PIANO MUSIC IN THE ROMANTIC ERA
This piano piece is from the romantic era, demonstrating breathtakingly lyrical and expressive melody, chromatic harmony, and use of dissonance to convey emotion (Wright 232-233). The dark beauty, haunting quality, melodic structure, and lyrical nature reminded me of Frederic Chopin, the master of the nocturne (Wright 232, 270). After comparing it to several pieces by the composer, I determined that it was Nocturne in C Sharp Minor (Op 27 No 1)1.
As with other romantic composers, Chopin made use of chromatic harmony to add richness, depth, and sensuosity to his works (Wright 232). Piano music of the romantic period was enhanced by advancements in the instrument, such as felt covered hammers and sustaining and soft pedals (Wright
…show more content…
268). Chopin was a master of the piano and was able to coax music of such painful beauty and dynamic quality that it resonates with listeners to this day (Wright 270). John Rink observed in Early Music, Vol 29, Issue 3 that Chopin gained much inspiration from bel canto singing, incorporating into his work to enhance elements he valued: “beauty of sound, the art of touch, simplicity, subtlety, suppleness, and colouristic variety” (339). GREGORIAN CHANT The second piece is Gregorian Chant, sacred music of the Catholic Church dating back to the Medieval Period, as evidenced by its monophonic and monochromatic qualities and absence of regular rhythm (Wright 61). Dr. Wright (61) aptly observes that this particular form of music has “a timeless, otherworldly quality.” There is use of syllabic and melismatic singing within this particular piece. Additionally, the piece contains only male voices, which was typical of the gender separation of holy orders and Gregorian Chant (Wright 61-62). HINDUSTANI INDIAN CLASSICAL MUSIC The third piece is an example of Indian sitar and tabla music. Ravi Shankar is the most famous sitar player in the world and I am fairly confident this piece is by him and his longtime tabla accompanist Alla Rakha2 (Inglis 278). He became a mentor George Harrison of The Beatles and is responsible for their incorporation of Indian influences into their songs (Rain 116). Later, Shankar won over audiences at the Monterey International Pop Music Festival in 1967, Woodstock in 1969, and the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 and brought Indian music to the Western world and influenced many other Western musicians (Inglis 276). Shankar was not entirely comfortable with his association with American rock music as many of its values were juxtaposed with his culture and spirituality (Inglis 276-277, Wright 432). Ravi Shankar played mostly Hindustani classical music (Rain 116), which is comprised of long and subtly complicated melodies called ragas and a measurement similar to meter, called tala (Wright 432-433).
These ragas, along with the rhythms played by the percussionist, convey the particular “tranquility, natural beauty, and spirituality” of Indian music and are the very backbone of its expression (Wright 432-433). Raga has a much richer meaning beyond its melody. Bailey (115) notes that the music theory behind raga stipulates specific emotions, “the deities with which they are associated,” and even the appropriate times they should be performed.3 Tala is cyclic in nature and may be linked to the spiritual importance of reincarnation within Hinduism (Wright 433). The sitar is a “North Indian stringed instrument related to the lute, consisting of two gourds connected by a teakwood neck with 20 movable frets, six or seven main playing strings, and 11-13 sympathetic strings on separate bridges” (Rain 116). The tabla are two drums played in accompaniment to the sitar, one of which will produce one sound, while the sound of the other is influenced by the amount of force with which it is struck (Wright
433).3
Last is Im Wunderschonen Monat Mai by Robert Schumann. This piece sounds like a sad love story of some sort. The piano is what sets the mood of the whole piece, the beginning starts off slow and gloomy sounding, then the vocalist begins to sing and confirms that this song is going to be unhappy. Although the song is gloomy sounding I still like it, the piano has a pleasant melody and it is calming. It sounds like a song that should be played in a movie when a loved one dies and everyone’s mooring at a
In Africa, music helps define its culture by expressing emotions through each song. Drums play a very important significance in African culture; they are always present in ceremonies such as births, deaths, and marriages along with a ritual dance. Ompeh is an organized system with many rules and is performed by recreational amateur ensemble of singers and percussionists. Maru-Bihag is loosely structured, performed only by experts, and is used more for entertainment. In India, the sitar instrument is taken very seriously; a student must apprentice with a master for 15-20 years before being allowed to play this
Seyersted, Per, and Emily Toth, eds. A Kate Chopin Miscellany. Natchitoches: Northwestern State University Press, 1979.
For almost half a century, the musical world was defined by order and esteemed the form of music more highly than the emotion that lay behind it. However, at the turn of the 19th century, romantic music began to rise in popularity. Lasting nearly a century, romantic music rejected the ideas of the classical era and instead encouraged composers to embrace the idea of emotionally driven music. Music was centered around extreme emotions and fantastical stories that rejected the idea of reason. This was the world that Clara Wieck (who would later marry the famous composer, Robert Schumann) was born into. Most well known for being a famous concert pianist, and secondly for being a romantic composer, Clara intimately knew the workings of romantic music which would not only influence Clara but would later become influenced by her progressive compositions and performances, as asserted by Bertita Harding, author of Concerto: The Glowing Story of Clara Schumann (Harding, 14). Clara’s musical career is an excellent example of how romantic music changed from virtuosic pieces composed to inspire awe at a performer’s talent, to more serious and nuanced pieces of music that valued the emotion of the listener above all else.
The important piano works of Chopin include sonatas, preludes, etudes, polonaises, mazurkas, waltzes, nocturnes, scherzi, and ballades.
