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Secondary General Music Lesson Ideas
A Little History
The Romantic Period refers to the time from 1825 to 1910, and falls between the Classic and the Modern Periods. With the term 'romantic' in the title, you may assume the music of this period is all about love, hearts, and sappy songs. That assumption, actually, would be partly correct because the Romantic Period is all about strong feelings or emotions. However, these strong emotions could also be about hate, jealousy, or grief.
Romanticism was a Western cultural movement that began as a reaction to the neoclassical movement of reason and order that dominated the previous century. Instead of these ideals, Romanticists were imaginative individuals who championed creativity and artistic freedom. In the Baroque and Classic Periods, music was often written for the church or simply for entertainment. If this music happened to express feelings as well, then all the better. Romantic composers, however, were not too worried about entertaining their audience (or the church for that matter); they simply wrote their music to express their feelings, and the audience was left to take it or leave it! Thus, the whole reason for writing the music was different than previous time periods.
Capturing extreme emotional states was a hallmark of this period. Romantic musicians liked using bold tone colors, a term that describes the unique sound of a musical instrument. To expand the tone color options available, several new instruments were added to the orchestra during this period, including a large amount of percussion instruments, like the triangle, as well as the tuba, concert harp, and celesta (a piano-like instrument that has a sound similar to that of a music box). With this rich orchestral palate, composers were able to create intensely emotional music. One composer who took advantage of the expanded orchestra to create highly emotional melodies was Pyotr Tchaikovsky. His musical representation of the story of Romeo and Juliet perfectly captures both the passion of the young lovers and the fiery intensity of the sword fights between the dueling families (see West Side Story for more information).
Another trend of the Romantic Period was that artists often created their art based on contemporary events, especially those related to politics. Beethoven's third symphony is an example of this. Originally composed as a tribute to
Napoleon Bonaparte, a man whom Beethoven admired for his democratic ideals, Beethoven later ripped up his dedication page in anger after Napoleon declared himself emperor. Beethoven re-named his piece 'Heroic Symphony, Composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man'... ouch! The use of a descriptive title, rather than a generic one, is a particular hallmark of Romantic era music, and was aimed towards inspiring the imagination. Furthermore, the music of Beethoven's third symphony involves intense expressions of emotion, changing from lighthearted cheerfulness to pained anguish in seconds. Thus, Beethoven, whom we talked about in the Classic Period, is credited with composing the first Romantic music.
The reason Beethoven was so upset about Napoleon's self-coronation was because he, along with many others, had believed that Napoleon was a champion of the common man. Democratic sentiments were sweeping the continent, and nationalism became an important factor in encouraging revolutionary activity. At the time, many Europeans were seeking independence from the monarchical rule that had dominated Europe for centuries, especially that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As citizens rebelled, Romantic composers helped promote nationalist agendas through their music by glorifying this revolutionary activity within the lyrics and/or incorporating folk music to represent their 'roots'. Among the composers who used this technique are Pyotr Tchaikovsky (see Firebird and/or Tchaikovsky lesson) and Edvard Gried (see In the Hall of the Mountain King instrument playing and/or Grieg lesson). Composers who used this technique were called Nationalist Composers.
Attempting to capture the power and beauty of nature was also a trend during the Romantic Period. Czech composer Bedřich Smetana combined the themes of nationalism and nature in his work 'The Moldau,' an orchestral piece that takes the listener on a musical journey along the river Vltava. It starts at the river's origin with two small mountain streams in the Czech countryside that combine to flow through the Bohemian forests and finally into the mighty river that runs through the great city of Prague. Smetana recreates the flowing sounds of the river with a lush and rolling melody played by the string section of the orchestra, while the brass depict the ancient Czech fortresses and castles along the riverbank. For more information about this composition, see Vltava lesson.
An exploration of all things fantastic, including the idyllic, the irrational, the world of dreams, and the surreal, was also encouraged during the Romantic era. Sometimes, the imagery was lighthearted, like Felix Mendelssohn's musical depiction of mischievous fairies in his overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream, and sometimes the realms of fantasy took a much darker turn, like Hector Berlioz's fifth movement of his Fantastic Symphony, titled Dreams of a Witches' Sabbath.
With the imaginative realms of fantasy came a fascination with the exotic. As intercontinental travel conditions improved, musicians tried to capture the sights and sounds of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Many Romantic era composers experimented with adding exotic sounds to their compositions by avoiding traditional Western scales, creating unusual harmonies, and using innovative compositional practices. A famous example of exoticism is Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's symphonic poem Scheherazade, which is based on the story 'Arabian Nights'. This composition is a musical depiction of the legendary harem storyteller who kept herself alive through her ability to charm a cruel emperor with her enthralling tales. For more information about this composition, see Scheherazade lesson.
The Romantic Period probably contains the most recognized Western Art music of all time. Additionally, many famous people were alive during the Romantic Period that you most likely have heard of before. Check out the time machine to put the music of the Romantic Period into perspective with other historic happenings of the time (click the icon below to access the keynote presentation).
Below is a brief overview of the Romantic Period by Classic FM, as well as mini history lessons for the composers Beethoven, Debussy, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner. To access the lesson, click on the specific composer's bust.
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