1. Overview of Romantic Music
Romantic music is a new genre that emerged after the Vienna classical music school. It emerged in the early 19th century.
The creations of artists during this period are manifested in their admiration for subjective emotions, love for nature and fantasies about the future. The forms of artistic expression have also undergone new changes compared with the past, and the formation and development of romantic thought and style have emerged. The difference between romantic music and classical music is that it inherits the tradition of classical composers and also has new explorations on this basis. For example, it emphasizes that music should be combined with other arts other than music, such as poetry, drama, and painting, and advocates a comprehensive art; advocates title music; emphasizes the expression of personal subjective feelings, and the works often have an autobiographical color; the works are full of fantasy, There are many works describing nature, because nature is very peaceful and has no contradictions, which is an ideal state. We attach great importance to drama, study national and folk music and literature, and draw nutrients from them. The works have national characteristics. In terms of artistic form and expression techniques, it is inherited from the classical music school, but the content is very different, and exaggerated techniques are also used a lot. In terms of musical form, it breaks through the limitations of the balanced and complete formal structure of classical music and has greater freedom. There are many single-movement instrumental music, mainly instrumental pieces, such as improvisations, nocturnes, etudes, ballades, fantasies, preludes, music without words, and various dance music - mazurkas, waltzes, polkas, etc. Among the many instrumental pieces, piano pieces are the most common. A large number of art songs appear in vocal works, and many vocal sketches are connected together to form suites, such as Schubert's "The Beautiful Mill Girl" and "Winter Journey", which are innovative artistic themes of the Romantic music school. Harmony is an important tool to express romanticism. The expansion and free use of dissonance, the frequent appearance of 7th and 9th chords, as well as chromatic methods and modulations in music have expanded the range of harmony and expressive power, and enhanced harmony. The color of sound. The composer created the multi-movement title symphony and the single-movement title symphony poem, which are important forms of romantic music.
2. Romanticism in Music
The meaning of the word romanticism originally refers to stories written in Romance, and then specifically refers to novels or knight stories. , and later also included legendary novels, etc. The rise of romanticism in art first appeared in the literature of the eighteenth century. In his works, all personal feelings, interests and talents are expressed without any restrictions. That is to say, the composer expresses his idiosyncrasies strongly. This is the theoretical antithesis of classicism, dominated by form. Classical music is linear and distinct, while romantic music is full of color and emotion, and contains many subjective and fantasy elements. However, this is only a difference in principle. In fact, classical music already contains elements of romanticism, and many romantic works also contain classical content.
3. The formation of romantic music
Early romantic music, like other sister arts, originated from the ideas of the European "Enlightenment Age" and the liberal democratic ideas related to the French Revolution. Approximately several decades later than Romanticism in literature. Beethoven's late works have become the forerunners of early Romanticism, and subsequent composers can all be classified as Romantics. In terms of era, the mid-19th century was its heyday.
4. The style of romantic music
Romantic music, with its unique strong, free and unrestrained style, has formed a strong connection with the rigorous, elegant and dignified style of classical music. contrast. If Beethoven's music is just a black-and-white film or print, then the Romantic music school works are like watercolors and colorful oil paintings. This period produced two different genres of Romantic music. One is conservative romanticism, represented mainly by Brahms, and the other is positive romanticism. The Romantic music period was also the most fruitful period in the history of European music development. It greatly enriched and developed the fine tradition of classical music and made bold innovations. Many musical treasures of this period are still loved and loved by people today. welcome.
5. Representative figures of Romantic music
The style of Romantic music has been clearly revealed in the late works of classical composers Beethoven, Rossini and Weber. It was they who pioneered the Romantics.
Composers born around 1800 formed the center of early Romanticism. Schubert and Berlioz can be said to be the representatives of early Romantic music. They formed their own unique genre based on the traditions of Gluck, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Later, Romantic music was further improved by Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin and Verdi, and reached its peak in the era of Tchaikovsky, Liszt and Wagner. These composers and pianists formed the The center of Romanticism. As for the works of modern masters such as Mahler, Richard Strauss and Rachmaninoff, they belong to late romantic music.
