ROMANTIC MUSIC:

I. Sociocultural Influences in Music

*The political readjustments of the early 19th century and the declining fortunes of
the aristocracy left the composer in search of a social function. This meant that he was
left without an actual audience with whom to communicate.
*the position of the composer who had no marked abilities as instrumentalist,
conductor or administrator was far less profitable
*Reform, opposed by repressive authority, led to revolution: it was the nature of
authority to oppose reform. Revolution, if successful, would overthrow the traditional
world of music which provided the centers from which the composer could preach his
necessary, disregarded doctrines
*A period term is simply a convenient way of implying that certain norms exist
which at least tenuously link the personages and ideas subsumed under this heading, that
other persons and configurations of thought are excluded, and also that a certain
chronology exists even though the terminal dates at each end cannot be fixed with much
precision and considerable overlapping occurs with adjacent periods
*This movement was an international manifestation, strongest in Germany, quite
influential in England, France, and Russia, but also evident in Bohemia, Poland, Spain,
and Italy
*Repudiated Classic emphases on harmonious adjustment, discipline, moderation,
and adaptation whereas it valued striving rather than achieving, becoming rather than
being, emotional and inspired rather than emotional expression
*nothing “typical”
*prosaic in comparison
*Individualism; Intensity of Feeling; Romanticism as escape
*divergent political systems of the period
*most familiar term and the most evocative
*originally applied to literature of the early 19th century/ glorification of the
romantic love, nostalgia for the past, and a new enthusiasm for nature
*value of individual expressive emotion/ musician’s imagination not tied down to
matter-of-fact words and statements
*Composers and performers no longer regarded themselves-as craftsmen serving
society, but rather as free spirits expressing their own souls with a genius not granted to
the common run of mankind
*individual styles rather than periodic styles
*liberation of the woman (George Sand)-Aurore Dudevant
*age of materialism
*strong contradiction between capitalism and socialism/ freedom and oppression/
logic and emotion/ science and faith
*Other periods of the past had a core of accepted beliefs and practices that drew
composers together, resulting in a similarity in their music. Romanticism, on the other
hand, had the tendency to isolate creative personalities because their practices and beliefs
were often in opposition and, like Romanticism itself, complex
 *The revolutionary spirit that finally exploded in the French Revolution infused
artists with the ideals of liberty and individualism
*revolt against Classical music
*To be different was the goal/ individualistic
*expression of emotion and the evocation of imagination
*fascination for the mysteries of the universe
*The industrial Revolution caused a major change in the economic and social life
of common people and also gave rise to a wealthy, capitalistic middle class
*music addressed to the lower classes
*development of the business of music-the composer, together with the publisher
and concert manager, had to sell music to the public/ colorful personality came to be an
important asset
*music critic
*the revolutionary spirit had its origin in France, but it was in Germany and
Austria that Romanticism had its strongest manifestation

II. Functions of Music

*reduced aristocratic patronage

*performance no longer by amateurs because music was usually too technically
demanding for unskilled ones
*composers were constantly striving to gain the recognition of this vast audience,
and in an effort to win acceptance, they were very sensitive to the likes and dislikes of
these music lovers
*virtuoso performers and their agents, the impresarios, were central to nineteenth-
century concert life
*popularity of the waltz led to fame and fortune for composers like Strauss
*church no longer a patron of music to any significant extent....now in the concert
hall
*teaching of music became an established profession
*many fine conservatories and schools of music were founded for the education
of performing and creative musicians
*introduction of research in music history and theory into the universities
*to meet pressing needs for pedagogical material, composers wrote etudes and
other short pieces for teaching purposes
*research at universities led to the beginning of complete editions of composers’
works

III. Performance Practice

*Because Romanticism is so personal and so filled with contrasting concepts of

music, not all characteristics of style are present in all forms. There are contradictions in
style among groups of composers and even the works of individual composers. There
were romantic idealists or absolutists who insisted that music must exist for its own sake
without extramusical associations. In contrast, increasing numbers of composers
experimented with music that told stories, imitated sounds of nature, or illustrated scenes
aurally
*Dualism between virtuosity and intimacy (technical performances as against
miniature forms in solo songs, chamber music, and lyric piano works)
*contrast between nationalism and internationalism (should express nothing else
but itself)

Formal Organization:
-forms not precise and clear as Classic period
-inclusion of folk music
-carry-over of classic forms
-continued to be based on contrasting melodies in homophonic style and
the sonata was the most important type of form

Melody:
-as in the Classic period, most Romantic melody is phrase-dominated,
with the prevalent texture describable as “melody with accompaniment.” Increased
individualism is a hallmark of Romantic melody, and if one asks a layman to list ten
“immortal melodies, the chances are overwhelming that all those he cites will be from
19th century works
-most romantic composers sought to write long melodic lines, whether
constructed form phrases, motives, or, rarest all, from a virtually seamless, unperiodic,
exuberant melodic line. Instrumental themes especially tend to increase in length
-frequent Chromaticism to create harmonic tension
-wide leaps for expressive purposes
-vocally oriented, and with a stanzaic construction equivalent to that of
poetry
-frequent changes in dynamics
-melodic themes in varying lengths

Rhythm:
-Beethoven overcame the tyranny of the bar-line (syncopations, rhythmic
counterpoint, and unprecedented cross-accents)
-later had irregular and changes in number of beats in a measure, cross-
rhythms and syncopations
-many occasions of rubato and accelerando

Harmony:
-the chief difference between classic and romantic composers is that the
former used dissonant chords relatively infrequently and then in a functional manner,
usually to enhance or intensify the progression of a dominant to a tonic or as a pivot in
modulation, but Romantic composers frequently used the same chords in a coloristic
sense and progressively elevated the milder dissonant chords, usually dominant or
diminished sevenths, to the level of consonances Throughout the century there is a
steadily rising “dissonance threshold,” especially among German and Russian composers
or Franck and his disciples; a counter-reaction was the rejection of chromatic harmony
for its own sake by the various kinds of “neoclassic” composers who often used diatonic
harmonies in radically different ways from those of their classic models
-still tonal, but the sense of key center was eroded throughout in the music
th
of the 19 century
-chromaticism, nonharmonic tones, altered chords, and extensive use of 9th
th
and 13 chords served to build harmonic tension and weaken the tonal center
-key relationships were less formalized/ modulations to distant keys for
short periods of time
-numerous deceptive cadences that give a harmonic sense of motion and
tension
-modal harmonization of folk melodies

Texture:
-mixed vertical and horizontal elements
-richer texture

Instrumentation and Tone Color

-piano became the most popular instrument of the romantic period
-unusual combinations of instruments
-expansion of the orchestra
-the voice was also a personalized instrument, for it combined with the
literary elements of Romanticism to give an added intensity to the poetic text
-because the orchestra was enlarged to become one of the more important
vehicles of Romantic expression, the orchestral conductor emerged as a virtuoso
performer
-the art of improvisation was generally discarded