Romantic Period
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1800-1900



Composers


Beethoven


Schubert


Chopin


Schumann


Brahms


Liszt


Weber


Paganini


Wagner


Mendelssohn


Saint-Saëns


Bizet

Mussorgsky


Mahler


Tchaikovsky

Personal expression gains the center of attention during this period, and composers are liberated in that sense. The symphonic poem describes stories and visions, and composers begin to discover their nations' musical roots. Chromaticism enhances possibilities of expression.

Wanderer above the sea of fog (c. 1818) Caspar David Friedrich, Kunsthalle, HamburgArt in the Romantic period shifts emphasis from form and structure to the artist's personal expression, not necessarily in a defined formal framework. The old forms are still in use (symphony, sonata, concerto), yet they undergo essential modifications. Emphasis shifts to the individual artist. "Programme music"1st movement from Symphony No. 6 in F Opus 68, 'Pastoral' - Beethoven (descriptional music) evolves, and Liszt creates the "symphonic poem", in which the course of the work is set by content'Liebestraume' No.3 - Liszt, not by patterns of form.
One should mention the "national music", that became, in the 19th century, a meaningful trend in musical practice. The revolutions, since 1848, marked an age of national affinity among the peoples of Europe, and many composers (Mussorgski'The Old Castle' from 'Pictures at an Exhibition' - Mussorgsky, SmetanaThe Moldau' (Vltava) from Symphonic Poem, 'My Fatherland' (Ma Vlast) - Smetana, DvorákMovement 4 from Symphony no. 9 'From the New World' in Em, Op.95 - Dvorak and others) reflected the music of their own people in their work.
In this period, composers make great use of chromaticsNocturne No.14 in F#m, Op.48 No.2 - Chopin and chromatic keys.
In the 'opera verismo' trend, OperaOverture from the opera ' Carmen' - Georges Bizet writers tend to write about the lives of the common people, and to put more realistic stories on this stage.



Study Nationalism in the Romantic period


Notation in this period
Bach's notes in his handwriting



Example music from this period
Examples
Valse in C#m, Op.64 No.2 - Chopin
'The Moldau' (Vltava) from Symphonic Poem, 'My Fatherland' - Smetana
Octet for Strings, Op.20 - 1st mov - Mendelssohn
Die Forelle (The Trout), Op.32 (D550) - Schubert
Liebestraume No.3 - Liszt

The main musical forms in this period
Typical forms
Sonata
Symphony
Lieder
Symphonic Poem
Concerto
Opera


Study the historical events that were connected with music and how
Historic and Scientific events
1805
Battle of Trafalgar - Lord Nelson defeats French and Spanish fleets
1819
Stethoscope invented by Rene Laennec
1829
Braille invented by Louis Braille
1835
Charles Babbage works on the "analytical engine" a long way toward the modern computer.
1835
Revolver pistol invented by Samuel Colt
1839
Charles Goodyear is the first to create rubber
1844
Telegraph is invented by Samuel F. B. Morse
1846
In England, the first postage stamp created
1859
First oil wells made by the American Drake
1859
Darwin reveals our ancestor: The monkey
1861
American Civil War between North and South
1865
Lincoln assassinated
1867
Alfred Nobel creates dynamite
1867
Austria-Hungary monarchy is established
1870
War between the french and the Prussian army
1871
German Empire declared by Kaiser Wilhelm I
1876
Bell invents the telephone
1877
Gramophone and phonograph developed by Thomas A. Edison
1885
Benz develops the Automobile
1895
X-rays developed by Roentgen
1895
China loses the war against Japan


Musical instruments technology
1801
Anton Weidinger develops the first keyed trumpet
1822
Buschmann of Berlin develops the first mouth-organ
1829
Damian of Vienna patented the first accordion
1845
Adolphe Sax develops the saxhorn
1847
First transverse flute with modern key system designed by Theodore Boehm
1873
Pianoforte with pedals developed by John Broadwood





Arts
Study about art in that period


Politics
What happend in the world during that period


Science
Inventions and discoveries in that period


Architecture
This period in the history of architecture


Notes
Read music notes from that period


Romanticism on the WWW

Period's sites from the internet
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Period's audio & Music from the internet
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Period's MIDI Files from the internet
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