The Romantic Era1820-1910
reaches its heights and European powers fight for world domination
Colonialism
1700s to 1800s
The commoners overthrow the monarchy in place of a government
-French Revolution
it got pretty ugly…
takes people away from their villages and homeland to work in factories in the cities
The Industrial Revolution
The cities get overcrowded and polluted
Everyone has to work to survive
How do people respond?A rejection of the rich and powerful occurs
Musicians begin to work for themselves instead of wealthy employers.They can write what they want, not what they’re paid to
instead of wealthy employers -they can write what they want, not what they’re paid to
Reject the rationalization of nature…
and celebrate it’s beauty
Time to break the rules of the Classical Era
-the “symphonic poem” instead of four movement symphony
-extremes encouraged in tempos, dynamics, texture to break the classical
Breaking the old harmonic rules“Virtuosos” are best suited to go beyond
what has been done before
…and the rationality of its music
Revolt against the industrial revolution
and celebrate where they came from
Celebrate their folklore and fantasy
Celebrate their traditions
Celebrate their dances
Celebrate their traditional music
-composers base works on folk songs, dances, fairy tales from their heritage
Made the transition from classical to Romantic
Moonlight Sonata and the 9th Symphony began breaking the rules
Beethoven
Polish Piano composer and teacher
“Prelude #15”countless pieces
for piano
Frederik Chopin
Russian-The 1812 Overture Based on Napoleon’s
unsuccessful attempt to conquer Russia
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Cannons actually used as percussion
The Nutcracker Suite
Traditional Russian BalletFantasticalRepresents the Russians defeating the French (rats)
Virtuoso Pianist“Hungarian
Rhapsody”Based on folk
songs and dances from his native country
Let’s listen for extremes
Franz Lizst