structure based on movement from tonic to subdominant or alternative keys rather than the traditional dominant, and use of more elaborate harmonic progressions (Wagner and Liszt are known for their experimental progressions);
- large, grand orchestras were common during this period;
- increase in virtuosic players featured in orchestrations;
- the use of new or previously not so common musical structures like the song cycle, nocturne, concert etude, arabesque, and rhapsody, alongside the traditional classical genres;
- Program music became somewhat more common;
- the use of a wider range of dynamics, for example from ppp to fff (from pianississimo, or very, very quiet to fortississimo, very, very loud), supported by large orchestration;
- a greater tonal range (for example, using the lowest and highest notes of the piano);
In music, there is a relatively clear dividing line in musical structure and form following the death of Beethoven. Whether one counts Beethoven as a "romantic" composer or not, the breadth and power of his work gave rise to a feeling that the classical sonata form and, indeed, the structure of the symphony, sonata and string quartet had been exhausted.
Trends of the 19th century
Non-musical influences
Events and changes in society such as ideas, attitudes, discoveries, inventions, and historical events often affect music. For example, the Industrial Revolution was in full effect by the late 18th century and early 19th century. This event profoundly affected music: there were major improvements in the mechanical valves and keys that most woodwinds and brass instruments depend on. The new and innovative instruments could be played with greater ease and they were more reliable.
Another development that affected music was the rise of the middle class. Composers before this period lived under the patronage of the aristocracy. Many times their audience was small, composed mostly of the upper class and individuals who were knowledgeable about music. The Romantic composers, on the other hand, often wrote for public concerts and festivals, with large audiences of paying customers, who had not necessarily had any music lessons. Composers of the Romantic Era, like Elgar, showed the world that there should be "no segregation of musical tastes" and that the "purpose was to write music that was to be heard".
"The music composed by Romantic [composers]" reflected "the importance of the individual" by being composed in ways that were often less restrictive and more often focused on the composer's skills as a person than prior means of writing music.
Nationalism
During the Romantic period, music often took on a much more nationalistic purpose. Composers composed with a distinct sound that represented their home country and traditions. For example, Jean Sibelius' Finlandia has been interpreted to represent the rising nation of Finland, which would someday gain independence from Russian control.
Frédéric Chopin was one of the first composers to incorporate nationalistic elements into his compositions. Joseph Machlis states, "Poland's struggle for freedom from tsarist rule aroused the national poet in Poland. ... Examples of musical nationalism abound in the output of the Romantic era. The folk idiom is prominent in the Mazurkas of Chopin". His mazurkas and polonaises are particularly notable for their use of nationalistic rhythms. Moreover, "During World War II the Nazis forbade the playing of ... Chopin's Polonaises in Warsaw because of the powerful symbolism residing in these works".
Other composers, such as Bedřich Smetana, wrote pieces that musically described their homelands. In particular, Smetana's Vltava is a symphonic poem about the Moldau River in the modern-day Czech Republic, the second in a cycle of six nationalistic symphonic poems collectively titled Má vlast (My Homeland). Smetana also composed eight nationalist operas, all of which remain in the repertory. They established him as the first Czech nationalist composer as well as the most important Czech opera composer of the generation who came to prominence in the 1860s.
History
Early Romantic
The transition of Viennese classicism to Romanticism can be found in the work of Ludwig van Beethoven. Many typically romantic elements are encountered for the first time in his works. These works contrast with vocal music and are "purely" instrumental music. According to Hoffmann, the pure instrumental music of Viennese classical music, especially that of Beethoven, is the embodiment of the romantic art idea, since it is free of material or program.
Another of the most important representatives of late classicism and early romanticism is Franz Schubert. He introduced romantic features into German-language opera with his chamber music works and later symphonies. Carl Loewe's ballads were also influential. Carl Maria von Weber is important for the development of the German opera, especially with his popular opera Der Freischütz. There are supernatural horror operas by Heinrich Marschner and cheerful operas by Albert Lortzing. Louis Spohr became known mainly for his instrumental music. Still largely attached to classical music is the work of Johann Nepomuk Hummel, Ferdinand Ries, and the Frenchman George Onslow.
