I.

The New Order, 1815–1848

A. French Revolution changed European political landscape
1. peasants and workers became citizens
2. Revolutionary ideas of liberty, equality, brotherhood, national identity spread
3. 1814–15: Congress of Vienna, new map, far fewer states
a. interest in national culture
b. composers incorporated national traits; cosmopolitan ideal replaced
B. Radical change in the Americas
1. Haiti 1804: first independent state in Latin America, founded by liberated slaves
2. 1810–24 revolutions: independence to most of Latin America
3. 1803–48: United States expanded west and south
4. 1841: French and British provinces united in Canada
C. The decline of aristocratic patronage
1. economic order in Europe changed
a. war and inflation impoverished aristocracy
b. elimination of over 100 small states; reduced number of courts supporting the arts
2. musicians became free agents: public performance, teaching, commissions, publications
3. opportunities broadened
a. old guilds eliminated; opened careers
b. conservatories opened in Europe and the Americas
c. growing number of music journalists and critics
4. Industrial Revolution mechanized manufacturing
a. urban middle class grew in size and influence
D. Middle-class music-making
1. music was important outlet for middle and upper classes
a. money and leisure to purchase and play instruments
b. expressed aspirations for equality, national freedom
2. music as means of social control
a. state-sponsored opera, political messages
b. factories organized wind bands; diverted working classes
c. music kept women occupied at home
E. The piano
 1. innovations in manufacturing, increased availability, lowered cost
2. 1820–50, design improvements
a. new pianistic effects, greatly expanded range
b. ideal for home music and public concerts
3. women, particularly, played piano
a. pianist-composers gave lessons to well-to-do women
b. many achieved astonishing fluency
c. first half of nineteenth century, quite a few professional women pianists
d. musical accomplishment attracted a spouse
e. music for two players at one piano, favorite format
F. The market for music and the new idiom
1. amateurs created boom in publishing
a. publishers in London, Paris, Leipzig
b. 1820s, tens of thousands of pieces listed
c. music stores grew rapidly in early 1800s
d. consumers demanded constant flood of new music
2. unprecedented influence over music that was produced
a. composers wrote songs, piano works, piano duets
b. orchestral and chamber transcriptions, only opportunity to hear works
3. early Romantic style
a. accessible and appealing to amateur performers
b. competition for sales, innovations in harmony
c. beautiful melody, striking harmonies within small forms
d. evocative titles, national or exotic associations
II. Romanticism
A. "Romantic" as a term
1. term derived from medieval romance
a. connoted something distant, legendary, fantastic
2. term applied to literature, then art and music
a. focus on the individual, expression of the self
b. search for original, interesting, evocative, expressive or extreme
B. "Romantic" as a period
 1. distinction of two style periods, Classic and Romantic
a. divided around the 1820s
b. political and economic events of 1815 influenced composers
C. Romanticism as a reaction
1. refuge in past, myth, dreams, supernatural, irrational
2. "common folk" as true embodiment of the nation
3. nature for refuge, inspiration, revelation
4. solitude and individual esteemed
5. higher ideal of enlightening the world beyond the everyday
D. Individual paths for expressing intense emotions
1. explored new realms of sound
2. instrumental music ideal art, free from concreteness of words
a. autonomous art, free from earlier notions
b. symbolized individualism and economic independence
3. new distinctions among instrumental works
a. programmatic work: recounts narrative or sequence of events
b. character piece: depicts or suggests mood
c. absolute music: idealized play of sound and form
4. reflected new concept of organic musical form
c. relationship of themes, sections, movements, other parts to the whole
b. more important than rhetorical structure
c. motivic links contribute to unity more than harmonic plan or conventional form
E. Music and the literary
1. literature was central to work of most composers
2. integration of music and text in several leading genres
a. setting words: draw out inner meanings and feelings
b. instrumental works: descriptive title or program
3. led to innovations in harmony, melody, instrument color
a. novelty appealed to middle-class consumers
b. program enhanced appeal, titles added later
III. Song
A. Voice and piano, preferred medium
 1. wide expressive range, minimal forces
2. texts typically strophic poems
3. German Lied, most influential and prestigious
a. fusion of poetry and music, expression of individual feelings
b. descriptive musical imagery, aspects of folk style
4. British and American parlor song, significant tradition
B. The Lied
1. built on eighteenth-century tradition
a. popularity grew after 1800
b. changes in poetry anticipated changes in Lieder
c. nature was a common theme
i. individual confronting forces of nature or society
ii. nature as metaphor for human experience
2. the lyric, chief poetic genre
a. short, strophic poem, one subject expressing personal feeling
b. lyric poets of ancient Greece and Rome, ultimate models
c. ideal for setting to music: short strophes, regular meter and rhyme
