Beethoven Romanticism

Both Haydn and Beethoven are known as two of the greatest classical/romantic composers in the history of music. Haydn is identified as the father of modern symphony, as well as the father of the string quartet. He has played an essential role in developing the piano trio and the sonata form. Beethoven is also a widely recognized composer in Western music, his style joined the lull between the Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven traveled to Vienna when he was young to study under Haydn. However, due to disputes and differences between the two composers, lessons only lasted for a little over a year. The teachings, if only for a short period, left a mark on Beethoven, and can be observed in his compositions.

The War of the Romantics was an important part of the Romantic music period. It stretched from about 1840 to with its peak in 1860. After the death of Robert Schumann in 1856, the contemporary composers divided themselves into two groups. One of the groups had Franz Liszt as the leader, and Berlioz and Wagner joined him in the way they viewed music. Liszt wanted change and the music composing to evolve and some composers saw his compositions as being too radical (Urpi). These composers on the opposite side, the conservative ones were Johannes Brahms accompanied by Schumann and Mendelssohn. The conservative side wanted to stay with the rules and order from the classical era, while the radicals thought that music could be just as beautiful and meaningful without form. Alan Walker describes the war as “programme music versus absolute music, form versus content, the oneness versus the separateness of the arts, newness versus oldness, resolution versus reaction” (Weimar Years 338).

Romanticism. Romanticism is characterized by its impressive expressiveness in harmonic and thematic process with an increasing weight of chromatic and dissonant elements. There is a new tendency to give a particular importance to timber, texture and rhythm. Like the Renaissance after the Middle Ages, Romantic composers want to express the new-found independence of the humanity that is no longer under the constraining influence of the strict model that classical composers follow. Some Romantic compositions express a powerful individualism while others express the beauties and terrors of nature, but the most common theme is nationalism.

Romanticism was a noteworthy global development that was compelling in forming present-day perspectives of artistry, writing, and music. Be that as it may, it came later in a few nations, for example, Italy, Spain, and the United States. It happened first in craftsmanship and writing and later in music. To a limited extent, sentimentalism was a response to the creative styles of traditional vestige. These styles had been resuscitated in the 1600's and 1700's as neoclassicism. Neoclassicists set remarkable significance on the force of reason as a method for finding truth. That is the reason the neoclassical period is frequently called the Age of Reason (Wheatley, K.).

Romantic 
Dates: 1800-1900
 
1.  What was going on historically during this era?  What was life like? Profound Political and Social changes going on; many moving into cities for work. Renewed interested in expressing emotion through music. 
2.  Does romantic music continue to use the same forms used in the classical era? No
3.  Explain the Individuality of style. Composers wanted their music to be uniquely identifiable to them. They worked hard on self-expression.
4.  What are the expressive aims and subjects of the pieces?  How is this different than in the classical era? Flamboyance, Intimacy, Unpredictability, Melancholy, Rapture, Longing etc..., Classical Era did not experiment with so many aims.
5.  What is musical nationalism?

The Classical and the 19th century Romantic Period were eras where many of the most famous composers and compositions that we know today were born. The Classical Period brought forth big name composers like Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, CP Bach, and Ludwig van Beethoven. The 19th century Romantic Period was characterized by composers like Franz Schubert, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Edvard Grieg. But, what really were these artistic periods? What makes them different from each other? And how did the Classical Period inevitably end and influence the beginning of the Romantic Period? Here we will not only cite in depth research of both the Classical and the 19th Century Romantic Period, but also pull direct characteristics of the classical period from Beethoven’s “Zärtliche

In classical music, the structures emphasize more the grace of proportion and balance, moderation and control; polished and elegance in character with expressiveness and formal structure held in perfect balance. Furthermore, the forms do not vary as much as the Romantic era, they had forms like sonatas, symphonies etc. The melodic phrases are usually balanced and symmetrical made up of two phrases of the same length. For an example, in Mozart's Clarinet Quintet, the music is very symmetrical and well balanced, in a variation form. However, in Romantic music, they rather emphasize on the emotional content than trying to sound balanced and symmetrical, and expanded their use of forms and created new forms, like impromptu, ballade, etude, nocturnes etc,. Moreover, the melodies normally have either really long or short phrases, increased in range, but also increased in chromaticism. For example in Mahler's symphony no.1 in D major "Titan", we can see that except it is in a ABA form, the whole movement was not as symmetrical and well balanced as the Mozart, although it is in a variation form, the melodic phrases have increased in range, are either really long, for example in the first 18 bars, or really short, where the melody can be hardly seen in bar 134-137.

