Characteristics of the Romantic Music Period

It is arguable that some sen sentencentalist medicament make wide demands upon its auditors than did euphony of previous historical results. What were those demands? Why did these smorgasbords condescend approximately? And what strategies substructure you formulate for hearing to this practice of medicine today? In good lead of the medicational changes present in the sentimentalist era, this essay will contend that these changes be very often related to the wider mixer and tech zero(prenominal)ogical changes in society some that time. Thus, it is authorized to identify the broad time period encompassed by this era.The definition of love affair in The New woodlet vocabulary of medical specialty and harmonyians is A deed or, to a greater extent comm lonesome(prenominal), period of cultural history. When understood as a period, quixoticism is usually determine with either the outgrowth half or the whole of the 19th century. The term is utilize with refer ence primarily to the arts, but it cease in addition embrace philosophy, socio-political history and, much widely, the spirit of the era. i Consequently, this essay views that romantic unison encompasses the whole of the nineteenth century and will consider some of the chance on changes which occurred somewhat that time period.It has been argued that these changes confine resulted in unison which makes greater demands upon its tenders and this essay will highlighting these demands and how they were influenced by those accessible and technological changes of that time, lowest with strategies for listening to this practice of medicine today. Some of the medicament which can be consumptiond to dilate these changes atomic number 18 specialized control by train van van Beethoven, a composer, who is viewed as a major(ip) influence on the euphony of the nineteenth century. This can be evidenced by the Grove article on sentimentalistism, which deems it to be widel y accepted that Beethoven inaugurated a amative eraii.The demands of romantic music are characterised by s invariablyal call changes. These changes can be summarised as follows an change magnitude color, both technical and musical theater comedy a greater commit of radical contrasts in the music and a significant augment in the length of musical compositions. The outgrowth intensity of romanticistic music can be demonstrated by an outline of the Diploma syllabus of the ABRSMiii. This syllabus provides an arbitrary assessment framework iv for technical and musical ability and hotshot can observe that the vast preponderance of its launchs fall into the popishtic category.Furthermore, as angiotensin converting enzyme progresses through the levels of syllabus, the repertory becomes more demanding v and the volume of Romantic fractions increases steadily. A major factor in this change is the related technological advancements of that time period which resulted in the u pgrading of a tot up of musical factors to more advanced forms. This can be illustrated with reference to the specific type of the forte- lightly, an instrument refined advantageously during the Romantic period. appoint changes incorporate the introduction of modern sort pedals, greater string diameters and tensions, an extended number of octaves, the double escapement action and the cast campaign framevi vii. Thus, the instrument of the nineteenth century is further virtually superior to its eighteenth century counterpart. The event musical changes include a greater quantity of octaves available and a greater range of power and dynamics make available to the composer. This had the obvious corollary of composers producing human beings with greater riding habit of radical dynamic contrasts. According to Winterviii, Romantic composers used their new flaccidforte to great effect The single most important development in the sound of the Romantic piano was doubtless the new tenseness on the sustaining (or damper) pedal. These key changes of distinctive contrasts and increase intensity were aided by the nonessential social change in music around the Romantic period, which can be characterised by the rise of the virtuoso. Franz Liszt, the legendary pianist, daze audiences across Europe, garnering rave reviews wherever he travelled, considered by The New Grove mental lexicon of music and euphonyians to be the greatest piano virtuoso of his time ix. The improved piano was critical to his displays of technical prowess.Without it he would non have been able to play forgathers as demanding on the instrument. The hitherto unimagined obstruction x of his Vingt-quatres grandes etudes pelt le pianoxi, was considered too much by the composer, he revised the Etudes and later create his Etudes d instruction execution transcendantexii, the latter still fiercely difficult but surpassed in that lever by the former. assumption that a key feature of Liszts playing demeanor and compositions was technical achievement, one could argue Liszt could non have been the performer, or composer, he was, in the preceding century.Nicolo Paganini was an early(a) virtuoso of the highest e eonr a violinistxiii. He, too, gave fantastic performances to rapturous crowds in numerous countries. William Ayrton, editor of The Harmonicon, remarked that His powers of execution are little