1. Mrs Crossan Moffat Academy
Romantic Era
Mrs Crossan
Moffat Academy

2. Composers DVORAK 1841-1904 BRAHMS BEETHOVEN 1833-1897 1770-1827
SCHUBERT
TCHAIKOVSKY
VERDI
WAGNER
MENDELSSOHN

3. Romanticism ~1810 - 1900 A beginning of new ideas.
Composers had a fascination with the mystic and supernatural both religious and spooky.
An artistic, literary and intellectual movement which was strengthened by the Industrial Revolution.
Attention to National Identity~ Nationalism.
Composers showed a greater interest in Nature. i.e. Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony.
Composers started to show discontent with musical conventions.
“Wanderer above the Sea Fog” by C. D Freidrich. An exam of Romantic painting.

4. What composers wrote about…
Romantic composers had a wide interest in all forms of art and befriended artists, writers, poets and other composers.
These friendships often provided the inspiration for the composition of new music as the composers experimented with sound to create the feelings of:
emotions
the story of poems
the description of the countryside
fantasies and dreams
love
war
rivers and lakes

5. Nationalism
Music where the composer writes music to represent a country.
They could use folk melodies, notable rhythms, programme music which describes their homeland.
Edward Elgar- ‘Pomp and Circumstance’
A military style march. The name is taken from a work of Shakespeare
Edvard Grieg- ‘Peer Gynt’
A Norwegian folk story which Grieg put to music.
Jean Sibelius- ‘Finlandia’
Interpreted to represent the rising nation of Finland, which would someday gain independence from Russia
Frederic Chopin- ‘Mazurkas’
The first composer to incorporate nationalistic elements into his compositions. His Mazurkas use nationalistic rhythms.

6. The industrial revolution
Events and changes that happen in society such as ideas, attitudes, discoveries, inventions, and historical events always affect music.
The Industrial Revolution was in full effect by the late 18th century and early 19th century. This event had a very profound effect on 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 more ease and they were more reliable
Another development that had an effect on music was the rise of the middle class.
Composers before this period lived on 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“.

7. The Romantic Orchestra
POWERFUL BRASS SECTION
Increase in ORCHESTRA SIZE
Addition of the TUBA
DRAMATIC
Growing PERCUSSION SECTION~ including a range of drums and cymbals.
Larger WOODWIND SECTION:~ piccolo, flute, cor anglais, oboe, clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoon and double bassoon!
EMOTIONAL
Increased STRINGS~ to balance out the other larger sections.
POWERFUL

8. The Romantic Orchestra
Composers of the Romantic period were very excited and keen to explore all the new sound possibilities.
They wanted to create new, rich and varied timbres when writing for groups from small ensembles (chamber music) to giant orchestral sounds.
Classical
Romantic

9. Early Romantic Chamber Music
Bridging the gap between the Classical and Romantic periods, Beethoven continued the development of chamber music with a combination of sonatas, string trios, piano trios, string quartets and similar compositions.
Listen to this excerpt from a piano sonata,
just bridging the period from
Classical to Romantic, in which the
third movement is still a minuet and trio.
The ternary form is quite clear to
the listener. Notice the use
of octaves, imitation,
the contrast in dynamics,
the use of rubato and the different
style of the playing in the middle section the trio.
Listen to the arpeggios
In the minor key.

10. Early Romantic Chamber Music
Now listen to an excerpt from a last movement, a rondo, from a violin sonata by Beethoven and notice how the two instruments share the thematic material between them.
Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 135, his last, written in 1825 just two years before his death.
In his later works the standard shape of the movements starts to change a little, for instance the quartet before this had five movements.
In this one the second movement, instead of being slow, is a fast one, a scherzo, which by now had replaced the minuet and trio. Listen for the ternary form, the quite distinct syncopation near the beginning, lots of staccato playing, imitation between parts, and a repeated figure in the cello part before the repeat of the first section.
This quintet is unusual as it is one of the few chamber works to use a double bass added to a piano quartet of piano, violin, viola and cello. After the main theme has been introduced the distinctive rippling sound to represent the stream is played in the first variation.