3. the ballad, new form cultivated in late eighteenth century
a. imitation of folk ballads of England and Scotland
b. romantic adventures, supernatural incidents
c. greater length, wider palette of moods: varied themes and textures
d. piano rose from accompaniment to equal partner
4. song collections and song cycles
a. songs grouped with unifying characteristic
b. Beethoven's format: story through succession of songs
C. Franz Schubert (1797–1828)
1. first great master of Romantic Lied, prolific in all genres
a. son of Vienna schoolmaster
b. as a child studied piano, singing, violin, organ, counterpoint; composition with Antonio
Salieri
c. 1818, first music publication; turned entirely to composition
d. freelance composer, income from publication
 e. songs performed at Schubertiads, home gatherings
f. last years clouded by illness
g. major works include: over 600 Lieder, song cycles Die schöne Müllerin and Winterreise,
nine symphonies, thirty-five chamber works, twenty-two piano sonatas, seventeen operas
and Singspiels, 200 other choral works
2. song texts by many writers
a. fifty-nine poems of Goethe
b. two song cycles, poems by Wilhelm Müller
i. Die schöne Müllerin (The Pretty Miller-Maid, 1823)
ii. Winterreise (Winter's Journey, 1827)
c. music equal of the words
3. form suited shape and meaning of text
a. strophic: same music each stanza
i. Heidenröslein (Little Heath-Rose, 1815); Das Wandern (Wandering)
b. modified strophic: music repeats for some strophes, others vary or use new music
i. Der Lindenbaum (The Linden Tree)
c. ternary (ABA, or ABA1) or bar form (AAB)
i. Der Atlas (Atlas), Ständchen (Serenade)
d. through-composed: new music for each stanza
i. Erlkönig (The Erl-King, 1815)
ii. unity: recurring themes, tonal scheme
4. gift for beautiful melodies
a. captured character, mood, situation
i. quality of folk song, suggest rural setting
ii. others suffused with sweetness and melancholy
iii. declamatory and dramatic
5. variety of accompaniments
a. figuration fits poem's mood, personality of protagonist
b. often reflects image in poem
c. Gretchen am Spinnrade (Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel, 1814; NAWM 128)
i. based on Goethe's Faust
ii. piano introduces song's mood, central image
 iii. suggests spinning wheel: 16th note figure in RH
iv. motion of treadle: repeated notes in LH
6. harmony
a. reinforces the poetry:
i. Das Wandern: simple, five different chords
ii. Ständchen: sweet melancholy, alternating minor and major
b. dramatic qualities underlined
i. Der Atlas: complex modulations
c. modulations by 3rd rather than 5th
d. unusual harmony, harmonic relationships; expressive device
7. mastery of elements: Der Lindenbaum (NAWM 129), from Winterreise
a. piano introduction: fluttering triples, rustling leaves
b. triplets later depict wintry wind
c. folklike melody evokes outdoor scene, lover's past happiness
d. modified strophic form marks progress of story
i. first strophe: summer love, major key
ii. second strophe: minor mode, chill of winter
iii. third strophe: heralds cold wind, new declamatory melody
iv. fourth strophe: returns to major mode, original melody, eerie quality
8. songs set standard later composers strove to match
D. Robert and Clara Schumann
1. Robert Schumann (1810–1856); Clara Schumann (1819–1896)
a. one of the most significant marriages in the history of music
b. Robert Schumann
i. son of a writer and book dealer, intense interest in literature
ii. studied piano with Friedrich Wieck
iii. turned to composition and criticism; founded Leipzig Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New
Journal for Music)
iv. among first and strongest advocates of Chopin, Brahms, instrumental works of
Schubert
v. ouput focused on one medium at a time
c. Clara Wieck
 i. early studies with her father, Friedrich Wieck
ii. by age twenty, leading pianist in Europe, many published works
d. the Schumanns
i. Friedrich Wieck lawsuit; 1840 Robert and Clara married
ii. toured, concertized: Robert conducting, Clara at the piano
iii. Robert's increasing mental instability, confined to asylum, 1854
iv. Clara composed, taught, promoted and edited Robert's works
e. major works (Robert): over 300 piano works, about 300 songs, seventy-five part-songs,
four symphonies, piano concerto, chamber works, various works for orchestra
f. major works (Clara): Piano Trio, Op. 17; piano concerto; many piano pieces; several
collections of Lieder
2. Robert Schumann 1840, "Lieder year": over 120 songs
a. focused on love songs, impending marriage to Clara Wieck
b. expression of passions, frustrations of love
c. money from lucrative genre
d. synthesized music and poetry
3. music and poetry
a. music should capture poem's essence
b. voice and piano should be equal partners
c. composer cocreator with poet
d. piano: long preludes, interludes, postludes
e. single figuration throughout: central emotion or idea of poem
4. Dichterliebe (A Poet's Love, 1840)
a. sixteen poems from Heinrich Heine's Lyrical Intermezzo
b. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (In the marvelous month of May, NAWM 130)
i. poet remembers blossoming of new love, tentative feelings: harmonic ambiguity
ii. "longing and desire": suspensions and appoggiaturas
iii. unrequited love: refuses to settle into a key, ends on dominant 7th
5. Clara Schumann
a. several collections of Lieder
b. approach to song parallels Robert
i. long piano preludes and postludes
 ii. similar figuration throughout each song
iii. voice and piano as equals convey images, feelings of poem
