Romantic period part 2 r

1

Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)

Was called the poet of the piano, and was the only great composer who wrote exclusively for the piano

Was raised in Warsaw Poland When he was very young his original style of

playing astonished the Polish aristocracy After graduating from the Warsaw Conservatory,

he toured Austria and Germany playing his own compositions

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Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 (1830-1831)

Listening Guide Page 303

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Nocturne in E Flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 (1830-1831)

Listening Guide Page 303

4


Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 (Revolutionary; 1831)

Was probably inspired by the Russian takeover of Warsaw in 1831.

Listening guide on page 304

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Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12 (Revolutionary; 1831)

Was probably inspired by the Russian takeover of Warsaw in 1831.

Listening guide on page 304

6


Polonaise in A Flat Major, Op. 53 (1842)

A polonaise is a piece in triple meter. It originated as a stately processional for Polish nobility.

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Polonaise in A Flat Major, Op. 53 (1842)

A polonaise is a piece in triple meter. It originated as a stately processional for Polish nobility.

8

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

An incredible showman and irresistible to women, he overwhelmed the European musical public with superhuman feats at the piano

He turned his performances into rockin’ road shows He would dramatically remove a trademark pair of

long white gloves before beginning to play He also insisted on having a back-up piano on stage

just in case he broke strings on the piano he was playing

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He would also show off his memorization skills by tossing the music over his head before beginning to play

After playing a particularly long and emotional piece, he would emotionally collapse. The ladies went wild. So many of them asked for a lock of his hair, he had to buy a dog to make sure he always had a supply of hair.

To showcase his talents, he composed an enormous number of solo piano pieces. Some of them are the most difficult ever written.

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Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor (1851)

Listening Outline Pg. 309

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Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor (1851)


12

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)

By age 9 he was a brilliant pianist, by 13 he had written symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and vocal works

At age 20 he conducted Bach’s St. Matthew Passion for the first time since Bach’s death

It rekindled interest in Bach’s music and earned Mendelssohn an international reputation

At age 26 he became conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and transformed it into one of the finest performing groups in Europe

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He directed the posthumous premiere of Schubert’s Great C Major Symphony, which his friend Robert Schumann had discovered as well as the first performances of two Schumann symphonies

At age 33 he founded the Leipzig Conservatory.

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Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor, Op. 64 (1844)

Listening Guide on page 313

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Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E Minor, Op. 64 (1844)

Listening Guide on page 313

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Program Music Romantic Composers were very attracted to instrumental

music associated with a story, poem, idea, or scene Programmatic orchestral works such as Berlioz’s

Symphony Fantistique, Tchikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, and Smetana’s Moldau depict emotions, characters, and events in particular stories or the sounds and motions of nature

Such nonmusical ideas are usually specified in the title or by the composer’s explanatory comments in the concertgoer’s program

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Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

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Symphony Fantastique 1830 Fourth Movement: March to the Scaffold

Listening Guide page 324

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Symphony Fantastique 1830 Fourth Movement: March to the Scaffold


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Symphony Fantastique 1830 Fifth Movement: Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath Listening Guide Page 326

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Nationalism in 19th Century Music

Countries had always had their own folk music, but up until this time that type of music was separate from the “serious” classical compositions

During this time, music became a symbol of national pride, and these influences spilled over national borders to the rest of the world

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Nationalistic Music

Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) Modest Mussorgsky; Arranged for

Orchestra by Maurice Ravel (1922)– The Great Gate of Kiev

Listening outline page 332

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Nationalistic Music

Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) Modest Mussorgsky; Arranged for

Orchestra by Maurice Ravel (1922)– The Great Gate of Kiev

Listening outline page 332

24

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

His greatest gift was melody, and he would write entire melodies into his pieces not just snippets

The theme from Romeo and Juliet is often heard when two characters fall in love, and everyone knows The Nutcracker, which is the most popular ballet in the world

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Tchaikovsky’s music is pretty cheerful given the torment he had to deal with in his life

But his best music is far from cheerful. His Symphony No. 6, known as the Pathetique, is the most personal and deeply felt piece of music ever to pour from the pen of this tortured artist

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Romeo and Juliet, Overture-Fantasy

Listening Outline pg 336

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Romeo and Juliet, Overture-Fantasy

Listening Outline pg 336

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This is a piece of his that I love. It was performed at the opening of Carnegie Hall in New York. One week later Tchaikovsky took his life. It is believed that this piece symbolizes the pain and grief that he felt all of his life and also depicts him giving up the will to live.

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Symphony No. 6 Pathetique– Fourth Movement

– This recording is not on the Kamien CDs. – I added it because I think it’s awesome.

