1. Chapter 15 Prelude: Music after Beethoven: Romanticism

2. Key Terms Romanticism Cult of individual feeling Revolt The supernatural The macabre Artistic barriers

3. Early Romantic Timeline

4. Romanticism (1) 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

5. 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

6. Romanticism (3) 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. Artistic Barriers (1) A constant search for higher experience & more intense expression Inspiration & spontaneity could no longer be hemmed in by traditional forms and genres “Rules” were not to be trusted Shakespeare taken as a model, with his loose yet rich mix of tragedy & farce, rich poetry & bawdy prose, noble characters & clowns Shakespeare inspired composed such as Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Chaikovsky, & Verdi

11. Artistic Barriers (2) Composers broke down barriers of harmony & form Intense experimentation with chords & chord progressions previously forbidden Many imaginative new harmonies Sonata form, if used, was treated freely Many new genres emphasized freedom – fantasy, symphonic poem, character piece, etc.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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