less than marvelous, and such as we could only have believed on the evidence of our own senses they imply a untouchable natural propensity for music, with an industry, a perseverance, a devotedness and also a skill in inventing means, without all(prenominal) parallel in the history of his instrument. xivPaganini, similar to Liszt, composed works for his instrument, which were considered some of the hardest in its repertoirexv pushing the boundaries of the Romantic violin to previously un go throughn heights. An handsome way for a virtuoso to give tongue to off th eir talents is a concerto. The concerto provided a staring(a) vehicle to showcase the new technically advanced instruments and the music that could be performed on themxvi. one and only(a) characteristic of Romantic concertos is their length. Indeed, this increase length is an different key verbalism of Romantic music as a whole.To engross one concrete usage of this, Vladimir Askenazys interpretations of Beethovens piano concertosxvii are significantly greater in length than his interpretations of Mozarts concertosxviii. Further exemplification of this is the opening lawsuits of Beethovens piano concertos numbers 4 and 5, which both know thirster than a number of Mozarts concertos in their totalty and are longer, by far, than any of Mozarts first movements. Similarly, other forms of musical composition demonstrated change magnitude length during the Romantic era.Beethovens quietly Sonata number 29 ,Hammerklavier, macrocosm a case in point, jibe to Marstonxix, the extr emely long solo gather was most akinly the longest ever written at that time. The Hammerklavier sonata is also a perfect example of the other previously secernd Romantic characteristics. The use of pianississimo and fortissimo a bar obscure in the final section of the first movement is but one example of the radical contrasts present in the piece as a wholexx. Another assay-mark of Romantic music is present in this piece extreme technical hindrance Andras Schiff declared Hammerklavier virtually unplayable xxi.This increase in length was also clear in the Romantic symphony. One inter-group communication example being Beethovens music number lead, Eroica, first published in 1804 xxii, at the very contact of musical love story its opening movement dwarfs any comparable previous movement xxiii. According to Bondsxxiv, Eroica is the start, for Beethoven at least, of music displaying profound Romantic characteristics Particularly from the Eroica onwards, Beethoven was seen to have explored a variety of slipway in which instrumental music could aspirate images and ideas transcending the world of sound. Overall, these properties of Romanticism were influenced by the social changes of the nineteenth century. These changes meant that composers of the Romantic era had greater freedom than ever before. Unlike their counterseparate in previous historical periods, they no longer had to be almost entirely unfree on the church service or the state or wealthy, upper-class patronsxxv xxvi. As highlighted previously, musicians could oppose themselves by giving public concerts, Paganini realize so much money in one year that he could have bought 300 kilos of gold. xxvii xxviii As we can see in this example from Grove, the orchestra of the Romantic age was distinctly different from its predecessors in that it was not for the individualal amusement of royalty or a symbol of status During most of the 18th century orchestras had been an accompaniment to and an obs ervation of aristocratic court culture in the 19th century the orchestra became a interchange institution of public musical life. xxix Given the demands illustrated through these changes, several strategies are suggested.One affirmable outline would be to receive a piece. As reading music is a necessary precursor to this, it would be a required and fruitful use of ones time to ask to do so if the skill has not already been learnt. Learning to play a piece of music would be the pattern realisation of this system. However, this is not always possible and would be impractical for a piece with a large number of parts a symphony, for example. Nevertheless, one can consider and pry the technical or musical difficulty involved in a piece without being able to outmatch it.Once able, listening to a piece of music whilst consulting the score is also a useful tool for following a piece and picking out specific parts. This is especially true of any orchestral piece. Another related strategy would be to try and throw away oneself in the clothe of a listener of the Romantic era. listen to recordings performed on period instruments would be an deification method of doing this. Also, discipline more almost the people of the period and what it would have been like for a nineteenth century person to listen to a certain work for the first time would be a further way to pursue this strategy.To learn, and appreciate, any other art forms linked with a piece of music is another strategy for listening to Romantic music for example, Beethovens symphony number 9. Beethoven based the final movement on the meter Ode to Joy by Friedrich Schillerxxx the movement is scored for orchestra, four vocal soloists and a sing who sing the nomenclature of the poem. The case can be made that, to fully appreciate this work, one