Music 190W Week 13
Music of the Romantic Period (Nineteenth Century)
Reading
Chapter 13; Hacker 23 & 24
Listening
CD 2, tracks 38-41
This chapter covers the music that forms the core repertory of many orchestras, chamber groups, and opera companies in the U.S. and elsewhere. Music by the composers Schubert, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Brahms, Wagner, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky is among the most often performed Western art music.
It is also music that you may be able to identify right away as "Romantic," since much of what we think of now as "romantic-sounding music," such as expressive melodies played by orchestras with large string sections, is either nineteenth century music or modeled on it. Many orchestral film scores use the musical language of the nineteenth century to create feelings of peacefulness, suspense, and horror.
This study guide identifies some distinguishing characteristics of Romantic musical style and provides listening guides for pieces by the two composers represented on your CD set, Chopin and Tchaikovsky.
Study questions
- What aspects of Romantic musical style did Beethoven originate?
- How did Beethoven's career modify the relationship between composers and patrons?
- What new musical professions originated in the 19th century?
- What is program music? What is absolute music?
- How did the shift from aristocratic patronage to public patronage affect the way composers worked?
- What are some examples of miniature and grandiose compositions?
- What is orchestration?
- What is a symphonic poem? an art song? a piano character piece?
- What is a libretto?
- Which two important women musicians were discussed in the chapter?
- an emphasis on individual feeling
- an opposition to social conventions
- an interest in the supernatural and the macabre
- an interest in nature (especially its wilder aspects)
- the breaking down of barriers between the arts
- rhythm: use of rubato (changing tempo for expressive purposes)
- melody: complex, expressive
- harmony: complex
- tone color: larger orchestras, new and improved instruments, new combinations of instruments
- form: miniature and grandiose (very large) forms; large works unified by use of common themes, returning motives, and by programs
- program music: instrumental music based on a narrative, image, or idea
- absolute music: music that is not intended to communicate something specific; abstract music
Listening review
Prelude, Op. 28, No. 6, in B minor, by Frédéric Chopin, composed in 1839. The genre is piano character piece.
- theme in minor (00:00-00:32)
- theme again, changed and extended (00:31-01:31)
- theme again, just the beginning (01:30-01:50)
Listen to the entire track.
Romeo and Juliet, concert overture by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, composed in 1869.
This is an example of program music. This instrumental piece is intended to convey the story of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The links follow the description on pp. 288-89, which outlines the sonata form of this work.
- introduction
- a (track 39 00:00-00:34)
- b (00:33-01:59)
- a (01:58-02:40)
- b (02:40-05:25)
- exposition
- conflict theme (track 40,
2:17 long)
listen for the imitative or contrapuntal texture
- love theme (track 41, 2:27 long)
- example fades out after the b theme (the piece continues)
- conflict theme (track 40,
2:17 long)
Hacker handbook exercises
Section 23 explains, among other things, the proper use of italics. Section 24 contains spelling tips, including a reminder that the spell-checker will not help you choose between two correctly spelled words, such as principle and principal, or compliment and complement.
Quiz
Take the week 13 quiz.
This file was last modified on 16 May 2000.