c. Geheimes Flüstern (Secret Whispers, 1853)
i. 16th-note arpeggiation, rustling leaves and branches
ii. express forest as refuge, communicator of life's secrets
6. other composers
a. Felix Mendelssohn Prodigy, Fanny Hensel, Franz Liszt
b. Johannes, Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schoenberg
c. specialists in song: Louise Reichardt, Carl Loewe, Josephine Lang, Robert Franz, Peter
Cornelius
d. Schubert songs stimulated development of French mélodie
i. high point later nineteenth century: Jules Massenet, Gabriel Fauré, Claude Debussy
E. British and North American song
1. parlor songs
a. ballads, drawing-room ballads: songs for home performance
b. called parlor songs in United States and Canada
c. also sung in musical theater productions, public concerts
d. continuum of taste: parlor songs written for same market as Lieder
e. usually strophic or verse-refrain form
i. piano preludes and postludes
ii. expressivity in vocal melody
iii. piano supports singer
iv. performers adorn melody, reshape accompaniment
f. Home! Sweet Home! (1823), by Henry R. Bishop (1786–1855)
i. best-known song of the nineteenth century
ii. sentimental text; charming, expressive setting
2. Canada
a. James P. Clarke (1807/8–1877), most notable song composer
i. first to earn BM from North American university
ii. Lays of the Maple Leaf (1853), song cycle
3. Stephen Foster (1826–1864)
a. leading American song composer of nineteenth century
 b. no formal training in composition
c. 1848, contract with New York publisher
i. first American to make living solely as a composer
d. wrote for stage and parlor
e. typically wrote his own texts
f. characteristics:
i. combined elements of British ballads, American minstrel songs, German Lieder,
Italian opera, Irish folk songs
ii. easy to perform and remember
iii. diatonic melodies, mostly stepwise or pentatonic, four-measure phrases
iv. deliberately simple harmony and accompaniment
v. e.g., Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair (1853; NAWM 131)
IV. Music for Piano
A. Piano works served three overlapping purposes
1. teaching:
a. 100 graded studies; Muzio Clementi's Gradus ad Parnassum (Steps to Parnassas, 1817–
26)
b. études and method books by Carl Czerny (1791–1857)
2. amateur enjoyment: lyrical pieces modeled on song, character pieces, sonatas
3. public performances: bravura pieces for virtuosos
B. Schubert
1. works for amateur market
a. dozens of marches, waltzes, dances
b. Moments musicaux (Musical Moments, 1823–28), eight Impromptus (1827)
c. numerous works for piano duet; Fantasy in F Minor (1828)
2. Wanderer Fantasy (1822)
a. virtuosity, unusual form fascinated later composers
b. four movements played without breaks
i. constant variation of rhythmic figure from Das Wandern
ii. movements drawn together: musical continuity, common material
iii. overall key scheme: relationships of a 3rd
iv. first to use complete circle of M3rds around the octave
 3. eleven piano sonatas
a. themes, expansive melodies; do not lend themselves to motivic development
b. sonata-form movements often use three keys in exposition
c. slow movements particularly songful, resemble impromptus
d. last three sonatas, strong awareness of Beethoven
C. Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847)
1. leading German Romantic composer
a. precocious musical talent equal to Mozart
b. renowned pianist, organist, conductor
c. music combines Romantic expression with Classical forms, techniques
d. grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, leading Jewish philosopher of the Enlightenment
e. Felix and sister Fanny trained by excellent teachers from an early age
f. composed at astonishing rate
g. positions
i. music director at Düsseldorf
ii. music director and conductor of Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig
iii. various capacities in Berlin
h. 1843, founded Leipzig Conservatory
i. major works: two oratorios, five symphonies, violin concerto, two piano concertos, four
overtures, incidental music, numerous chamber works, numerous pieces for piano and for
organ, choral works, over 100 songs
2. Lieder ohne Worte (Songs without Words)
a. forty-eight short pieces grouped in eight books
b. Mendelssohn's best-known piano works
c. similarity to the Lied
d. belief that music can express feelings words cannot; idealist Romantic philosophy
e. e.g., Song without Words, Op. 19, No. 1
i. technical matters; three lines with two hands
i. exploits piano's ability, varying touch
D. Robert Schumann
1. publications up to 1840, all solo piano
a. mostly short character pieces grouped in named sets
 i. Papillons, Carnaval, Fantasiestücke, Kinderszenen, Kreisleriana
b. evocative titles
i. stimulate player's and listener's imaginations
ii. possible avenues for exploration; devise own narratives
2. Carnaval (1834–35)
a. twenty short pieces in dance rhythms
b. conjures masquerade ball in carnival season
i. guests are characters in his own literary writings
ii. embody facets of his personality
iii. titles evoke strongly contrasting visual and emotional images, paralleled in the music
c. Eusebius (NAWM 132a)
i. visionary dreamer, named after fourth-century pope
ii. dreamy fantasy, slow chromatic bass, melody in septuplets
d. Florestan (NAWM 132b)
i. named after hero of Beethoven's Fidelio
ii. impassioned waltz, pulsating dissonances
e. Coquette (NAWM 132c)
i. waltz with lilt and charm
3. ciphers and motives, unity and diversity
a. names represented through notes