11. Late Romantic Chamber Music
As the 19th century progressed the chamber music styles established in the Classical period continued and much of the progress was built around the use of the new improved piano.
Robert Schumann (1810–1856) composed all kinds of music and is famous for his programmatic symphonies, concertos, song cycles and instrumental music. 

12. Late Romantic Chamber Music
Ensemble Music
String quartets were still a popular form with composers.
Listen to this excerpt from the last movement of Dvorak’s String Quartet No Notice :
the bright, happy ‘allegro assai’,
the imitation between parts,
and most importantly the changes of tempo within the excerpt.
Composers started to experiment with new combinations of instruments
Listen to this excerpt by the French composer Gounod from a work for nine wind instruments: flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons and a French horn.
This is a scherzo so you will notice:
the quick three beats in a bar,
much use of imitation and repetition,
and the different texture of the middle section introduced by the French horn with the original material returning towards the end of the movement, giving this an overall ternary form.

13. Piano Music 17th Century 18th Century
One of the most important features of the 18th century was the development of the piano from a wooden-framed instrument with leather-covered hammers to an instrument with an iron frame and felt-covered hammers much like the upright and grand pianos of today.
The greater strength of the frame allowed for longer, thicker strings and as a result, a much warmer and richer sound.
17th Century
18th Century

14. Piano Music Sonatas Polonaise Barcarolle Song without words Ballade
While sonatas were still written after the time of Beethoven and Schubert, there was a tendency among many composers to write shorter works, some of which could express feeling, emotion or atmosphere.
Prelude: Chopin- “Snowdrop”
Listen to the use of Rubato.
Polonaise
Barcarolle
Song without words
Ballade
Waltz
Nocturne: John Field
Listen to the singing melody played against the arpeggio accompaniment. Again Listen to the use of Rubato and the use of suspensions.
Mazurka
Impromptu

15. Piano Music Theme and Variations
Theme and variations was still a popular form and one of the few to survive from the Baroque period.
Listen to this example of variations on a theme of a well-known Christmas carol, ‘Adeste Fideles’, better known to many as ‘O come all ye faithful’. Things to listen carefully for:
Introduction using the first phrase of the carol- in the MINOR key.
Continued with VARIATIONS on parts of the theme.
Followed by the MAIN RECOGNISABLE THEME.

16. Early Symphony
The period from 1815 to 1910 saw a comprehensive development of the symphony
from a work in four movements which could be played by a small orchestra of 30 to 40 players, to,
by the end of the nineteenth century, a large work for an orchestra of as many as 120 players. During that time the shape of the symphony also developed and could have anything from one to six movements.

17. Listening Comparison BEETHOVEN 1804 1823
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 was regarded as a turning point in orchestration and while this and the next four of his works in this style are classical, differences start to be heard in the sound of the orchestra and the handling of the instruments.
Listen to an excerpt of the third movement from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3. Notice:
the speed of the music,
the dynamic contrasts, crescendo,
the use of strings and woodwind conversing with one another and a typical Beethoven technique of following a very loud section with a very quiet one. 
By the time Beethoven wrote his Symphony No. 9, he was totally deaf and despite this his music had reached new levels in originality.
The ‘Ode to Joy’ of the last movement of this symphony is world-renowned and his combination of large orchestra, SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) chorus and SATB soloists was unique in a symphony of this time.

18. Late Symphony
As the nineteenth century progressed most of the major composers wrote symphonies. The orchestra grew in size to include:
more woodwind, at least double woodwind instruments and later triple with the inclusion of piccolo on the top and contra bassoon on the bottom (In an orchestra double woodwind implies two instruments per type and triple, three per instrument.)
a brass section of up to four trumpets, four French horns, three trombones and tuba
a larger percussion section using timpani, bass drum and crash cymbals.

