HWM - 10

Romanticism!
19th century = the “long” century (1789-1914)
!
Blurring of dividing lines
A fascination for Remoteness, Boundlessness, Strangeness
• “Doppelbegabung”: composer-performer-poet-playwright-painter
• Symphonic poem
• Mixing of instrumental and vocal genres
Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (Choral), IV. Finale (fragment)

!Orientation on literature
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Heinrich Heine, Friedrich von Schiller, Novalis, Joseph von
Eichendorff

Most important musical developments

• Genres which are word-bound: Lied and opera
• Genres originally not word-bound: Symphonic poem, solo-concerto, symphony, single-
movement piano works
• Expansive development of harmony and instrumentation

Relation Classicism-Romanticism
Classical period (c1750-c1810/1820) Romantic period (c1820-c1900)
Model-oriented Provides variations on the Classical models
• Sonata form • Deepens them
• Functional harmony • Destabilizes them
• Periodicity

!Technological developments
• First Industrial Revolution (ca. 1770-1850): Steam engines, textiles, iron
• Second Industrial Revolution (ca. 1857-1914): Chemical -, electrical -, oil -, and steel industries,
Rail roads
Social developments
Urbanization in Europe
Middle classes (bourgeoisie)
• Own traditions
• Own institutions

Composers c1800-present
• Economically independent
• Romantic idea of the Free Artist
• Canon of prototypes

• Intellectualism
• Individualism

Pluralism of style
• “Serious” music
Beethoven: String Quartet No 15, in A minor, Op. 132 (1825). I: Assai sostenuto - Allegro (fragment)
• “Light” music
Johann Strauss Jr: Wiener Blut, Op. 354 (1873), (fragment)
• Rediscovery of music from the past
• Nationalism
• Folklorism
• Exotism: A quest for remote and unknown cultures (North-Africa, China, Japan). It often leads
to primitivism, a quest for pure, original art of “primitive cultures” (Africa, Polynesia), as a
reaction to “art music”