ROMANTIC

PERIOD OF MUSIC

What is the Romantic period of music?

The Romantic period started around 1830 and ended
around 1900, as compositions became increasingly
expressive and inventive. Expansive symphonies,
virtuosic piano music, dramatic operas, and passionate
songs took inspiration from art and literature. Famous
Romantic composers include Tchaikovsky, Brahms,
Mahler, and Verdi to name but a few!

The Romantic Era

 After Beethoven, composers turned their attention

to the expression of intense feelings in their
music.
This expression of emotion was the focus of all the
arts of the self-described "Romantic" movement.

For inspiration, many Romantic composers

turned to the visual arts, to poetry, drama
and literature, and to nature itself. Using the
classical forms of sonata and symphony as a
starting point, composers began focusing
more on new melodic styles, richer
harmonies, and ever more dissonance, in the
pursuit of moving their audiences, rather than
concerning themselves with the structural
discipline of Classical forms.

Later composers of the 19th

century would further build on
the forms and ideas developed
by the Romantic composers.

GIOACCHINO ROSSINI

Rossini composed dozens, many of

which are still in the repertoire today,
while others are being once again
explored.

GAETANO DONIZETTI

Donizetti's operas are today mostly

admired for their many attractive
melodies and fine ensembles.

CARL MARIA VON WEBER

He accomplished this in a variety of ways: the use of spoken dialogue in place

of the Italian recitative; the use of German myths and folklore, with an
emphasis on nature, for the subjects of his operas; and his remarkable use of
the instruments of the orchestra, rather than just the voices, to tell the story.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN

He composed an overture based on Shakespeare's

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" which was so
successful that some years later he composed more
music on the subject, resulting in a suite of pieces to
be used in conjunction with productions of the play.

ROBERT SCHUMANN

Schumann's piano music (and later his

songs) remain supreme examples of the
Romantic style of the second quarter of
the nineteenth-century.

FRANZ LISZT

Liszt is often credited with the creation of the

symphonic poem: extended, single-movement works
for orchestra, inspired by paintings, plays, poems or
other literary or visual works, and attempting to
convey the ideas expressed in those media through
music.

Function of Music:
Romanticism still served a
sophisticated and aristocratic society,
as had been the case with Classical
music. Aristocratic patronage was
smaller, but the intimacy of the
exclusive salon was still the ideal
setting for performances.

"Flight of the Bumblebee" is an

orchestral interlude written by
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov for his
opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan,
composed in 18991900.