must appreciate the poem on which it is based. Additionally, understanding of the language the words are in German would take this strategy even urth er. Separating a piece of music into parts is another strategy for listening to Romantic music. For example, a symphony or sonata can be listened to as individual movements, easier to absorb than, perhaps, thirty transactions or an hours expenditure of music. Exploring huge compositions or collections at one time is not the correct strategy, the upright volume of notes can be frighten away and there is a danger that listening to too much music dulls one to the finer points of that music, it simply becomes noise.The distinct movements umpteen an(prenominal) composers put in their music should be utilised when first discovering a work, only once more understanding is complaisant should one attempt to listen to an entire concerto, sonata or symphony. Conclusively, it has been shown that Romantic music made greater demands upon its listeners than did music of previous historical periods. These demands were increased technical and musical intensity the use of bold, vivid contrasts and a considerably augmented duration of musical compositions.These changes came about due to technological advancements of the period, less creed on patronage and the musician became a respected and viable profession in the nineteenth century. There are many strategies which can be devised for listening to Romantic music, in the present day. These are learning how to read and play music to put oneself in the shoes of a listener of the time period to study any art forms which are linked to a piece of Romantic music and dividing a composition into more easily realizable sections. These strategies will further aid the listener in appreciating and understanding Romantic music. &8212&8212&8212&8212&8212&8212&8212- i Jim Samson, Romanticism, Grove medical specialty Online. Oxford harmony Online, Accessed 2 celestial latitude 2009 ii Jim Samson, Romanticism, Grove medicine Online. Oxford symphony Online, Accessed 2 celestial latitude 2009 (1. explanation of usage) iii ABRSM, Music Performance Diploma plan from 2005, Accessed 2 December 2009 iv ibidem v Ibid. vi Philip R. Belt, Maribel Meisel/Gert Hecher, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (5. The Viennese piano from 1800. ) vii Michael Cole, pianissimo, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (6.England and France, 180060. ) viii Robert Winter, Pianoforte, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (2. Romantic period) ix Alan Walker, et al. , Liszt, Franz, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, , Accessed 2 December 2009 x Howard Ferguson and Kenneth L. Hamilton, Study, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 xi Franz Liszt, Vingt-quatres grandes etudes pour le piano, 1839, Vienna Haslinger xii Franz Liszt, Etudes dexecution transcendante, 1852, Leipzig Breitkopf &038 Hartel xiii Edward Neill, Paganini, Nicolo, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 xiv Edward Neill, Pagani ni, Nicolo, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (7. France and Great Britain, 18314, and expire years, 183540. ) xv Ibid. xvi Arnold, Denis and Timothy Rhys Jones, concerto, The Oxford Companion to Music Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 xvii Ludwig van Beethoven, Beethoven The Piano Concertos, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, cond. by Georg Solti, (Decca, 1995) xviii Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart The Piano Concertos, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Philharmonia Orchestra, cond. by Vladimir Ashkenazy, (Decca, 1995) xix Nicholas Marston, approach the Sketches for Beethovens Hammerklavier Sonata, Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 44, nary(prenominal) 3 (Autumn, 1991), p. 404-450, University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological Society, p. 404 xx Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata no. 29 Hammerklavier, 1891, Stuttgart J. G. Cotta Final three bars of first movement fast pic xxi Andras Schiff, Lec ture on Piano Sonata no. 9 Hammerklavier by Ludwig van Beethoven, Wigmore Hall, whitethorn 2006, Published by The Guardian, Accessed 2 December 2009 xxii Eroica Symphony, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed. rev. Ed. Michael Kennedy. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 xxiii Mark Evan Bonds, Symphony, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (II. 19th century, 2. Beethoven) xxiv Ibid. xxv Joseph Dyer, Roman Catholic church music, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (V. The 19th century, 1. Catholic church music and the Romantic aesthetic. xxvi Joseph Dyer, Roman Catholic church music, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (IV. The 18th century) xxvii potty Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw, Orchestra, Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 December 2009 (7. The Romantic orchestra (18151900). ) xxviii Edward Neill, Paganini, Nicolo,Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, Accessed 2 De cember 2009 (8. Playing style. ) xxix privy Spitzer and Neal Zaslaw, loc. cit. xxx Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony no. 9, ca. 1925, Leipzig Ernst Eulenburg