Generating page narration, please wait...
section_4_romantic

Learning Objectives

Be ready to...
  • Relate how Romantic poets and artists abandoned traditional subjects, turning instead to the passionate and the fanciful.
  • Relate how the Industrial Revolution impacted the technological development and affordability of musical instruments.
  • Analyze how the orchestra grew in size and sound as new instruments were introduced and composers demanded greater levels of expression.
  • Illustrate how Romantic composers explored nationalistic folklore and exotic subjects.
  • Identify the form of romantic period songs, including strophic, through-composed, and the modified strophic forms.
  • Examine the German art song (or Lied) as a favored romantic period genre.
  • Discuss how the music of Franz Schubert impacted romantic period music.
  • Discuss how the music of Frédéric Chopin impacted romantic period music.
  • Trace the ascendance of program music in relation to absolute music.
  • Summarize how political unrest throughout Europe stimulated the formation of schools of musical nationalism in Russia, Scandinavia, Spain, England, and Bohemia among other countries.
  • Differentiate between the distinct national styles of romantic opera in France, Germany, and Italy.
  • Discuss how the Italian nationalist composer Giuseppe Verdi impacted romantic period music.
  • Trace how choral music became a popular artistic outlet for the middle classes.
  • Discuss how the Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky impacted romantic period music.

Romantic Period (1820–1910)

Listening Bridge

Listen to the following excerpts, and compare them, using the following questions as a guide:

  • Which piece features more variation in tempo?
  • Which piece features variation in dynamics?
  • Which piece features simple rhythm patterns?
  • What is the meter in each piece?
  • Which piece features a more flowing melody?

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  • "Piano Sonata in A major, K.331: III. Rondo alla turca"

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Born: January 27, 1756
Died: December 5, 1791
Period: Classical
Country: Austria

Composer: Frédéric Chopin

  • "Waltz in C sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2"

Frédéric Chopin
Born: March 1, 1810
Died: October 17, 1849
Period: Romantic
Country: Poland/France

Listening Prelude

Listen to the music below and consider the following questions:

Composer: Hector Berlioz

  • "Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14: IV. March To The Scaffold"

Hector Berlioz

Hector Berlioz

  • Does the texture sound thick, thin, or in between?
  • Is this a work that strives for moderation in expression?
  • How would you describe the dynamics?
  • Do you hear primarily regular scale tones, or do you hear notes that sound like they are outside the scale?
  • Does the music stay predictably in the same key?
  • What role do the percussion instruments play?
  • Does the music sound like it might be telling a story of some kind?