b. Carnaval: motives spell Asch (hometown of Schumann's then fiancée)
c. invites extramusical interpretation
d. give unity to entire work, organic connection
E. Clara Schumann and Fanny Hensel
1. contrasting careers illustrate prospects, limitations
a. both highly skilled pianist-composers
b. Schumann, public concerts; Mendelssohn confined to domestic sphere
2. Clara Schumann
a. fame as pianist at young age
b. played what was written, focus on composer; path-breaking idea
c. performances also showcased improvisation; staple of nineteenth-century concerts
d. showcased her own and Robert's music
 e. compositions include: polonaises, waltzes, variations, preludes and fugues, character
pieces, and a sonata
3. Fanny Mendelssohn (1805–1847)
a. studied piano, theory, and composition
b. musical career inappropriate for woman of her wealth and class
c. married painter Wilhelm Hensel
d. led a salon; played piano, presented her compositions
e. compositions include: more than 400 works, mostly small genres, including 250 songs,
125 piano pieces
f. Das Jahr (The Year, 1841)
i. character pieces, twelve months plus a postlude
ii. cyclic links between movements
iii. chorales relevant to the seasons; Christmas chorale in December (NAWM 133)
F. Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849)
1. Romantic composer most closely identified with the piano
a. born near Warsaw; French father, Polish mother
b. age seven, first published piece, first public concert
c. studied at Warsaw Conservatory; performed in Vienna, toured Germany and Italy
d. pieces have strong Polish character, national flavor, brilliant virtuosity
e. failed Polish revolt, fled to Paris, 1830
f. entered highest social circles; taught wealthy students, performed in private salons,
income from publications
g. tempestuous nine-year affair with novelist Aurore Dudevant
h. major works: two piano concertos, three piano sonatas, four ballades, four scherzos,
twenty nocturnes, twenty-seven études, twenty-seven preludes, fifty-seven mazurkas,
seventeen waltzes, fifteen polonaises, four chamber works with piano, twenty songs
2. composed almost exclusively for piano
a. composed for concert appearances as young virtuoso
b. idiomatic writing, new possibilities for the piano
c. appealed to amateurs and connoisseurs
i. genres for teaching: étude, prelude
ii. suitable for amateurs: dances, nocturnes
 iii. more challenging works for his own performances, other advanced players: ballades,
scherzos, sonatas
3. études
a. twelve each in Opp. 10 (1829–32), and 25 (1832–37); three without opus number
b. each one addresses specific technical skill, develops single figure
c. among first with significant artistic content
d. often played in concert, inaugurated the concert étude
4. Preludes, Op. 28 (1836–39)
a. cover all major and minor keys
b. brief mood pictures; pose specific performance problems
c. astounding inventiveness of figuration
d. rich chromatic harmonies, influenced later composers
5. waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises: stylized dances
a. waltzes evoke ballrooms of Vienna
b. polonaise: courtly aristocratic dance in triple meter, asserts national identity
c. mazurka: Polish folk dance; Mazurka in B-flat Major, Op. 7, No. 1 (1831, NAWM 134)
i. triple meter, frequent accents on second or third beat; often dotted figure on first
beat
ii. simple accompaniment; four-measure phrases, combined in periods
iii. melody instrumental in style
iv. exoticism of Polish folk music: trills, grace notes, large leaps, slurs imitate folk
bowing
v. rubato: slight anticipation of RH melody, accompaniment in strict time
6. nocturnes
a. short mood pieces, embellished melodies, sonorous accompaniments
b. conception indebted to John Field (1782–1837), Maria Szymanowska (1789–1831)
c. style draws on bel canto vocal style, Bellini opera arias
d. Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2 (1835, NAWM 135)
i. virtuoso elements, parallel 3rds and 6ths in RH
ii. cadenza-like passage work in RH, steady 16ths in LH
7. ballades and scherzos
a. longer, more demanding works
 b. one of first to name ballade for instrumental piece
c. scherzos are serious and passionate
8. three piano sonatas
a. all have four movements
b. Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 35: third movement funeral march
i. Chopin's most famous piece; played at Chopin's funeral
9. Chopin's achievement: characteristics stem from his life and career
a. Polish nationalism
b. concentration on piano music
c. virtuosity for public performance, elegant lyricism for the parlor
d. works appealed to amateurs and connoisseurs
e. liberated piano, idiomatic sounds and figurations
G. Franz Liszt (1811–1886)
1. most electrifying piano virtuoso of his era
a. devised new playing techniques and textures for piano music
b. as composer: innovations in form and harmony, invented symphonic poem
c. as conductor: Bach, Beethoven, other composers from the past
d. as teacher: invented the master class
e. early studies:
i. born in western Hungary; father, official for Prince Esterházy, taught him piano
ii. moved to Vienna, studied with Czerny and Salieri
iii. to Paris, studied theory and composition
f. career, income
i. regular income teaching children of the well-to-do
ii. brilliant career as concert virtuoso
iii. 1848, devoted career to composing, conducting, teaching
iv. 1848–61: court music director at Weimar
v. 1861–70: Rome, took minor orders in Catholic Church