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Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (From the New World; 1893)

He wrote this symphony during his first year in the United States. It is one of his best known compositions– It glorifies the American and Czech folk spirit

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Symphony No. 9 in E Minor (From the New World; 1893)

He wrote this symphony during his first year in the United States. It is one of his best known compositions– It glorifies the American and Czech folk spirit

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First Movement: Adagio (slow introduction); Allegro molto


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Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Today Brahms music is considered lush in harmony and charming in style, but in his time was considered academic, plodding, harsh, and dissonant by the public.

The reason the authors believe people thought his music sucked was because he wasn’t very good with melodies

He wrote short ideas of melodies called motives and worked them out in ingenious ways

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Symphony No. 4 in E Minor, Op. 98 (1885) At its premiere in Vienna in 1886 the bewildered

audience actually hissed Eventually his work grew on the Viennese and

less than a month before his death at a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic tremendous applause broke out after ever movement of the symphony

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Fourth Movement; allegro energico e passionato


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Fourth Movement; allegro energico e passionato


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Ein Deutsches Requiem (A German Requiem; 1868)


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Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

The most popular of all opera composers He read a libretto about the ancient Jews exiled from

their homeland and to him it symbolized the Italians who were enslaved by the Austrians

He composed Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon), which was an enormous success

One of the songs from the opera became a national liberation hymn sung by all Italian patriots

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Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

In his late 30’s he composed Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853), and La Traviata (1853)

Although the public loved his work, critics were often scandalized by their subject matter

Rigoletto seemed to condone rape and suicide, La Traviata glorified free love and made a heroine out of a kept woman

But the critics did not stop him and he continued to write to please himself

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Verdi’s Music

It is not boring He believed that long was synonymous with boring He composed not for the musical elite, but for the

masses He wrote about subjects that were interesting. They

had to have a variety of mood, irony, contempt, rage and above all passion

Almost all of his works are serious and end unhappily

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Verdi’s Music Rigoletto (1851) An opera hero who was a hunchback court jester. His

only redeeming quality was his love for his daughter Gilda Rigoletto’s master, the Duke of Mantua has won Gilda’s

love while posing as a poor student When the Duke seduces the innocent girl, Rigoletto plots

his death Gilda loves the Duke and even after learning about his

dissolute character, and she ultimately sacrifices her own life to save him

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Verdi’s Music

Act III La donna e mobile and Quartet Listening Guide on pg. 362

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Verdi’s Music

Act III La donna e mobile and Quartet Listening Guide on pg. 362

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Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Created some of the best-loved operas He succeeded Verdi as the most important Italian

opera composer He came from a long line of church organists and

composers During music school he lived a hand to mouth

existence usually eating on credit at a restaurant called Aida

His most famous operas are: La Boheme (1896), Tosca (1900), and Madame Butterfly (1904)

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La Boheme (1896) Act I: Scene between Rodolfo and Mimi Listening Guide pg. 369

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La Boheme (1896) Act I: Scene between Rodolfo and Mimi Listening Guide pg. 369

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Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Wagner’s Music– He called his works musical dramas rather than

operas– Within each act there is a continuous musical

flow, which he described as “unending melody”– There are no traditional arias, recitatives, or

duets– He smoothly connects each section to each other

without a break

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He shifted the musical center of gravity of opera from the voice to the orchestra

Many long orchestral interludes graphically depict scenic effects such as floods, sunrises, and flames

He loved to exploit the rich power of the brass section

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He designed new instruments known as Wagnerian tubas

Only the most powerful of singers could compete with his orchestras

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He invented the idea of assigning a theme to each main character called Leitmotif (pronounced light-moteef)

Without this creation we would have no Darth Vader’s theme, or Princess Leia’s theme

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Die Walkure (The Valkyrie; 1856) Act I Love Scene (conclusion) Vocal Guide pg. 383

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Die Walkure (The Valkyrie; 1856) Act I Love Scene (conclusion) Vocal Guide pg. 383

53

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Was the last great Austrian romantic composer

He influenced composers of the early 20th century, but his works were not fully appreciated until 50 years after his death

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Mahler’s Music Is often programatic and reflects his constant

search for the meaning of life He follows Wagner’s lead in taking tonality to the

breaking point Nearly every piece before Wagner’s time was

clearly in a particular key Mahler’s music, on the other hand, has long

stretches that don’t seem to be in any key at all

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Leider eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer; Composed 1883-1885, Orchestrated 1891-1896)

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Leider eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer; Composed 1883-1885, Orchestrated 1891-1896)

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Romantic period part 2 r