BELL RINGER M.socrative.com – Room 38178

QUESTIONS:1. When is the Romantic period?2. Why did artists resist patronage?3. What is another name for the “starving artist”? (hint:

starts with a B)

ROMANTIC MUSICIntroduction

MUSIC - INTRODUCTION Music provided a medium to express emotion

Romantic music made stylistic changes to classical music

Though Romanticism was mostly a rebellion against neoclassicism, in music it involved a more gradual and natural extension of classical principles

MUSIC - INTRODUCTION Spontaneity replaced control

More emphasis on a beautiful, lyrical, and expressive melody

Longer and more complex phrases

Traditional rhythms, but new patterns

MUSIC - INTRODUCTION Colorful harmonies and instrumentation

Any previous “laws” regarding key relationships could be broken to achieve striking emotional effects.

Increasingly complex harmonies

Traditional distinctions between major and minor were blurred with chromatic harmonies

Some composers used key changes so frequently that once you found the key center, the music had changed to another one

CHROMATIC HARMONIES

The sharps and flats make the notes chromatic – they pull those notes out of the current key (or center) and create more complex harmonies

[this is just a chromatic melody, the accompaniment would include accidentals (sharps and flats) as well]

If you see lots of flats and sharps – it’s probably Romantic music!!

MUSIC - INTRODUCTION More and more dissonance occurs and eventually becomes the

principal focus

Dissonance created emotion Dissonance is a sound of “incompletion” or being “unfinished.” It wants

to go somewhere, but leaves you hanging Created by playing nontraditional chords – notes right next to each

other, or outside the scale

Interest in timbre (tone color) lead to great diversity in vocal and instrumental performance

Tremendous increase in the size and diversity of the orchestra

WHO STARTED IT ALL? Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

In about 1820, Beethoven began to write passionate compositions which often broke from the classical forms he usually worked in

SYMPHONY NO. 9 Symphony No. 9 (1824) is noted for his use of vocal

soloists and a chorus into the final movementThe classical symphony could not express all he feltThe trombone and several other percussive instruments are

added as well

After No. 9, many composers felt the need to experiment

Symphony No. 9 - Finale

MORE ON BEETHOVEN Beethoven was the first “bohemian composer.”

He did not work for a church or aristocrat, he survived on his own (money from performances and lessons – enough to get by)

Not having a “boss” allowed him to express his extreme individualism

He could write as he pleased and challenge the public to follow him Mozart, for example, was always writing for someone else

THE TRANSITION Composers did not fall in Beethoven’s footsteps right

away

They experimented first – smaller ensembles before orchestras

Starts with solo voice and piano works

There will be LOTS of AMAZING Romantic symphonies, but we’ll talk about them later

ROMANTIC FORMS/TYPES Lieder

Piano Works

Program Music

Symphonies

Opera

LIEDER Lieder means “art song”, composition for solo voice

with piano

Began the emotional experimentation in music – chromatics and complex harmonies

A poetic text allowed for a variety of lyrical and dramatic expressions and linked music directly to literature

LIEDER It was a burst of German lyric poetry that encouraged the

growth of the Lieder

Music added deeper emotional implications to the poetry

Some Lieder were complex, others were simple, some structured, some not

Regardless, the piano was an inseparable part of the experience – it explored mood and established rhythmic and thematic materials before they were sung Occasionally, it had solo passages of its own

FRANZ SCHUBERT The earliest and most important composer of Lieder:

Schubert (1797-1828)Austrian

His troubled life epitomized the Romantic view of the artist’s desperate and isolated condition

He wrote over 1,000 works – symphonies, sonatas, operas, Masses, choral compositions, and LiederNone were performed until the year of his deathWe’ll look at his symphonies later

FRANZ SCHUBERT “Scubertiads” – a group of Schubert’s friends who

would gather for evenings of musicNumbers of his songs were only privately viewed by his

friends until after his death

Died of syphilis at the age of 31

SCHUBERT’S DER ELKONIG Der Elkonig (The Erlking, 1815) is an excellent example

of Schubert’s work and Romantic music in general

The Erlking

What is the song about?Listen to it FIRST and then we’ll sum it up

THE ERLKING The piano plays a role in transmitting the mood of the

piece – the rapid octaves create tension

The melody in the bass line creates additional tension in its dark minor key

The variety of music allows the soloist to sound like several characters – the father, the song, and the Erlking

ANOTHER SCHUBERT LIEDER... You’ve probably heard this one... Much happier and

prettier than the Erlking

Ave Maria

THE PIANO Lieder success came with developments and changes

in the design of the piano

It was much warmer and richer in tone than earlier pianos

Improvements in pedal techniques made sustained tones possible and gave the instrument greater lyrical potential

PIANO PEDALS

Una corda (or soft pedal – changes the timbre of the piano)

Sostenuto (can sustain selected notes while others go unaffected)

Sustain pedal

(SOLO) PIANO WORKS The changes of the piano made it an almost ideal solo

instrument It was popular in the Classical Period, but became even more

popular in the Romantic Period

New works were composed solely for the piano, ranging from short, intimate pieces to larger works to show off the player Pieces were much more difficult to play

Schubert wrote several, but the most celebrated pianist of the 19th century and one of its more innovative composers was Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

FRANZ LISZT 1811-1886, Hungarian

He enthralled audiences with his expressive, dramatic playing

He taught most of the major pianists of the next generation

His piano works include etudes, concertos, and 20 Hungarian Rhapsodies based on Hungarian urban popular music (rather than folk music)

FRANZ LISZT The technical demands of Liszt’s compositions, and the

rather florid way he performed them, gave rise to a theatricalityThe primary focus was to impress audiences with flashy

presentation

Fit into the idea of the “artist as a hero”

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 - Tom & Jerry

FREDERIC CHOPIN Chopin (1810-1849), Polish

Wrote exclusively for piano

Several etudes, usually set to a single motif, and explored a single technical problemEtude: study, a piece not to perform, but to teach you

something

His etudes explored the possibilities of the instrument and eventually became short tone poems

FREDERIC CHOPIN Wrote intimate works such as preludes, nocturnes, and

dances (waltzes, polonaises, etc.)

He also wrote larger works such as scherzos, ballades, and fantasies.

All of his pieces are highly individual

His melodies are lyrical and his moods vary

CHOPIN’S NOCTURNES Chopin’s Nocturnes are his most celebrated works

Nocturnes: “night pieces”

Nocturne in E flat Major Op. 9, No. 2

The main theme alternates with others, almost rondo form (ABABAC)

OPUS 9, NO. 2 The melody is very graceful and lyrical over supporting chords

The melody uses notes close together (near by on an instrument) and just a few widely spaced

Each time the main theme is repeated, its more elaborate and ornamented

The work ends in a cadenza, which builds through a crescendo (gradually gets louder) and finishes pianissimo (very softly) Cadenza: a chance for the performer to show off what they can do.

They can play it at any tempo they desire.

RECOGNIZING PIECES Again, you’ll need to do music recognition

Should be EASIER than the classical period because pieces are more individual

I will ALWAYS play the obvious melody, I will not always start at the beginning It will always be the SAME excerpt

All of these links are posted on the website:http://mrsbsteacherpage.weebly.com

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW FROM TODAY... Liszt – Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2

Fast part towards the end

Chopin – Nocturne Opus 9, No. 2Beginning

PRACTICE! Chopin Nocturne Op.9 No.2 (Beginning)

Franz Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (7:07)