Purpose of this Page: To give you the teacher, or student of Music History a basic idea about important themes, composers and ideas in the musical world.

Some basic ideas about the Romantic Era:

While the Romantic Era lasted approximately 100 years, from 1800-1900 A.D., it really began with the composer Ludwig von Beethoven. He was the catalyst that took music into its Romantic roots.

Some changes that Beethoven instigated and others capitalized on from the Classical Era included:

-The form of the piece was no longer truly important, and color, mood, emotion, and individuality became important. It was an era of specialization in music. Frederic Chopin (show- PAN), pictured above, specialized in piano music . Verdi (VER-dee), wrote only opera music.

Here are two examples of music by Frederic Chopin. You can download them by saving the midi file to a disk or hard drive.
Please see the Other Information (Music Links) page for info on how to get a midi plug-in if you do not have one.

-The main types of music were progrommatic, in which music tells a story or depicts a scene in nature, and absolute, which was listened to purely for the enjoyment, and to enhance beauty. Most composers were in one camp or another, with very little crossover (Brahms vs.Wagner (VAG-ner).

-Virtuosos- Musicians became technical wizards on their instruments, sometimes just to show off. This opened many people's eyes to higher performing levels of musicianship. Nicolo Paganini would be a good example of this. He was a violin virtuoso, who would intentionally fray the strings on his violin, just so they would break during a concert and add "drama" to his performance. He was pretty popular for his time, and was one of the first celebrity musicians. (Current celebrity musicians could take a few notes!)

-Nationalism also became important. Before this time, music sounded Germanic,with such composers as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, and others. A backlash developed,as new countries asserted their independence and individualism. They wanted their music to sound nationalistic. Music became Italian, Russian and French. Nicolay Rimsky-Korsakov, a brilliant orchestrator, would be a good example of this Russian nationalism.

-Composers were no longer employees of the church or aristocracy. They became freelance composers. Note: (While this freed their artistic ability, it severely limited their earning power, and has led to our idea of the poor musician.) (That's why I'm a Music Education Major!)

-Artists collaborated on many works, fusing the arts together in some ways. No longer were musicans only composing music, they would compose for a ballet. Scores were composed for dramatic works. Drama, music, dance, and the visual arts were seen as "the arts." Guiseppe Verdi, would be a good example, representing a good composer of Italian opera, which combined music and drama into a mature artform.

"ISMS" to be aware of:

-Chromaticism- Music that does not conform to traditional harmony, with triadic chords. It contains elements of dissonance, or disagreement. (It does not sound "sweet" to the ear.) It also may not progress in traditional

-Impressionism- Similar to the movement in art, in which an attempt by the artist is made to portray suggestive images through the use of color, shape, and feelings. A deemphasis of form and structure is used to do this. The listener is then able to draw from his own experience. Examples: Claude Debussey (deb-u-SEE), Maurice Ravel (rah-VEL).

-Primitivism- Similar to cubism in art, in that it sounds very "boxy." It would push the envelope of reality, and was not necessarily attractive. Igor Stravinsky was the main composer of primitivism, which depicted pagan rituals, sacrificial dances, and worship to pagan gods. It pushed the envelopes of rhythm by changing the rhythm often. Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring," would be the best example of this.

For more information, please see the Teacher Page's Teacher Education about Music History.