g. major works: Album d'un voyageur, Années de pèlerinage, nineteen Hungarian
Rhapsodies, Funerailles, Sonata in B Minor, hundreds of other piano pieces; Mazeppa, Les
préludes, and ten other symphonic poems, Faust Symphony, chamber music, choral music,
and songs
2. solo recitals, 1839–47
a. over 1,000 solo concerts, touring Europe and Russia
b. first to give solo concerts in large halls; pioneered term "recital"
c. first to play range of music; first to play entirely from memory
d. reception rivaled hysteria of a rock star
e. 1848, ceased touring, concentrating on composition
3. influences
a. Hungarian or Romani melodies; nineteen Hungarian Rhapsodies for piano
b. piano style drew on Viennese and Parisian virtuosos
c. Chopin's melodic lyricism, rubato, rhythmic license, harmonic innovations
d. Nicolò Paganini (1782–1840)
i. raised technique and mystique of virtuoso to unprecedented heights
ii. stimulated Liszt to push instrument's technique to its limit
4. Un sospiro (A Sigh, 1845–49; NAWM 136)
a. illustrates Liszt's virtuosic technique
b. slower-moving melody outside or within broken-chord figurations
c. difficult leaps and stretches show size of Liszt's hands
d. chromatic harmony
i. elaborate harmonic and melodic decoration of dissonant sonority
ii. prolonged dissonant sonorities without resolving to consonance
e. 3rd relationships, equal division of the octave, nondiatonc scales
5. character pieces and sonata
a. vast range of expression, pictorial effects
b. Sonata in B Minor (1853), modeled on Wanderer Fantasy
i. four themes, one extended movement subdivided into three sections
ii. themes transformed, combined, free rhapsodic order
6. paraphrases and transcriptions
a. operatic paraphrases:
i. free fantasies, excerpts from popular operas
ii. often retelling story, varying and combining borrowed themes
b. transcriptions:
 i. Schubert songs, Berlioz and Beethoven symphonies, Bach organ fugues, excerpts
from Wagner operas
ii. brought works to audiences unacquainted with originals
7. Liszt's reputation: profound influence on performers and composers
H. Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829–1869)
1. first American composer with international reputation
a. born in New Orleans, studied piano and organ
b. 1841, Paris for more training
c. 1845–52 toured France, Switzerland, and Spain
d. pieces based on melodies and rhythms of mother's Caribbean heritage
e. through Gottschalk, composers imitated dance rhythms and syncopations of the New
World
f. 1853, New York debut; enthusiastic reviews
2. Souvenir de Porto Rico (1857–58, NAWM 137)
a. theme derived from Puerto Rican song; Afro-Caribbean habanera, tresillo, cinquillo
b. designed to appeal to middle-class audience
V. The Romantic Legacy
A. Home music-making declined in late nineteenth century
1. new recreations and technologies: bicycling, radio, phonograph
2. some pieces disappeared, others established as art music
B. Lieder of Schubert and Robert Schumann formed core of song repertoire
1. defined a genre, models for later composers
2. similar role for Foster's parlor and popular songs
3. songs of all three composers, unbroken tradition
C. Piano works by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin became central to the repertoire
1. music written for home market fell out of fashion
2. sonata and fugue, prestige genres
3. sonatas of Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt: prominent in repertoire
D. Attitudes towards women challenged in last decades of twentieth century
1. Clara Schumann and Fanny Hensel emerged as key figures
2. stories function as parables, social attitudes nurture and hinder talent
3. current research is bringing other talented women composers to light
E. Romantic concepts of absolute music remained influential throughout the twentieth century
I. Orchestral Music
A. The nineteenth-century orchestra
1. central to public concert life
a. number of orchestras increased significantly
b. some made up of primarily amateurs
c. professional orchestras established
i. London Philharmonic (founded 1813)
ii. New York Philharmonic (1842)
iii. Vienna Philharmonic (1842)
d. major cities in Europe and Americas, orchestras provide regular concert
series
2. size and composition
a. grew from 40 to 90 players by end of the century
b. improvements to instruments
i. woodwinds, elaborate systems of keys
ii. valves added to horns and trumpets
c. wider range of orchestral color
i. winds and brass more equal to strings
ii. other percussion joined the timpani
iii. fully chromatic pedal harps, played by a woman
d. orchestral players usually all men
B. Conductors
1. conducting developed first at Paris Opéra
2. baton to beat time, cue entrances
a. introduced by Louis Spohr (1784–1859)
3. by 1840s conductors considered interpreters of the music
a. Louis Jullien (1812–1860), exploited Romantic cult of the individual
C. Audiences and concerts
1. primarily middle-class audience
2. pieces available in piano transcriptions
3. special prestige, lasting impression of Beethoven symphonies
 4. programs offered diversity of works
a. variety of performing forces, alternation of instrumental and vocal
b. concert music for single medium late in the century, inaugurated by Liszt
D. The rise of the Classical repertoire
1. emergence of repertoire of musical classics, composers of the past
2. Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
a. 1780s, 85 percent of pieces by living composers
b. 1870, 75 percent of repertoire, composers of past generations
3. factors behind change
