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IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

Proyecto Bilingüe

UNIT 5: ROMANTIC MUSIC

1. INTRODUCTION 2. VOCAL MUSIC 3. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC 4. Musical nationalism in the middle of the 19th Century

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IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

BASIC VOCABULAry To abolish: abolir. Damper pedal: pedal sostenuto. To evolve: evolucionar. Filter: filtro. Frame: marco (arpa del piano). Hammer: martillo o macillo. Huge: inmenso To evoke: evocar. To lead: llevar a Marriage: matrimonio. Mature: maduro. Poetry: poesía. Program music: música programática. Soft pedal: pedal izquierdo del piano. Sources: fuentes. Stanza: estrofa. Towards: hacia. To turn: volverse. Wide: ancho.

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Proyecto Bilingüe

IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

Proyecto Bilingüe

1. INTRODUCTION

Romantic music is a term referring to a particular period in European music history from about 1815 to 1910. Romanticism describes the expansion of formal structures within a composition, making the pieces more passionate and expressive. During this period composers turned their attention to the expression of intense feelings in their music and were also influenced by technological advances, including the development of the piano and the greater projection of the instruments of the symphony orchestra. Some of the main characteristic of the Romantic era are: •

Freedom in form and design; a more intense personal expression of emotion in which fantasy and imagination play an important part.

•

Emphasis on lyrical, songlike melodies that are longer, dramatic and emotional. Tempos are more extreme and tempo rubato is common.

•

Denser textures exploring a wider range of pitch, dynamics and timbres.

•

Expansion of the orchestra, sometimes to huge proportions; the invention of the valve system leads to development of the brass section, whose weight and power often dominate the texture.

•

Rich variety of types of piece, from songs and short piano pieces to huge musical compositions for orchestra.

•

Music has closer links with other arts. Frecuently composers are inspired by external sources like poems or landscapes.

•

Greater technical virtuosity – especially from pianists and violinists.

•

Nationalism: reaction against German influences in music by composers of other countries (especially Russia, Bohemia and Poland).

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IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

Proyecto Bilingüe

2. VOCAL MUSIC 2.1. THE LIED

The term lieder is the plural form of the German word lied which means "song." The poetry forming the basis for lieder often centers upon pastoral themes, or themes of romantic love. Typically, lieder are arranged for a single singer and piano. The piano helped to add more emotion into the Romantic lieder. The accompaniment enhanced the meaning of the text by harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic material independent of the voice part. It also provided harmonic and melodic support to the voice and served to punctuate the poetic form by interludes between stanzas and lines of the poem. Poetic structure is responsible for the musical form of a song (two basic forms are ternary form -A B A- and strophic form -A A´ A´´…-). The composers Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann are most closely associated with this genre of romantic music.

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IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

Proyecto Bilingüe

2.2. ROMANTIC OPERA

Romantic opera gave more dimension to the imagination and extreme emotions. Opera was a marriage of the arts, a musical drama, glorious songs, costume and orchestral music.

-Italy

Gioacchino Rossini initiated the Romantic period in the Italian opera. His reputation still survives today through his Barber of Seville. He was one of the earlier composers of bel canto. The bel canto opera movement flourished in the early 19th century. Literally "beautiful singing", bel canto opera derives from the Italian stylistic singing school of the same name. Bel canto lines are typically florid and intricate, requiring supreme agility and pitch control. Rossini's successors in the Italian bel canto were Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi, the most important Italian opera composer in the 19th century. Verdi's operas resonated with the growing spirit of Italian nationalism in the post-Napoleonic era, and he quickly became an icon of the patriotic movement. In the early 1850s, Verdi produced his three most popular operas: Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata.

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IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

Proyecto Bilingüe

-Germany

In Germany, Wagner was one of the most revolutionary and controversial composers in musical history. He created a new concept of opera as a complete work of art, a fusion of music, poetry and painting. In his mature

music

dramas,

Tristan

und

Isolde,

Die

Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Der Ring des Nibelungen and Parsifal, he abolished the distinction between aria and recitative in favour of the "endless melody". He increased the role and power of the orchestra and developed the leitmotivs, recurring themes often associated with the characters and concepts of the drama. Wagner also brought a new philosophical dimension to opera in his works, which were usually based on stories from Germanic or Arthurian legend.

3. INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

3.1. Piano music The piano evolved during 19th century and became in an extremely versatile instrument. It provided a wide dynamic range (the ability to distinguish between loud and soft) and a large capacity for sonority which its predecessors did not have. The double escapement action, the use of a strong iron frame and felt hammers coverings and the improvement of the damper and soft pedals were some of the innovations that allowed musicians to try new and exciting harmonic effects and express whatever they wanted. Chopin, Listz, Schumann or Brahms were fundamental piano composers in the Romantic era.

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IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

3.2. Program music

Program music is a type of composition that is inspired in an external source (for instance a poem or image) and try to invoke in the listener a specific experience other than listening just only music. Normally, the composers presented their music with an extensive program text where they explained the object

of

their

composition.

Hector

Berlioz

(Symphonie Fantastique) and Franz Liszt, the inventor of the term symphonic poem, were important composers of program music.

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Proyecto Bilingüe

IES Las Encinas

2º de ESO

Proyecto Bilingüe

4. Musical nationalism in the middle of the 19th Century

The increasing importance of nationalism as a political force in the 19th century was mirrored in music and the other arts. Many composers expressed their nationalism by incorporating elements unique to their native cultures, such as folk song, dances, and legendary histories. In addition to these exterior elements, there was an increasing diversification of musical language, as composers used elements of rhythm or melody characteristic of their respective nations. Many composers wrote nationalist music, especially towards the middle and end of the 19th century. Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák both used rhythms and themes from Czech folk dances and songs, and Jean Sibelius wrote music based on the Finnish epic. Chopin wrote in forms like the polonaise and mazurka, that were derived from Polish folk music. finally, some Russian composers, for example Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov or Mussorsgsky, shared the common dream to write music that was inspired by Russian folk music.

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