The Romantic Period c. 1820 - 1900

Historical Background: Partly due to the Industrial Revolution, the population of Europe grew a lot in the 19th century. Most of the growth happened in cities such as London and Paris, and so most people, including musicians, lived in cities rather than small towns or courts. Among other things, this meant that people became more anonymous-everyone in a big city does not, of course, know everyone else-and more impersonal. One result may have been the development of a more individualistic artist-that is, an artist who, rather than creating in order to satisfy the needs of his/her community, creates in order to express his/her own "genius." In addition, as these city people's lives became less and less tied up with nature, they began to idealize nature. Landscape paintings and music written to depict nature were very popular.

There was a rapid growth in the use of the scientific method. Perhaps as a reaction to this, many artists and composers became very interested in the unconscious and the irrational; this is the period when Frankenstein and Dracula were written. There was a great demand for wildness, irregularity, the supernatural, the fantastic and the marvelous.

Composers, artists, and writers of the Romantic period were extremely concerned with expressing their emotions and inner lives, as well as asserting their individuality. The image of the eccentric artist can safely be said to have been born in this time. The constraints and order essential to Classical period music and art were broken in favor of freedom and creativity. The growing interest in the supernatural, the unreal, and the mythological can be contrasted with the practicality and rationality promoted by the Enlightenment (the prevailing philosophical movement of the Classical period.)

Music Making: As professional standards of performance were raised, the contrast between amateurs and professionals grew. Aristocrats no longer funded music, and began attending concerts in concert halls in the same way that middle-class people did. (You may remember that public concerts had been taking place since the Baroque period, with the first known public concert taking place in England in 1672.) As a result, composers were no longer dependent upon wealthy sponsors, and were free to write such music as they (and the public) pleased.

The Romantic period is often referred to as the age of the "cult of the genius" or the "cult of the virtuoso." (A virtuoso is someone who emphasizes amazing or overawing their audience with their technical skills.) While composers and performers had, in previous periods, seen themselves as servants fulfilling the practical demands of their patrons, they now saw themselves as creative masters whose art should be revered for its genius and its intrinsic value rather than just its functional qualities. Composers prior to the Romantic era had written for those living at the same time, but now composers became concerned with how their music would be received by posterity--that is, for those who would live in the future.

Musical Traits: In general, the music can be described as highly emotional and sentimental. The textures are often very rich and full. Several new forms were developed. One of the most important new forms was the lied (or art-song). These originated in Germany. Poets had begun writing Ballads, in essence long poems, often with alternating narrative and dialogue and frequently telling of romantic adventures or supernatural events. Composers started setting these to music, usually for a vocal soloist with piano. In the beginning, the piano functioned as an accompaniment, but eventually its role became almost equal to that of the voice. Some important composers of lieder include Brahms, Schubert, Schumann and Wolff.

Symphonic Poems were another important type of piece that developed in the Romantic period. Symphonic poems, written for orchestra, are programmatic-that is, they depict something beyond just abstract music. Many are based on poems or stories. One excerpt from a symphonic poem can be found in the listening clips-listen to Hector Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique. One way in which this piece is exemplary of the Romantic ideal is that it is a representation of the subconscious-it depicts a dream which Berlioz had after smoking opium.

Piano music was much more important during the Romantic period than ever before. Much of the music written is very rich in texture and many pieces are built upon repetitive gestures and rhythms. Character pieces are similar to symphonic poems and were also very popular. These works usually have descriptive titles and, like symphonic poems, are meant to depict some extra-musical idea such as a poem or an image.

In general, sonata form slowly diminished in importance to be replaced by more programmatic structures. Rather than following strict and complex forms such as sonata forms, composers would often repeat a theme many times throughout the piece, altering it each time. In fact, in longer pieces with multiple movements, the same theme frequently appears in more than one movement.

Nationalism was also a topic of major interest to composers of the Romantic period. Nationalism frequently stemmed from a desire on the part of subject peoples for independence. There were several ways in which nationalism could be seen in music. Some composers would use folk music in their pieces, while others would make up their own music that was meant to sound like folk music. Often composers would try to reflect the rhythms of their native speech in music or would use dance rhythms from their native country. Finally, many would composer program music meant to evoke their homeland. Some nationalist composers include Smetana and Dvorak, from Czechoslovakia, Glinka and Mussorgsky, from Russia, and Albeniz, from Spain.

Response Question: Describe the Romantic movement. What was its emphasis? What did composers, writers, and painters hope to achieve with their works? What were some of the central ideas of the period?