German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven, was born December 1770 and spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His first teacher was his alcoholic father, who worked as a musician at the Court of Bonn. Teaching him day and night, Ludwig suffered from his father's harsh and erratic behavior. For a time, he and his father played at the Church. As his father's alcoholism increased, Ludwig became the main musician.

He was born in the German town of Bonn on the 16th of December 1770. His grandfather Ludwig and his father Johann were both musicians. Johann was to act as little Ludwig's first music teacher, but Ludwig soon changed to the court organist C. G. Neefe. Passing eleven years of age, Ludwig deputized for Neefe, and at twelve had his first music published. He then stayed as Neefe's assistant until 1787, when at seventeen, he took off for Vienna. Even though Vienna was to be his home for the rest of his life, this first visit was short. On hearing that his mother was dying, he quickly returned to Bonn. Five years later he finally moved to Vienna to live and work.

First of all, the baroque is known by the exaggerated uses of ornamental decorations in their compositions. These ornaments were exposed in all types of art at that time as: painting, architecture, sculpture and music. In addition, baroque music uses a tonal harmony that produces musical contrast in high levels. This contrast is a very important element in the dramatic aspects of the baroque music, and it was reflected through the melody and texture of the compositions. Furthermore, the most important characteristics in the Baroque music style were the basso continuo and a simple melody with chord accompaniment. Those elements provided a variety of compositions with better stability in the harmony. Moreover, the music of this period presented the counterpoint and polyphony, two elements which caused movement in the melody, and also created expectations and captured the attention of those who listened to that music. On the other hand, romantic music is known for his great expressiveness in their compositions. This expressiveness allows to the composers, add their feelings and emotions to their music. Furthermore, the romantic music was showed a depletion of the capacity of tonal music, so it was passed to the trend of atonal music. Moreover, this kind of music presented a great use of melody, which was responsible to capture the beauty of the written music and as well

Romanticism brought new ideas and visions for people. Romanticism showed a return to nature and the goodness of humanity. It lead way to many different forms of writings, and made some authors famous, like Emerson, on their thoughts and views of this time period. People loved this idea, because times were changing, and this was somewhat of a gateway for better things to come. Romanticism not only touched literature, but also art and music, where famous composers such as Lizit and Tchaikovsky became well known classical artists, and their works are still played today. The movement of Romanticism helped not only helped people express themselves, but also gave us a new sense of the different forms of

The Romantic age, although having been in the background in literature in particular since 1750, really began to evolve into mainstream music with the shockwaves caused by the French Revolution. Opera was immediately modernised in France -- in particular a style later known as 'Rescue Opera', which typically depicted the capture of a heroine by an evil tyrant and then rescued gallantly by her lover. This genre showed the new way of thinking, that the evil was undone by human effort and not by the intervention of an almighty, superior being.

The romantic period of music began in the 1820s and with it came a change of stylistic features. Beethoven largely impacted the new way that the music of the Romantic era was viewed. He made people perceive music as a true form of art made to be taken seriously, rather than just a fun time passer. Another reason for the change of music during that time was due to nationalism and exoticism. Nationalism promoted music, such as folk songs and dances, which was created for the purpose of supporting the nation. Exoticism had the opposite effect as nationalism. It caused audiences to listen to folk music from other nations and it allowed people to have a better understanding of unique qualities and cultures of surrounding nations. These factors led to the music during the Romantic period becoming more personal and emotion than it was in the previous classical era, although it still contained a melody, harmony, tone color, and a form. Much of the music from the Romantic era can be recognized by its melody. The melodies became wider, more irregular, and dramatic during this time. The harmony of Romantic music was further advanced as well. The composers learned how to use harmony to build the melody and intensify its emotionality, while at the same time experimenting freely with new chords. The tone color of music during this time was expanded allowing the quality of the sound of the music to improve. One of the most important changes that were made to the features of music during

Furthermore, memorable melodies, richly expressive harmony, and broad expanded forms characterized Romantic music. The once Classical tradition became heavily influenced by emotional elements, reduced formalism, and the implementation of often non-musical

Despite its name, Romantic, the Romantic age had only a few things that was related to the real meaning of romance known now, however, love had been the main subject of most of the age's art. The age was actually a great achievement of art and philosophy that resulted in the western societies to change the way they thought about themselves and their surroundings as mentioned in the article "Romanticism" Adapted from A Guide to the Study of Literature. Differing from the classical age the romantic age has given artists of that period more freedom and creation. Music for instance was of great value in terms of the way it expresses. Composers of the age used music along with freedom in expression to express nationalism and hence proving their