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Understanding the romantic period
Understanding the romantic period
Critical analysis of the romantic era
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The Romantic Era began in the late 18th century. It was a period of literature and arts. Romanticism is described as the basis of the fact that reason cannot explain everything. Romantic artists tried to reach their audience through a deeper and an enhanced emotional appeal. The Romantic Era was seen as a rebellion towards the Enlightenment. Romantic thinkers created a different idea to the middle ages than enlightenment thinkers. They used this time as a way to expand their knowledge and become more spiritually adventurous. The Romantic Era was seen as a revolt to the age of Enlightenment. It can sometimes be described as an opposite of “classicism”. Rousseau believed in the goodness and the natural while romanticism is a logic that is not meant to be explained or questioned, because there are no answers. On a larger scale, it was more widespread both in its origins and influence. Romanticism was largely based on self-expression. Not only was there a revolution in Romanticism but there was also a comparable revolution in music. The revolution of romantic music lasted from about 1820 to 1900. Germany largely invested in Musical Romanticism. One respected French reference work defines it entirely in terms of “The role of music in the aesthetics of German romanticism”. Romantic music describes an era of Western classical music. Romantic music took control over the Romantic period in Germany. The characteristics of music that evolved and influenced development during the Romantic Era were the elements of music, acclaimed musicians lifestyles, famous composers, and the events in history that inspired these composers. Music of the Romantic Era had many distinct qualities. The characteristics of Romantic Music are individu... ... middle of paper ... ...is expressed through emotion, imagination, and individuality. The period of Romanticism opened up a new Era to the world and continued that throughout other time periods. The art of self expression had become a new staple in western countries. The distinct qualities of romantic music made it simple to identify any artist and their work. The characteristics described through romantic music inspired composers to create a new form of the art important to them. Romanticism is one of the first ways artists stressed to reach their audiences through deep emotional appeals. Events in history were not always seen as a tragedies but as inspirations for pieces of music. Elements of music, acclaimed musicians lifestyles, famous composers, and the events in history that inspired these composers all are the contributing factors to the influential period of the Romantic Era.
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.
(3) In the Romantic era the compositions were very expressive and inventive. The Romantic composers experimented with already existing forms, and dramatic expressiveness. This grew out of the improvement of instruments and the newly invented genres (Britannica). The limits in music composing were pushed with great contrast in the music. There were tempo changes in the music, difference in dynamics that ranged from pppp to ffff, either gradual or sudden, for a great emotional effect. Chromatic harmony was a popular, new way of making dissonance and unstable chords, prolonging the resolution of dissonance, using tones from the chromatic scale to create tension and unpredictability in the music (“OnMusic”). Other traits of the Romantic style of music were individualism and self-expression. Therefore it is possible to hear who the composer of the piece is (An Appreciation 257, 259). Compositions could be either absolute, which meant that the music was not based on a story or a text, or it could be program, which meant that the music was based on a story or a text. During the Romantic era, the composers mostly preferred program music. Nationalism and exoticism in the music was also common. The composers used dances and rhythms that were common...
“Romanticism, is an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate period from 1800 to 1850” (Wikipedia).
“To say the word romanticism is to say modern art - that is, intimacy, spirituality, color, aspiration towards the infinite, expressed by every means available to the arts.” Charles Baudelaire. The Romantic era in classical music symbolized an epochal time that circumnavigated the whole of Western culture. Feelings of deep emotion were beginning to be expressed in ways that would have seemed once inappropriate. Individualism began to grip you people by its reins and celebrate their unique personalities and minds. Some youth began to wear their hair long, their beards scraggly and unkept, and their clothing was inspired by the outlandish and the flamboyant. Music morphed from a once tangible aural stimulant into music marked by its decent into the depths of human emotions most of which were not rational. Classical music became a stream of consciousness, a vehicle to convey their countless emotions. In the Romantic Period, music now voiced what, for centuries, people had been too afraid to express. The culture, the composers, and the music of the Romantic era changed classical music profoundly. The Romantic era classical music manifested itself as a time of the irrational and peculiar, a time that allowed many people the opportunity to express their inmost convictions through the music.
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,
At one point in the study of the Romantic period of music, we come upon
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.
Romanticism was a reaction to the Enlightenment as a cultural movement, an aesthetic style, and an attitude of mind (210). Culturally, Romanticism freed people from the limitations and rules of the Enlightenment. The music of the Enlightenment was orderly and restrained, while the music of the Romantic period was emotional. As an aesthetic style, Romanticism was very imaginative while the art of the Enlightenment was realistic and ornate. The Romanticism as an attitude of mind was characterized by transcendental idealism, where experience was obtained through the gathering and processing of information. The idealism of the Enlightenment defined experience as something that was just gathered.
Romanticism started in the 18th century and was said to be influenced by the French and Industrial Revolution.
The Romantic period was a movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the eighteenth century, mostly as a revolt to the Age of Enlightenment which primarily focused on the scientific rationalization of nature, industry and technology. Romanticism was an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement with a strong preference for nature, and individualism. While its influence was felt most strongly in the arts and literature, it had a significant impact on education and politics. During its peak it was most closely associated with Liberalism and Radicalism. However, its contribution to the growth of Nationalism was more consequential. Indeed, the nineteenth century gave rise to European nationalism, resulting in endless wars, and conflicts.
Romantic music was a different form of music that didn’t focus on religion, political or social tendencies. According to Lawrence Kramer the author of the book Why Classical Music Still Matters, “historically, the ideal of romantic love, tended to substitute for broader schemes of political, social, vocational, or religious meaning, as part of an increasing general tendency to rely on private rather that public schemes of fulfillment.” Meaning that romanticism had an impact on music in which religion, political and social meanings were substituted by a new form that rely on private situations instead of general public situations. This music form influenced the most in modern music because most of them are not based on
Romanticism in philosophy is a movement within a much larger and incredibly complex tradition in philosophy that was developing during the Modern period—the Age of Enlightenment.
By the mid-nineteenth century,much of Europe had become industrialized, and the generation of artists who had inaugurated the Romantic movement were dead. But much of the romantic spirit lived on. In their emphasis on individual genius and subjective experience, arts of the Romantic era handed future generations the basis for their own developement and provided a point of view that coloured their understanding of the past.
The changes in society and the social well-being of people underlie the primary purpose of the Romantic Movement. Romanticism originally was the reaction against the Enlightenment. According to the Scientific Journal Of Humanistic Studies, the Enlightenment’s purpose was “to reform society using reason, challenging ideas are grounded in tradition and faith, and advance knowledge through the scientific method. “It promoted scientific thought, skepticism, and intellectual interchange” (Bodrogean). With the historical and cultural context of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Romanticism in music took two distinctive paths. “One path in particular was taken in the path to find sources in the French Revolution of 1789 through 1793 and other revolutionary movements such as the July Revolution of 1830” (Fluck).Realism is found everywhere in literature and has enhanced the experiences of our lives, especially in the humanities. The ultimate influential arguments for realism is that it represents the life that people live. In response to the Romantic Era, the Realism Movement sought to depict real-life situations and people that not only affected literature, but also the American music written in the early eighteenth century through the twenty-first century.
The Romantic Period was a literary movement in Europe and America during the late 1700s through the middle 1800s. Romanticism was characterized by five basic systems of beliefs. It should not be surprising that these were completely different from the characteristics of the Enlightenment. Romanticism was an intentional revolt against the rational, formal, reasonable period of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was too scientific and did not focus on romanticism.