a. Haydn and Beethoven: such popularity in their lifetimes, performances
after their deaths
b. cheaper to publish, more readily available, easier for amateurs
c. musicians and critics promoted music of the past
d. music aimed at all listeners; immediate appeal, lasting interest
4. effect on audiences and performers
a. new seriousness in concert behavior
b. performers as interpreters of the classics
c. young virtuosos popularize concertos of older composers
5. effect on composers: Beethoven's legacy
a. orchestral works of Beethoven: artistic statements
b. later composers labored in his shadow
c. series of varied responses to Beethoven's example
E. The new Romantic style: Schubert
1. form of symphony, content in new Romantic style
a. focus on songlike melodies
b. adventurous harmonies, innovative textures
c. colorful instrumentation
d. strong contrasts, heightened emotions
e. themes most important element in any form
2. Unfinished Symphony (1822), first large-scale symphony
a. completed only two movements
b. first movement:
 i. soulful, singable melody; less easily fragmented into motives
ii. second theme: relaxed, graceful melody, style of Ländler
iii. themes share rhythmic ideas; unify exposition
iv. development focuses on introductory subject
3. Symphony No. 9 in C Major (1825), known as the Great
a. Romantic lyricism, Beethovenian drama, expanded Classical form
b. not performed in Schubert's lifetime
c. first movement
i. long-slow introduction, lyrical section
ii. first theme: influence of Haydn and Beethoven, easily fragmented
iii. three-key exposition: relationships of a 3rd, traditional polarity of
I–V
iv. elements of opening horn melody return
F. Programmatic Romanticism: Berlioz
1. Hector Berlioz (1803–1869)
a. born in southeastern France
b. fascination with music
i. taught himself harmony from textbooks
ii. began composing in his teens
iii. studied composition at Paris Conservatoire
c. 1830, won the Prix de Rome
d. influences:
i. Beethoven symphonies
ii. Shakespeare's plays
iii. obsession with Harriet Smithson, Anglo-Irish actress
e. music criticism was his chief profession
f. acted as his own impresario
g. brilliant prose writer; literary composer
h. 1835, began to conduct; first to make career of orchestral conducting
i. major works: three operas, four symphonies, four concert overtures, over
thirty choral works, orchestral song cycle
2. Symphonie fantastique (1830)
 a. reconceived symphony as programmatic work
b. autobiographical program, infatuation with Harriet Smithson
c. established Berlioz as leader of radical wing composers in France
d. idée fixe: melody representing hero's beloved
i. Beethoven precedent, Third and Fifth Symphonies
e. outlines of traditional symphony
i. unified by recurring theme
ii. array of instrumental colors
f. first movement, "Dreams and Passions"
i. slow introduction, sonata-form Allegro
ii. first theme, idée fixe: long, arching line of an operatic aria
iii. development: series of dramatic episodes
g. second movement, "A Ball"
i. waltz, enacting scene at a ball
h. slow third movement, "In the Country"
i. pastorale, piping shepherds
ii. bird calls reminiscent of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony
i. fourth movement, "March to the Scaffold"
i. dreams of his own execution before he is guillotined
j. fiftth movement, "Dream of a Witches' Sabbath" (NAWM 138)
i. transformations of idée fixe, two other themes
ii. grotesque caricature of idée fixe
iii. Dies irae, symbol of death, macabre, or diabolical
3. Harold en Italie (Harold in Italy, 1834)
a. title from Lord Byron's Childe Harold's Pilgrimage
b. recollections of sojourn in Italy
c. features solo viola, less prominently than a concerto
i. commissioned by Paganini, refused to play it
d. recurring theme in viola in each movement
e. finale sums up themes of preceding movements
f. inverts heroism of Beethoven's symphonies
4. later symphonies
 a. Roméo et Juliette (Rome and Juliet, 1839, revised ca. 1847)
i. "dramatic symphony," orchestra, soloists, chorus
ii. built on Beethoven's Ninth precedent
b. Grande symphonie funèbre et triomphale (Grand Funeral and Triumphant
Symphony, 1840)
i. military band with optional strings and chorus
5. Berlioz's achievement:
a. leader of Romantic radical wing
b. enriched orchestral music with new resources
c. gave impetus to cyclical symphony
d. instrumental color in orchestration as expressive tool
e. codified his practice, Treatise on Instrumentation and
Orchestration (1843)
G. Classical Romanticism: Mendelssohn
1. Mendelssohn's works more Classic sound
a. trained in classical genres
b. mature symphonies follow classic models
c. departures show impact of Romanticism
2. symphonies
a. Symphony No. 5 (Reformation, 1830), last movement based on Luther's
chorale Ein feste Burg
b. Symphony No. 2, Lobgesang (Song of Praise, 1840), solo voices, chorus,
organ
c. Italian (No. 4, 1833), impressions on a trip to Italy
i. slow movement suggests procession of chanting pilgrims
ii. finale suggests dancing, spirited saltarello
d. first movement, Italian Symphony
i. first theme inspired by Italian opera
ii. second theme, similar in character
iii. development: new melodic idea
iv. three themes recalled in recapitulation
e. Scottish (No. 3, 1842), impressions on a trip to British Isles
 3. overtures
a. The Hebrides(Fingal's Cave, 1832)
b. Meeresstille und glückliche Fahrt (Becalmed at Sea and Prosperous
Voyage, 1828–32)
c. Midsummer Night's Dream Overture (1826)