19. Late Symphonies Tchaikovsky BRAHMS:
Wrote 4 symphonies. These were written in a classical shape. However, he used larger orchestra and the works were on a lot larger scale taking almost 1 hour to perform.
DVORAK:
Wrote a number of symphonies, the most well known- “From the New World”. It has 4 movements:
Adagio (In sonata form)
Largo (The one everyone knows)- a very dramatic brass section at the beginning. Main theme played on Cor Anglais.
Scherzo
Allegro
Tchaikovsky
Dvorak “New World”

20. VOCAL MUSIC ~Solo Song~

21. Lied Lied is a work for solo voice and piano. The text is in German;
the structure of the verses could be strophic or through composed.
An important feature is that the voice and piano are equally important with the piano often setting the atmosphere for the text of the song in the accompaniment.
GERMAN FOR SONG
STROPHIC:
A vocal or choral composition in which each verse has the same music.
THROUGH COMPOSED:
A vocal or choral composition in which there is little or no repetition of the music.

22. Song Cycle Song cycles exist in modern music too:
a group, or cycle, of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity
all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist
Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Robert Schumann’s Liederkreis by the atmospheric setting of the forest.
Song cycles exist in modern music too:
Pink Floyd ~ The Wall
Arcade Fire ~ The Suburbs
Plan B ~ The Defamation of Strickland Banks
Listen to “Der Lindembaum” (The Linden Tree) from ‘Winterreise’ a cycle of 20 songs by Franz Schubert. You can clearly hear the composer describing the breeze in the tree in the piano part.

23. Choral Music

24. Choral Music ORATORIO:
Here is perhaps the most famous chorus by Berlioz, ‘Thou must leave thy lowly dwelling’. Listen to the homophonic texture of the music, which is strophic in style, i.e. three verses of the same music. 
MASS:
Bruckner composed a large number of religious works.
He wrote many Masses. 
Listen to this excerpt from his Mass in E minor.  Notice the use of unison singing, chromatic sequences towards the end, and organ and orchestral accompaniment, although little is heard of the orchestra in this excerpt.
REQUIEM:
A requiem is a Mass for the dead!
Verdi's Requiem has a dramatic sound 
This is a short movement but it is even more dramatic than Mozart's version. It has a large chorus and orchestra and in particular a large percussion section including a bass drum, clearly heard on the off beat at the beginning, and crash cymbals. 

25. Programme Music

26. Programme Music
Programme music is music which tells a story, describes a scene or painting.
BEETHOVEN: PASTORAL SYMPHONY NO.6
MUSSORGSKY:
PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
DUKAS:
SORCERERS APPRENTICE
SAINT-SAEN:
CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS

27. Symphonic Poem or Tone Poem
A one movement work which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting or landscape.
First composed by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt and called Tone Poem’s. He wrote 13. Including ‘Hamlet’ a tone poem based on the Shakespearean play. And ‘Orpheus’ based on the Greek Legend.
considerable length
Dramatic
Smetana
Vltava
Duka’s
Sorcerer’s
Apprentice
Saint-Saen
Danse Macabre

28. Star Wars Darth Vader Theme
Idee Fixe or Leitmotif
a short, constantly recurring musical phrase associated with a particular person, place, or idea.
Star Wars Darth Vader Theme
Richard Wagner:
The Siegfried leitmotif from Wagner's opera, the third of his Ring cycle; the theme is broader and more richly orchestrated than its earlier appearances, suggesting the emergence of Siegfried's heroic character
Jaws
Prokofiev:
Peter and the Wolf

29. Test on concepts below:
Lied
Lieder
Song Cycle
Programme Music
Symphonic/ Tone Poem
Idee Fixe
Nationalism
Late Romanticism
Chamber music
Sonata
String quartet
Concerto
Symphony
Strophic
Through composed
Oratorio
Mass
Requiem