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Music - The Romantic Period (Features (More dramatic than Classical Music,…
Music - The Romantic Period
Facts
Period was from about 1820-1910
Composers portraying contrasting emotions, e.g. love, hate, happiness, grief.
Inspired by the natural world, too.
Composers wrote programme music, music based on a poem or painting that tells a story.
Composers
Tchaikovsky
Wagner
Chopin
Features
More dramatic than Classical Music
Wide range of dynamics (could go from ppp to fff)
Sforzandos and accents add to drama.
More expressive - extra instructions such as dolce, amoroso, or agitato were used.
More tempo changes and the use of rubato - means "robbed time"
Extra notes added to chords to make more interesting harmonies, e.g. 7ths, 9ths, 11ths and 13ths. Helped create dissonance which showed pain and misery.
Virtuoso playing
Folk tunes and dance rhythms from home countries to show pride.
The Orchestra
Bigger
+ Piccolo, bass clarinet and contrabassoon
+ Xylophone, glockenspiel, drums, cymbals, bells, triangles, harps.
Brass instruments have valves now.
Changes allowed for larger texture, timbre and dynamics
Development of piano made it more popular
The Piano
Developments
Changed shape, got bigger and louder - bigger dynamic range
More keys - larger pitch range
Sustain pedal and soft pedal became more effective.
Strings inside were thicker and longer, making a fuller tone. Also pulled tighter, so they were more tense.
Hammers given a felt covering making softer tone and more rounded.
Melodies were most important part.
Often marked cantabile
Many virtuosic sections
Accompaniment was often broken chords, spread across several octaves.
Popular solo instrument in concertos - pianist was able to show off in the cadenza.
Preludes became popular as stand alone music.
Chopin
Born in Poland in 1810
Composed a lot of piano music
His music was characterised by its expressive melodies and unique treatment
Many solos written based on dances, including mazurkas, polonaises and waltzes.
Wrote nocturnes, pieces meant to represent the night.
Key features:
Melody in right hand part above broken chords in left hand.
Sad feel, slow tempo
Wrote 24 preludes, one in each major and minor key.
Schumann
German, born 1856
Many of his pieces were programme music - their titles describe what the music represents
Wrote lots of Lieder - songs for one singer and a piano.
Requiems
Mass
A roman catholic church service
The words of a mass were traditionally in Latin
A mass for the dead
Miss out the happier parts of the mass.
Dramatic and emotional.
Usually in minor key
Written for large choir and massive orchestra