Music during the Romantic Period
During the romantic
era, most composers were using music as a way of expressing themselves.
However, with time, it became more subjective and emotional. Their source of
inspiration was the dark themes like death, supernatural powers and even the
romantic love. Apart from these, other composers drew their inspiration from
folk songs of native countries and history; others were influenced by the
foreign lands. This period was ushered in by the free and personal expression
of the artists. Their main aim was to achieve their desire to release their
emotions and have their freedom. This paper offers a description of Music as it
was played during the Romantic Era. It shall also highlight issues the occurred
during the Romantic Era and how these issues impacted the type of music that
was preferred during these times.
- Discussion
The development of
romantic music was over the course of a hundred years. In this period, there
was an emergence of many new forms of music, for instance, the art song. This
was a combination of romantic poetry together with the piano and voice.
Besides, there was also stylized piano music like polonaise, mazurka, etude and
the waltz. The programmatic content of the music was
expressed tone poems and symphonic works such as Symphony Fantastique as well
as the piano music. The music of the Romantic era was majorly a combination of
warm, personal melodies and expressive indications which implied the
interpretive freedom and a harmonic color.
Also,
the use of tone color became more familiar, and harmony became intricate.
Tempo, pitch, and dynamics were widely used and the popularity of the use of
rubato increased significantly. Also, there was also an expansion of Orchestra.
The composers during this period experienced a massive shift in their status.
Because there were ongoing wars, the aristocrats were no longer able to support
in-residence composers and orchestras financially. It grew hard for wealthy individuals to
maintain their private opera houses as well. Consequently, composers had to suffer
massive financial losses, and they, therefore, had to devise new ways of
earning.
As opposed to the
classical composers, romantic composers were aiming at storing a powerful
expression of emotions to reveal their innermost feelings and thoughts. It
should be distinguished that romantic songs are not only about emotions of
love, but they also encompass hatred or death. This means that they cover both
the positive and negative feelings that individuals can have. Most of the
romantic music composers during this period had a keen interest in literature
and art, for instance, distant past, dreams, night and moonlights among other
aspects.
As
the romantic composers continued to widen the range of their musical material,
richer harmonies, passionate melodies and great use of chromaticism are found.
During the period, there was an enormous increase in the orchestra. There was
an addition of tuba in the brass section. Besides, there was also the invention
of valves which gave the brass more flexibility. Woodwinds were written in
threes or even fours by the composers. There was also an addition of piccolo,
bass clarinet, double bassoon and cor anglais. Also, there was the formation of a larger
string section which served the purpose of accommodating additional sound. A
variation of percussion was added which enabled the availability of more volume
and pitch.
The
German lieder songs also developed during the Romantic period or piano and solo
voice. These encompassed two types namely strophic which was the same music
repeated for every verse and the through-composed music which had different
music for each and every verse. Of this type, there was a close and together
fitness of the voices. Some of the greatest composers of this kind of music
included Schubert, Brahms, Schumann Richard Straus and Wolf. In some occasions, the
composers came up with a whole group of poems which were linked to a similar
idea, for example; the writers could sometimes sketch an idea or a story for
instance Schubert's Winter Journey.
In
the case of music for piano, the expressions were improved through the
introduction of more notes and also the use of metal frames instead of the
regular wood frames. The piano gradually gained a more rich sound a wider range
of notes. To a larger extent, the use of sustaining pedals commenced. Schubert
was also another famous composer of piano music at the time that played a
central role in the composition of sonatas among other short pieces. Many of
these pieces shared a lot of contrasting moods and were also in the form of
Ternary.
Etude, which was also another piece during
that period, was meant to play a role in the improvement of techniques of
playing. The period saw the rise of many people with extraordinary skills of
music like Paganini who most individuals thought was in partnership with the
devil due to his extreme musical skills. Besides, Liszt was also another
personality who was mainly concerned with showmanship.
As there was a continued formation of links
between literature, painting, and music, composers came up with the idea to
compose programming music during the Romantic music era. Programming music told
a variety of stories. The opposite of these types of music was free music which
had no stories in their composition. For orchestra, three types of programming
music were available. The first category is known as program symphony. This
melody kept recurring and coming around again and again. There is the Concert
Overture. This was intended to be performed at concerts an example is the Romeo
and Juliet overture. Finally, the symphonic poems whose main role was
continuous change of the characters’ mood. Liszt, for example, used a thematic
transformation device and also wrote a thematic piece which was known as
Hamlet.
Among the types of music during this period
also included incidental music which was especially composed to be listened to
at certain points when play was being performed (Agawu, 14). They played the role of setting the mood
and also covering the scenery changes, or they could even be played as
background music. Other pieces of incidental music were known as suits which
were gathered together and were intended for a given play.
Also, a series of changes took place during
the Romantic music era especially; changes were made to the forms of concerto
during the period. In place of double exposition now came to a single
exhibition which was characterized by the soloist entering immediately and
sharing the themes with the orchestra. The writing of cadenza was now done by
the composer. Among the changes that took part during this period included composers
employing the use of different numbers of movements, a larger orchestra, and
the growth of virtuoso. Also, the piano and violin formed the major part of
Concerto instruments. Finally, there was more drama and excitement accompanied
by more competition between the soloist and the orchestra.
The romantic music during the Romantic era
had various characteristics; one of these features was that they had a freedom
of design and form. The music was more emotional and personal. Secondly, the
songs were accompanied by discords and harmony and also dramatic contrasts and
of pitches and dynamics. Since there were mainly the brass and invention of
valves, the music had big orchestras. Finally, the songs were characterized by
great technical virtuosity.
Conclusion
The term romantic music
was widely used to denote a period of western music which came about in the
late 18th and early 19th century. These types of music
are mainly linked with the movement of Romanticism which took place in Europe
in the 18th century. It was not only related to music, but it also
encompassed a comprehensive movement of intellect, music, literate and art. As
already discussed in the paper, these types of music had various features and
the themes of romantic music were in most cases linked to self-expression and
nature. Romantic songs of the period had some unique features, and when they
are for instance compared with the classical type of music, each has distinct
set of characteristics. For example, for the classical period, the composers
mainly paid attention to expressing ideas, thoughts, and views of the
enlightened period. However, in the case of romantic songs, the primary
intention was to concentrate on self-expression and romantic themes such as
nationalism. In a wider perspective, the pieces of music which were written in
that error had much passion and expression in them. From a personal viewpoint,
I think that the inclusion of instruments such as the piano enhanced the
efficiency and helped fulfill the intentions of the romantic songs during the
period.
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