Romantic Period

1810-1900

All about breaking rules and changing everything about music. Making it completely different to classical. Beethoven started it all.

 Romantic opera placed emphasis on the imagination and emotions. It started to give more dimension to extreme emotions. Opera had become a marriage of the arts, a musical drama, full of glorious song and costume. From its conception during the baroque period to the maturity of the romantic period, it was the medium through which tales and myths were revisited and history was retold. Composers even used this expressive means to display nationalism. Composers used elements of folk music to express their cultural identity. They can go on forever like 3 hours. Any form of disaster can go on in the piece. It's ENORMOUS big people, lots of brass instruments, very dramatic. Gods and mythical stuff. 'it ain't over till the fat lady sings' this saying comes into romantic opera.

Dissonance: clashy sounds.notes from outside the key being used. In order for composers to be able to make music sound full of emotion. Broke all the classical period rules as dissonance was not allowed. (a musical example of Dissonance)

Virtuoso: a performer that excels in technical ability. Most complicated, the best and so amazing at playing an instrument, can use every ounce of the instrument, as fast, slow and as hard or soft as that instrument can be played. Liszt. Composer and pianist.(a musical example of a Virtuoso)

Tone poems: having a non-musical object and a composer going and writing a piece of music to describe that object, eg. A painting or a story. (a musical example of a Tone Poem)

Programme music: similar to tone poems. No singing it is just instrumental, based in a story or piece of writing, difference to tone poems, is programme music can go on for a lot longer. (a musical example of programme music)
 

Impressionism: creates an atmosphere of a music, without the use of words. (musical example of Impressionism) 

Romantic symphony: can last a long time 20-40 mins, the orchestra became about 60 people, they didn't follow a specific pattern, they didn't follow any of the rules, it most of the prices had more an 4 movement they just added them in if they wanted more. Much larger orchestras and were more expressive. (a musical example of a romantic symphony)