i. masterpiece in the genre, set standard for all overtures
ii. imaginative use of musical figuration, orchestral color
iii. Wedding March, incidental music written seventeen years later
4. piano concertos
a. four concertos for his own performances
b. last two published in his lifetime
i. No. 1 in G Minor (1831)
ii. No. 2 in D Minor (1837)
c. emphasis on musical content
d. virtuosic display of soloist as vehicle for composer's expression
5. Violin Concerto in E Minor (1844)
a. three movements played without pause
i. linked by thematic content, connecting passages
b. violin and orchestra equal partners
c. contrasts delineate form, create variety, convey deep feelings
i. virtuosity with lyric expression, solo with orchestra
d. first movement (NAWM 139)
i. skips orchestral exposition, soloist states main theme
ii. cadenza before the recapitulation
e. second movement, ABA1 form
i. romance for violin and orchestra
f. third movement: sonata or sonata-rondo form
i. lightness of a scherzo
H. Romantic reconceptions: Robert Schumann
1. 1841, "symphony year"
2. primary orchestral models:
a. Schubert's Great C Major Symphony
 b. symphonies and concertos of Mendelssohn
3. symphonic themes dwell on one rhythmic figure
4. variety through constantly changing presentations of the theme
5. Symphony No. 4 in D Minor (first movement, NAWM 140)
a. Schumann's most radical rethinking of the symphony
i. four standard movements within single movement
ii. Wanderer Fantasy, important model
b. themes from first movement return in later movements
i. builds on tradition of Symphonie fantastique, Beethoven's Ninth
c. four-movement symphony, or single extended sonata form
i. first mvt.: slow introduction, exposition, beginning of
development
ii. second and third mvts.: continue development
iii. fourth mvt.: recapitulation and coda
II. Chamber Music
A. String quartets, other chamber works increasingly played in concerts
1. music treated as seriously as symphonies
2. Beethoven's middle quartets as defining model
B. Schubert
1. early works, home performance
a. modeled on Mozart and Haydn
b. Trout Quintet (1819), fourth movement variations on Die Forelle
2. late works, dramatic concert music
a. String Quartet in A Minor (1824)
b. String Quartet in D Minor (1824, Death and the Maiden)
c. String Quartet in G Major (1826)
d. String Quintet in C Major (1828)
3. String Quintet in C Major
a. composed two months before his death
b. string quartet with second cello
i. instruments as equals
ii. one instrument often pitted against two pairs
 c. strong contrast of mood and character
d. lyricism with drama of Beethoven's style
e. first movement (NAWM 141): sonata form
i. first theme, oppositions between C major and minor
ii. three keys in exposition: C, E-flat, G
iii. second theme, E-flat, G, and B major
f. second movement: slow ternary, ethereal E major melody, F minor middle
section
g. third movement: C major scherzo, numerous keys surround D-flat major
trio
h. fourth movement: sonata-rondo, rustic dance and more refined urban
one
C. Mendelssohn
1. chamber music traces evolution as composer
2. numerous works from his youth
a. Haydn, Mozart, and Bach as models
b. 1822–25, three piano quartets, violin sonata
c. Octet for Strings, Op. 201 (1825), earliest masterpiece
i. symphonic conception
ii. independent treatment of instruments, demanding string
techniques
iii. scherzo inspired by Goethe's Faust
3. String Quartets in A Minor, Op. 13 (1827), and E-flat Major, Op. 12 (1829)
a. influence of late Beethoven quartets
b. integrated movements, thematic connections
4. Piano Trios, D Minor, Op. 49, and C Minor Op. 66
a. tuneful themes, idiomatic writing
b. classical genre and forms, Romantic material
D. Robert and Clara Schumann
1. Robert Schumann, "chamber music year" 1842–43
a. Op. 41 string quartets, piano quintet, piano quartet
i. fluid interchange among parts
 ii. strongly reflect influence of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
b. Piano Trios, No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 63, and No. 2 in F Major, Op. 80
i. study of Bach, more polyphonic approach
ii. balance of intellectual rigor with expressivity
iii. influential works on Brahms, other German composers
2. Clara Schumann, inspired Robert's trios
a. Piano Trio in G Minor (1846)
i. traits from Baroque, Classic, Romantic models
ii. songlike themes
iii. rich polyphonic treatment
iv. development through motivic fragmentation, imitation
v. fugue (finale's development)
b. slow third movement (NAWM 142); modified ABA
i. A section: nocturne-like, melancholy
ii. B section: animated
iii. constantly changing textures, complex accompanying figuration
E. Chamber music and the Classical tradition
1. midcentury, regarded as conservative medium
2. shunned by more radical composers (Berlioz, Liszt)
III. Choral Music
A. Amateur status, less prestigious than orchestral music and opera
1. three main types
a. oratorios, similar works for large chorus and orchestra
b. short choral works on secular texts
c. liturgical works, anthems, hymns
2. lucrative field for publishers
a. works also suitable for home music-making
B. Amateur choirs
1. choral societies
a. members pay dues, purchase music, pay conductor
b. Berlin Singakademie
i. one of first choral societies, singing class for wealthy women
 ii. 1791 men accepted
iii. by 1800, Zelter added an orchestra
iv. 1832, chorus of over 350 singers
c. similar organizations in Leipzig, Dresden, Zurich, Liverpool, Manchester,
Boston