The piano—originally known as the fortepiano or pianoforte—is one of the most globally recognized instruments in history. Its unique timbre distinguishes it from preceding keyboard instruments and even from modern keyboard instruments that attempt to imitate it. The pianoforte has made many changes and contributions to music, which can be seen through how it came to be, what composers first thought of the instrument, and how it affected orchestral music.
Chopin’s mother played a key role in developing his love for music by introducing him to music at an early age. In addition to his mother introducing him to music, his father’s career which involved him tutoring Warsaw’s aristocratic families helped to spark Chopin’s love for music. Music was an integral part of most aristocratic families’ lives. So, it is not surprising that music had a great influence on Chopin, who was exposed to aristocratic families. The influence of Music on Chopin’s life had a lasting impact on himself and eventually the rest of
Frederic Chopin, a Polish Nationalistic composer of the Romantic period, is a famous musician. Chopin’s compositions are individualistic to his talent and love of the piano. Chopin lived in Warsaw as a child and spent a great deal of his life living Paris amongst other artists of the Romantic period. He was influenced by people surrounding him and even more from his childhood in Poland. The Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-Flat major opus 61, is musically representative of Chopin and the Romantic period, nationalistic styles from Poland and unique innovations especially from Warsaw.
There are many differences between romantic and classical music. Romantic works tend to have greater ranges of tone color, dynamics, and pitch. The emotional intensity associated with romanticism was already present in the work of Mozart and particularly in that of Beethoven, who greatly influenced composers after him (Kamien, 211). The composers in the Romantic period were Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Verdi, Wagner, Bizet, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Musorgsky, Mahler, Puccini. Their genres were ensemble, program orchestra, sensational suggestion, show suggestion, tone sonnet, musical show, workmanship tune, symphonic melody, solo concerto, character piece for piano, artful dance music. Melody: more adaptable and unpredictable fit as a fiddle than in the Classical period; long, singable lines with intense peaks and chromatic affectations for expressiveness. Harmony: Greater utilization of chromaticism makes the amicability wealthier and more vivid; sudden movements to remote harmonies for expressive purposes; delayed cacophony passes on sentiments of tension and aching. Rhythm: free and loose, sporadically darkening the meter; beat can change extraordinarily (rubato) and some of the time eases back to a slither to take into consideration "the fantastic signal". Color: symphony gets to be tremendous, coming to upward of 100 entertainers: trombone, tuba, contra-bassoon, piccolo, and English horn included; explores different avenues regarding new playing procedures for embellishments; progress shift broadly to make compelling levels of expression; piano gets to be bigger and all the more intense. Texture: prevalently homophonic however thick and rich on account of bigger ensembles and instrumental scores ; managing pedal on the piano additionally adds to thickness. Form: no new structures made; rather, conventional structures (strophic,
With exquisite mingling in sound of quiet and agitation, fluidity and interruption, with a gorgeous melody of cautious, tightly contracting circles and sudden leaps into space, Chopin, the subtle-souled psychologist, opens his waltz. How does Chopin speak through his waltz? How does the music play the listener? Minds think through forms. Form follows content. Music’s structure matters. In Chopin’s Opus 69 No.1, the AA’BA’BA’CCDCDA’ structure of reoccurring themes uncomfortably prolongs the inevitable return of the tragic first theme which the audience does not want to hear but expects to hear anyway.
...use of imagery in her writing gives it a more natural feel, blending the emotions of the story as a chameleon does itself in the trees. Many authors do not use such techniques in their writing, leading to a lack of substance in some cases. Without the images of nature that Chopin incorporates into her stories, they would not be as enjoyable to read as they are.
Green, Aaron. "Moonlight Sonata: Notes on Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor." About.com Classical Music. About.com, 19 Sept. 2009. Web. 05 May 2014. .
The term romantic first appeared at sometime during the latter half of the 18th Century, meaning in quite literal English, "romance-like", usually referring to the character of mythical medieval romances. The first significant jump was in literature, where writing became far more reliant on imagination and the freedom of thought and expression, in around 1750. Subsequent movements then began to follow in Music and Art, where the same kind of imagination and expression began to appear. In this essay I shall be discussing the effect that this movement had on music, the way it developed, and the impact that it had on the future development of western music.
Fredric Chopin was a 19th century composer of piano music, he wrote twenty-four preludes which are a set of short pieces made for the piano, and each one was wrote for each key on the piano and they were originally published in 1839. The piano is described as an instrument of great beauty. Originally known as the pianoforte, which is Italian for “soft-loud.” This means that the piano has a wide dynamic range and the capacity for nuance. The piano is unable to keep tone like string and woodwind instruments. The piano has the capability to have brilliant scales, arpeggios, trills, rapid passages and octaves. The pianos range spans more than seven octaves. In the hands of a good
The characteristics of romantic music are influenced by the Romantic Movement, where the arts of literature and painting play a great role in influencing romantic music. Other evidence of non-musical influences in romantic music is the popularity of romantic poetry during that era. Poems, opera arias and works form great romantic poets are transformed into instrumental works and composers like Schubert uses musical elements such as melodies inspired by poetry in his works (http://absoluteastronomy.com). The musical language itself has shown that romantic music is different from the rest of the music before its time. Extended tonal and harmonic elements are noticed in romantic music compared to those in the classical era, where chromaticism, the usage of dissonance, and modulations are used extensively.