Romantic Era

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.

Romantic music inspired two smaller movements: nationalistic music and music about legends. Richard Wagner (1813-1883) is a German composer who wrote many pieces on the basis of a story or myth. He revolutionized opera through creativity, discontent with musical formulas and his focus on drama.

Ludwig Von Beethoven was a very important transitional figure between the Classical and Romantic eras. Beethoven’s early work was heavily influenced by Mozart and Haydn. He had a very great influence on the composers of the Romantic era. Beethoven emphasised the emotional expression in music, which is a key characteristic of Romanticism.

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?

Beethoven was born into a highly musical family heavily involved in the church, and his father was his first teacher of music. Beethoven and Wagner both shared unique ideals about music that shaped the future of music, namely Beethoven's break with

After marrying Minna Panner, he became then became the first music director of the theater in Riga, Russia. He stayed here until 1839, but later went to Paris, thinking he could make a fortune there. While there, he sold the scenario for Der fliegende Holländer (The Flying Dutchman) to the Paris Opéra for use by another composer. To me this doesn't really make sense. I know he did it for the money, but after putting so much time and effort into something, especially a composition, it becomes special. It seems he would take pride in his music and not just sell it out of desperation. Also while in Paris, he composed Rienzi, but was unable to produce it there because of his political views he stated in the piece. But that didn't stop him, so he sent it to the Court Theatre in Dresden, Germany, where it was accepted. This is the marking point for when he finally became a noted composer. I think this can go to show just how out spoken Wagner was. All of his music seemed so dark and I think that’s one of the things that made him stand out. He was not afraid to voice his opinion or change things up. In my opinion, that’s why even today, he is still considered one of the most influential

In 1832 he published his first composition which was a piano sonata and symphony that were influenced heavily by Beethoven (Bonds 464). However; in attempting to write these kinds of music he realized he loved theatre music (Bonds 463). Wagner spent a lot of time with the theatre he was able to see Geyer preform and see all the inner workings of the theatre (Jacobs 3). Through his experiences with the theatre he began to develop his own ideas of music. He only valued music for the operatic images that struck him (Jacobs 6). His image of music from the beginning seemed to be very narrow

Richard Wagner was in the Romantic time period, many historical factors were taken place after the year 1830. The first railroad was built, the Crimean War was taken place, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. Another major thing was slavery was abolished in America. The Romantic Era lasted 50 years from the years 1800’s to 1850’s. Richard was born 13 years into the Romantic Era and was alive 33 years into the 20th Century.

What is the Romantic music period? The Romantic music is the period of Western Classical music that began in the late 18th to early 19th century. It is related to Romanticism, the European literary and artistic movement that came to be in the second half of the 18th century. The Romantic music in particular was extremely significant in the Romantic movement in Germany. In the Romantic period music became more emotional and deeply expressive. we'll known early Romantic composers include Beethoven (whose works are in both this period and the Classical period), Schumann, Chopin,Schubert, Mendelssohn, Berlioz and. The late 19th century saw dramatic growth in the size of the orchestra and wide array of instruments used. Public concerts became a

Wilhelm Richard Wagner (German, 22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883) was a German composer, known for its opera and Musical. He is not only a composer, but also a theatre director and polemicist. He was a pivotal figure in the history of German opera Front undertake Mozart, Beethoven’s opera tradition, turned back the trend of post-romanticism opera composer Richard Strauss followed. At the same time, because he was the complexity of the political, religious thought, has become the most controversial in the history of European music figures. [1]

The Romantic Era brings to the mind of an uneducated person of a time of idyllic pleasure, carefree and light. If asked to picture it some may say a damsel in distress rescued by her knight riding in on a white stallion. However, the Romantic Era was more of an era of rebellion as the world moved away from the “correctness” in literary art and religion. It was an era of artistic movement, in literature, music, and the visual arts, that emphasizes pleasure in the natural world, fascination with the legends of the past and supernatural beings, creativity, imagination, exploration of human emotions, human activities struggling

It is a serious assumption that Wagner was known to be a suspected Anti-Semitic. Some sources will briefly touch on this fact as many people know that the comical sections of some of Wagner’s operas included the discrimination of Jews. This is an obvious and key part of the investigation of the social effect of Wagner 's political movements.

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

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