Italy experienced the heyday of the Belcanto opera in early Romanticism, associated with the names of Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini. While Rossini's comic operas are more commonly known today, though often only through their rousing overtures, Donizetti and Bellini dominate tragic content. The most important Italian instrumental composer of this time was the legendary "devil's violinist" Niccolò Paganini.
In France, light opéra comique developed. Its representatives are François-Adrien Boieldieu, Daniel-François-Esprit Auber, and Adolphe Adam, with Adam known for his ballets. The famous eccentric composer and harpist Robert Nicolas-Charles Bochsa wrote seven operas. The grand opéra used pompous stage sets, ballets and large choirs. The genre was first introduced by Gaspare Spontini; Giacomo Meyerbeer was a notable composer of such works.
Elsewhere in Europe, the Irishman John Field composed the first Nocturnes for piano. Friedrich Kuhlau worked in Denmark. The Swede Franz Berwald wrote four very idiosyncratic symphonies.
High Romantic
High romanticism can be divided into two phases. In the first phase, the actual romantic music reaches its peak. The Polish composer Frédéric Chopin explored the depths of emotion in his character pieces and dances for piano. Robert Schumann's struggles with mental illness represent in person as well as in music the prototype of the passionate romantic artist shadowed by tragedy. His idiosyncratic piano pieces, chamber music works and symphonies had a lasting influence on the following generation of musicians.
Franz Liszt, a Hungarian composer, was both a celebrated piano virtuoso and also laid the foundation for the progressive "New German School" with his harmoniously bold symphonic poems. Hector Berlioz also wrote programmatic music with his technique of the idée fixe. Berlioz also significantly expanded the orchestra. Felix Mendelssohn was more oriented towards the classicist formal language and became a role model, especially for Scandinavian composers such as the Dane Niels Wilhelm Gade.
In opera, the operas of Otto Nicolai and Friedrich von Flotow still dominated in Germany when Richard Wagner wrote his first romantic operas. The early works of Giuseppe Verdi were also still based on the Belcanto ideal of the older generation. In France, the opéra lyrique was developed by Ambroise Thomas and Charles Gounod. Russian music found its own language in the operas of Mikhail Glinka and Alexander Dargomyzhsky.
The second phase of high romanticism runs in parallel with the style of realism in literature and the visual arts. In the second half of his creation, Wagner now developed his leitmotif technique, with which he holds together the four-part Ring of the Nibelungen, composed without arias; the orchestra is treated symphonically. Chromaticism reaches its extreme in Tristan und Isolde. Many composers were influenced by Wagner's progressive ideas, among them, for example, Peter Cornelius.
These progressive ideas were opposed by other more conservative composers. For these composers, Johannes Brahms, who sought a logical continuation of classical music in symphony, chamber music and song, became a model due to his depth of sensation and masterful musical technique. Among these conservative composers were Robert Volkmann, Friedrich Kiel, Carl Reinecke, Max Bruch, Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, and Hermann Goetz.
Not all composers fell neatly into the progressive or conservative camps. Among them, Anton Bruckner particularly stands out. Although supporter of Wagner, his clear-form style differs significantly from that of Wagner. For example, the block-based instrumentation of Bruckner's symphonies is derived from the registers of the organ. In the ideological struggle against Wagner's adversaries, he was portrayed by his followers as a counterpart of Brahms. Felix Draeseke, who originally wrote "future music in classical form" inspired by Liszt, also stands apart.
Verdi also had a great impact on musical drama. His immense charisma made all other composers fade in Italy, including Amilcare Ponchielli and Arrigo Boito, who was also the librettist of Verdi's later operas Otello and Falstaff.
In France, the satirical and comic operettas of Jacques Offenbach were popular. Lyrical opera found its climax in the works of Jules Massenet. Carmen by Georges Bizet introduced realism into opera. In Austria Johann Strauss II wrote Viennese operettas, along with waltzes and polkas.