ROMANTICISM

Romanticism

– Romantic literature & literary theory flourished particularly 1800-1820

– A great age of poetry in England• Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats, Byron

– Outpouring of German Romantic literature• Tieck, Novalis, Kleist, Hölderlin, Hoffmann

– As it applies to music, the term Romantic was adopted from literature

Romanticism (2)– Literary figures were talking excitedly about

“Romantic” music by the 1820s– Music was now regarded as a major art

• Treated with a new respect & seriousness• Largely thanks to Beethoven

– Many parallels were drawn between music & literature

• Literature’s prestige & power were now extended freely to music

– Music considered to be the most “Romantic” of the arts

Romanticism

– To us, the word romantic refers to love– But glorification of love was just one of

many Romantic themes• Individual feeling• Revolt• The supernatural• Freedom from artistic barriers• Music’s boundlessness, blending with other

arts

The Cult of Individual Feeling

– Everyday life harsh, dull, & meaningless– It could be transcended through free exercise

of individual will & passion– Highest good was feeling, unconstrained by

convention, religion, or society• Emotional expression the highest artistic goal

– Artistic “Bohemians” appeared• Proclaimed romantic love, led irregular lives, wore

odd clothes

Romanticism and Revolt

– American & French Revolutions– 1848 revolutions & upheavals

• In France, Germany, Austria, & Italy– Romantics viewed as rebels against the

established order– Many composers took up cause of liberty

• Beethoven, Liszt, Verdi, Wagner– Social barriers also broken down

• Greater social mobility• Liszt’s affairs with noblewomen

Music and the Supernatural

– Many supernatural, even macabre subjects• Dreams, nightmares, & demons• Faust selling his soul to the Devil• A demon who claims a terrified child’s life• Titles included Frankenstein, Robert the Devil, The

Vampire, The Magic Bullet– Composers created spooky music with

strange harmonies & sinister sounds– Interest in the grotesque

Fascination with Nature

• Many works of art feature nature• Nature can represent the “infinite”• Nature becomes a reflection of the inner

emotional world

Music and the Other Arts (1)

– Efforts were made to blend the arts• Poetry became more “musical”• Paintings & musical works were given “poetic”

titles• Wagner attempted to merge poetry, drama, music,

& stagecraft in his “total artwork”– Blurred effects cultivated in many arts

• Half-obscure verbal meanings• Ambiguous shapes & color blends• Imprecise yet rich & evocative sounds

Music and the Other Arts (2)

– Artists tried to express higher experience• Works that evoke the sublime or the infinite

– A quality of boundlessness gave music its special prestige & status

– Music more “abstract” than other arts• Not tied down to word meanings (as in poetry) or

physical representation (as in painting)– Thus, music could express inner experience

more deeply

Music and the Other Arts (3)

– Music’s special place in Romanticism was expounded by many philosophers

• Schopenhauer, most notably– “All art aspires to the condition of music”

• Victorian critic Walter Pater– Other arts tried to capture what they admired

most in music• Music’s depth, freedom of emotional expression,

and continuous, “infinite” quality

Concert Life in the Nineteenth Century (1)

– Public concert steadily grew in importance• Concert hall & opera house came to dominate

– Even small cities had symphony societies• Including New York & Boston• Organized by merchants, government officials,

lawyers, & other members of middle class– Intimate genres increasingly presented on

concert stage• Piano works, Lieder, & string quartets

Concert Life in the Nineteenth Century (2)

– Touring artists became more prevalent– But audiences grew more conservative

• Many aristocratic patrons had a sophisticated knowledge of the arts

• Less knowledgeable middle class audiences wanted “value” for their money

• Audiences preferred established masterpieces & virtuoso performers

The Artist and the Public

– A paradoxical situation developed• Artists needed to follow their inspiration• Audiences wanted recognized value• Composers felt resentment & audiences became

distrustful, even hostile– The gap between innovative composers &

conservative audiences widened

Style features of Romantic Music

• Melody:• Harmony:• Rhythm/meter:• Tone colour/instrumentation:

Style Features of Romantic Music

– Music had to mirror inner feeling• Artists were expected to have a personal style• Important to sound different from others

– Constant striving for higher experience• Innovation became essential

– Hard to define Romantic style in general• Easier to spot innovations & novelties

– There were some common interests• In rhythm, melody, harmony, color, & form

Rhythm: Rubato

– Italian tempo rubato = robbed time• Reflected Romantic tendency to blur sharp edges• Refers to flexible handling of rhythm• Tempo speeds up & slows down• (Or melody can move in & out of phase with strict

beat in accompaniment)– Rubato a sign of individual expressivity– Seldom notated, but nearly always used

Romantic Melody (1)

– The most recognizable Romantic feature– More emotional than before

• Wider melodic range• Dramatic buildups to sustained climaxes• (insert CD4)

Romantic Melody (2)

• More irregular in rhythm & phrase-lengths• Overall a more spontaneous feel

– Many individual emotional shadings• Exaggeratedly emotional, intimate, passionate,

dreamy, ecstatic, sensitive, and so on

Romantic Harmony

– Major advances in the area of harmony– Used to support emotionality of melody– Also savored for its own sake

• New chord types & chord progressions• Potent tools for creating countless moods –

mysterious, sinister, rapturous, ethereal, etc.– Chromaticism used to expand expressivity

• Use of all 12 notes of chromatic scale• Permits much wider harmonic vocabulary• Also used to create instability, ambiguity, etc.

The Expansion of Tone Color (1)

– Sheer sensuous quality of sound assumed importance for the first time

• On a par with melody, rhythm, or form– Major advances in instrument design

• Elaborate key mechanisms for woodwinds• Metal frame for piano strings, and so on

– Romantic fascination with the orchestra• Ingenious new combinations of sounds

The Expansion of Tone Color (2)

– Orchestra grew to modern size & makeup

The Expansion of Tone Color (3)

– Composers mixed instrumental colors with great freedom & virtuosity

• Like mixing paint colors on a palette• Multicolored shades of blended orchestral sound

replaced simpler Classical sonorities– Orchestral effects became more elaborate

• Conductors with batons needed to control & balance orchestral sounds

– Opera composers used orchestral effects that nearly overwhelmed the singers