Music in the Romantic Period (Music 536)

Summary Outline for Midterm (Spring 2009)

I. In search of "Romanticism."

A. How did contemporaries see themselves.

1. First use of the term "romanticism."

2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778).

3. W.H. Wackenroder (1773-1797), "The Remarkable Musical Life of the Musician Joseph Berlinger."

4. Alienation.

5. Natural and supernatural.

6. Cult of the undividual.

B. Social Aspects.

1. Rise of the middle class.

2. Importance of publishing.

C. Ways to define the period.

1. Friedrich Blume — "classic" and "romantic" as one period, beginning with the movement in lierature.

2. Edward J. Dent — from the French Revolution (1789).

3. Carl Dahlhaus — 1814.

4. The year 1830.

II. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827).

A. Dominates his own time and the composers who follow him.

B. Dissolution of the "Heroic" style.

1. Letter to the "Immortal Beloved."

2. Series of potboilers ("Wellington's Victory" Symphony).

3. Revival of "Fidelio" (1814).

4. Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90 (1814)

C. "An die ferne Geliebte," Op. 98 (1816).

D. Characteristics of the Late Style Period.

1. Return to proporations of first style period.

2. Renewed interest in theme and variations.

3. New emphasis on contrapuntal techniques.

4. Improvisatory passages.

5. Use of folk-like tunes.

6. New ways to balance an entire work.

7. Sonata No. 31 in A-flat Major, Op. 110 (1821).

E. Late Quartets.

1. Commission from Prince Galitzin.

2. String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, Op. 131 (1826).

III. "Brilliant School" of Pianism.

A. Carl Czerny (1791–1857).

1. Pupil of Beethoven.

2. Teacher of Liszt.

3. Variations on a theme of Rode "La ricordanza," Op. 33 (ca. 1822–1823).

B. Johann Nepomuk Hummel (1778–1837).

1. Student of Mozart.

2. Esterh·zy family (1804).

3. Kapellmeister in Weimar (1818).

4. Sonata in F-sharp Minor, Op. 81 (1819), first movement.

IV. Franz Schubert (1797–1828).

A. German song ("Lied").

1. Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752–1814) — "Erlkˆnig" (1794).

2. Carl Loewe (1796–1869) — "Erlkˆnig" (1818).

B. Schubert and the Lied.

1. Year of discovery — 1814.

2. Outpouring of song — 1815.

3. "Erlkˆnig" (October 1815).

4. Three Songs, Op. 4.

C. Schubert and Instrumental Music.

1. Publications for the domestic market.

2. Virtuoso piano work — Fantasy in C Major ("The Wanderer"), Op. 15 (1822).

D. Schubert and the Symphony.

1. Earlier works.

2. Symphony in B Minor ("Unfinished," 1822), first movement.

V. Rossini and Italian Opera.

A. Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868).

1. Code Rossini.

2. Earliest successes: "Tancredi," "L'italiana in Algeri" (1813).

3. Parisian operas.

B. Vincenzo Bellini (1801–1835).

1. Felice Romani (1788–1865) — librettist.

2. ". . . melodie lunghe, lunghe, lunghe" (Verdi).

3. "La sonambula" (1831).

C. Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848).

1. Salvatore Cammarano (1801–1852) — librettist.

2. Facile composer.

3. "Lucia di Lammermoor" (1835).

VI. German Opera.

A. Singspiel.

1. Spoken dialogue between the numbers.

2. Reliance on French models.

3. No German opera composer of stature between Mozart and Wagner.

B. Romantic subjects.

1. E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) — "Undine" (1816).

2. Heinrich Marschner (1795–1861) — "Der Vampyr" (1828).

C. Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826).

1. "Der Freisch¸tz" (1821) — eclectic blend of genres.

a. Singspiel

b. melodrama

c. grand opera

d. OpÈra-comique

2. "Euryanthe" (1823).

3. "Oberon" (1826).

VII. French Grand Opera.

A. Auber: "La muette de Portici" (1828).

B. EugËne Scribe (1791–1861) — librettist.

1. defines French Grand Opera

2. four or five acts

3. historical or quasi-historical (middle ages to early 17th century)

4. spectacle ("tableau")

5. ballet

C. Louis VÈron (1798–1867) — director.

D. Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864).

1. career in Italy

2. "Robert le diable" (1831)

3. "Les Huguenots" (1836).

4. "Le prophËte" (1849).

VIII. "The Romantic Generation."

A. Hector Berlioz (1803–1869).

1. Berlioz as writer and critic.

2. "Symphonie fantastique" (1830).

3. "Harold en Italie" (1834) and gift of Paganini.

4. "RomÈo et Juliette" (1839) — symphonie dramatique.

B. Robert Schumann (1810–1856).

1. Writer and critic.

2. Concentration on genres:

a. piano music (to 1839)

b. song (1840)

c. orchestral music (1841)

3. Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 (first movement) (1838).

C. NicolÚ Paganini (1782–1840).

1. Virtuosity.

2. "Caprices," Op. 1 (1820) — "dedicated to all artists."

3. Influence on other composers: Franz Liszt (1811–1886).

D. Franz Liszt (1811–1886).

1. Influence of Paganini (Etudes: 1838, revised 1851).

2. Years of Pilgrimage (1835–1839).

3. Years of Touring (1839–1847) — "Glanzperiode."

4. Operatic paraphrase.

a. Sigismund Thalberg (1812–1871).

b. three-hand technique

E. The Piano.

1. Improvements to the instrument.

2. New genres: "character" (or "characteristic") piece.

F. FrÈdÈric Chopin (1810–1849).

1. Life bisected between Poland and France.

2. Wrote exclusively for the piano.

3. Ballade in G Minor, Op. 23 (1835–36).