d. all-male choruses popular, working-class men
e. benefits of choral societies:
i. occupy leisure time
ii. develop sense of unity
iii. elevate musical tastes
iv. encourage spiritual, ethical values
v. practice in democratic processes
2. festivals
a. singers from across a region gather to perform
b. 1759 England: first festival, centered on Handel's works
c. in France during Revolutionary era
d. tradition spread across Germany, Austria, North America
e. most prominent, long-running festivals
i. Birmingham (England) Music Festival (founded 1784)
ii. Lower Rhenish Music Festival (founded 1818)
f. World Peace Jubilee (1872), Boston: orchestra of 2,000, chorus of 20,000
C. Oratorios and other large works
1. Handel and Haydn oratorios, core of the repertory
a. Handel and Haydn Society, founded in Boston 1815
b. 1829, Mendelssohn conducted J. S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion
i. began revival of Bach's vocal music
c. societies and festivals also encouraged new works
2. Mendelssohn's oratorios
a. St. Paul (1836) premiered at Lower Rhenish Festival
b. Elijah (1846) premiered at Birmingham Festival
c. rooted in Baroque tradition but manifested something new
i. choral movements: variety of styles, textures
 ii. evoked styles of chorales
iii. unifying motives, links between movements
d. final chorus of Elijah (NAWM 143)
i. Handelian in spirit, powerful homorhythmic opening
ii. vigorous fugue, culminating in chordal harmony
iii. contrapuntal "Amen"
ii. touches of chromaticism, more recent styles
3. Berlioz's Requiem (1837) and Te Deum (1855)
a. patriotic tradition inspired by music festivals of French Revolution
b. huge dimensions: length, numbers of performers, grandeur of conception
D. Part-songs
1. staple of smaller, mixed men's and women's choirs
a. choral parallel to Lied or parlor song
b. two or more voices parts, sung unaccompanied or doubled or with piano
or organ
c. domestic music-making, public performance
i. amateur choruses, home music-making declined after nineteenth
century
ii. music largely forgotten
d. syllabic, closely attuned to the poetry
e. patriotic, sentimental, convivial; nature a favorite subject
2. Schubert wrote 100 part-songs
a. part-songs, small choral works little known
b. Schubert's Die Nacht (NAWM 144)
i. male voices in four parts
ii. strophic, lyric poem
iii. relatively simple, easy to sing, intriguing challenges
E. Music for religious services
1. church music also sung at home and public gatherings
2. Catholic music
a. churches employed clerics and choirboys, women excluded
b. concerted liturgical music
 i. Schubert's masses in A-flat and E-flat
ii. Gioachino Rossini's Stabat mater (1832, revised 1841)
c. revival of sixteenth-century Palestrina choral style
d. a cappella came to mean "unaccompanied"
e. Cecilian movement: a cappella performances of older music, new works
in similar styles
3. Protestant churches
a. Lutheran composers: new music for services, home devotions
b. Anglican musicians recovered classics
i. new works by Samuel Sebastian Wesley (1810–1876)
c. women sang in church choirs, some as professional organists
d. Oxford Movement began in 1841
i. restore all-male choirs
ii. revival of sixteenth-century unaccompanied polyphony
4. Reform Judaism
a. reform movement, early nineteenth century
b. adopted Protestant practices: congregational hymns, organs and choirs
c. Salomon Sulzer (1804–1890): first influential composer, Vienna
i. updated traditional chants
ii. wrote service music in modern styles
iii. commissioned works: Schubert's choral setting of Psalm 92
(1828)
5. Russian Orthodox music
a. Dmitri Bortniansky (1751–1825), director of imperial chapel, St.
Petersburg
i. developed new style
ii. inspired by modal chants of Orthodox liturgy
iii. free rhythm, unaccompanied voices, single or double choruses,
octave doublings
6. United States
a. divided by sect and race
b. African American churches developed their own styles
 i. 1790s, African Methodist Episcopal Church
ii. Reverend Richard Allen published hymn book designed for all-
black congregation
c. predominantly white churches, European traditions
7. Shape-note singing
a. The Sacred Harp (1844), included spiritual songs and others used in
Southern revival meetings
b. shape-note singing, after notation used
i. noteheads indicated solmization syllables
ii. reconception of syllables by Guido of Arezzo
c. tune usually in tenor
i. hymn tunes used with any hymn text with same textual patterns
ii. tunes given names, drawn from place names
8. Lowell Mason (1792–1872)
a. born in Massachusetts, musical training by German emigrant musician in
Georgia
b. returned to Boston, 1827, president of Handel and Haydn Society
i. helped found Boston Academy of Music
ii. superintendent of music, introduced music to regular curriculum
iii. established American tradition of music education in schools
c. championed correct European style, composed 1,200 original hymn tunes
i. Bethany (1856), set to "Nearer, My God, to Thee"
F. The tradition of choral music
1. nineteenth century looked back to previous eras, emulated other genres
2. enormous numbers of people participated in or heard choral music
IV. Romanticism and the Classical Tradition
A. First half of nineteenth century paradoxical age
1. torrent of new music
2. emergence of musical classics
3. elements of Romanticism blended into classical frameworks
4. few pieces attained permanent place in repertoire during composer's lifetime
5. some utilitarian music won surprising permanence