Similarities and Differences in Music between the Classical and Romantic Periods

Shanghai International Studies University

0111104031

Wei Shudao

Music It is an expression of human thoughts and a display form that is no less inferior to literary and artistic works.

In the mid-18th century, with the development of the industrial revolution, science and technology, and the impact of the French Revolution, profound changes occurred in European society. Art is no longer the privilege of the aristocracy, and the newly emerging middle class has also become the audience of theaters and concert halls. Since then, folk and lively instrumental music began to emerge in large numbers.

Compared with the "conscience" that is shouted in the field of literature and denounces imagination and erratic emotions, music is more obviously "clear" and "easy to understand".

Listening to the works of generations of masters from the classical period can calm the mind of even ordinary people with no knowledge of music, and

the soul moves with the music. The easy-to-understand and accessible beauty of classicism are its most distinctive features and the most important reason for its enduring popularity and spread from generation to generation.

The era opened up by the music legends Mozart and "Papa" Haydn must have a sublimation that echoes endlessly. As the last master of classicism, Schubert did not disappoint us. It inherits the simple musical language of the classical period and is close to the songs of the people. Numerous musical sketches such as "The Girl from the Moulin Rouge" (also translated as:

The Beautiful Mill Girl) and "Trout" were combined with other arts such as poetry, drama, and painting to innovate artistic themes. His gorgeous transition completed the classicism and introduced romanticism, ushering in a new era.

The Romantic music period, which began in the early 19th century, advocated subjective emotions and promoted comprehensive art. Also due to the influence of the background of the times, the music of the Romantic period is always full of patriotism. For example, Chopin's Polonaise, or Smekana's "My Motherland and Me". At the same time, the romantic period showed the fantasy of music. The contradiction and intertwining of cruel reality and beautiful ideals, only fantasy is the final paradise. It is precisely for this reason that title music was so popular during the Romantic period and became a large part of the masterpieces.

If classicism is printmaking, romanticism is splashed watercolor. Classicism advocates reason. Elegance and dignity are based on rigor. "Everything born is always in line with reason, eternal and real." Romanticism advocates sensibility and personal feelings. Gorgeous techniques, exaggerated changes of tone, melancholy and sentimental mood. "

The disease of the century" is depression, and musicians are more emotionally sensitive than ordinary people. They compose and perform to express their inner feelings. The romantic style makes the musicians' songs niche, turning them into encrypted stories that only the musicians themselves understand.

Classicism pursues nature. Classical music is music that exists to make people understand. It has an abstract dialectical thinking sonataform (sonata form). It is a spiritual shock from shallow to deep. Its emotional and clear beginning makes it easy for people to catch the main theme. The music of the classical period is the musician's loud voice, a clear yet elegant defense. Like an aggressive debater, like the contemplative mind of a philosopher. Classicism is the predecessor to romanticism, it is tradition, it is the past that needs to be transcended. Romanticism made new explorations on this basis, and at the same time got rid of the "rational" restrictions on music format and form. Music is an outpouring of emotion, an indescribable throbbing. Take off the shackles, I praise what I respect and regret what I have lost. Don't ask for everyone to know, just ask for a close friend. The core of romanticism is freedom. The free musical talent roams in the ears with fantasy. This is where the talk of differences comes to an end.

There is really no need to say more about the same thing. The essence of music itself never changes. Music is the expression of human emotions, and how different are things that make people express their feelings to humans? Life and death, loneliness, love, parting, gods, motherland, nature, heroes, rulers. Pleasure, sorrow, pain, struggle, contemplation, worship, prayer. The eternal theme only changes the way of expression and the results. What's more, classical music itself is the predecessor of romanticism, and the similarities between the two are self-evident.

The above is my humble opinion on the similarities and differences between classical and romantic music.