The creative center of Schubert, a representative figure of the early Romantic music school, is art songs. Art opera is a combination of poetry and music. This is the ideal field for composers of the Romantic music school to express poetic and picturesque feelings. Schubert chose a wide range of poems, including poems by great poets such as Goethe and Schiller, as well as works by his friend Schobel. The piano accompaniment in his operas not only plays the role of supporting the melody, but is also the main means of creating a specific artistic conception. Schubert's songs are called "art songs", but the simple musical language in many operas is often close to folk songs. His "Wild Rose", "Trout", "Linden Tree" and other songs later became popular Popular folk songs. The form of stanza song commonly used in folk songs is also the main form of Schubert's song creation.
Liszt was a representative figure of the mid-stage Romantic music school. He was born in Hungary. His outstanding contributions to music throughout his life were mainly in two aspects. First, he enriched the expressive power of piano skills.
His piano music not only includes poetic sketches, but also has magnificent and brilliant artistic effects and symphonic music. He makes piano music achieve an orchestra-like effect, with majestic momentum and enthusiasm. Second, he pioneered the single-movement title symphonic poem genre. He wrote thirteen symphonic poems in his life, among which "Prelude" and "Tasso" are the most famous. These symphonic poems are narrative, lyrical, descriptive and dramatic. In addition, the distinctive Hungarian national characteristics are particularly prominent in Liszt's works, such as the 19 Hungarian Rhapsodys that reflect Hungarian folk life, of which Nos. 2, 6, 12 and 15 are classics.
Richard Strauss is a composer of late Romantic music. As a composer, Strauss's contribution was mainly reflected in symphonic poetry. He perfected the structural form of symphonic poetry, carefully created leading motives and musical fragments specifically describing characters, places and situations. His orchestral orchestration also shows outstanding talent. The lines and thoughts of his works fully exploit the performance of various instruments, making a very ordinary motive or theme in his works shine with the most charming brilliance. Strauss's opera creation was mainly influenced by Wagner's "musical drama". Although his composition skills were superb, the content was relatively pale and much thinner than Wagner's works. His work is sometimes like a prose full of brilliant rhetoric, but it is retelling an empty and boring content. Strauss was an outstanding synthesizer of classical creation and romantic music, inspired by Mozart's clarity, Beethoven's turmoil, Brahms' sense of structure, Wagner's heroism, and Liszt's title music. creative desire. His masterful control of the orchestra gave his works a charming brilliance, but the cultural characteristics of the end of the century are also fully reflected in his works, that is, the tendency of aestheticism and decadence. His creations, along with Wagner, heralded the advent of twentieth-century music.
6. Representative works of Romantic music
Romantic musicians are as bright as stars, and they have left many immortal works to future generations. The German Beethoven is a representative of the Viennese classical music school and the transition period to the romantic music school, and is known as the "Music Saint". The themes of his works are very rich, including piano sonatas, symphonies and chamber music, such as "Pathetique", "Moonlight", "Pastoral Symphony", "Heroic Symphony", "Symphony of Destiny", etc., which are all listed as world famous compositions. Austria's Schubert began his music composition career when he was less than 20 years old. He composed more than 600 art songs in his life and was called the "King of Songs". "Serenade" is one of his representative works. In addition, he also composed works such as symphony, chamber music and piano music. Austrian Johann Strauss Jr. wrote his first waltz when he was less than 7 years old. His waltzes such as "The Blue Danube", "Sound of Spring" and "The Story of the Vienna Woods" are world-famous and are known as "the best waltzes". King". Berlioz of France was the founder of the Romantic title symphony, and his representative work is the Symphonie Fantastique.
This is a work with a literary title, romanticism and autobiography. Its subtitle is "A Slice of an Artist's Life". The plot clues of the five movements are provided to the listener through relatively detailed text titles. "Symphony Fantasy" was greatly influenced by Beethoven's "Pastoral Symphony" and showed more distinctive romantic characteristics.
Romantic music also made brilliant achievements in opera. The Italian Rossini's works are beautiful in melody and exquisite in technique. He was also the founder of bel canto. Verdi's musical works have lofty patriotism and rich national characteristics. They played a huge role in the awakening of Italian national consciousness at that time. People respected him as the "music master of the Italian revolution". His representative work "La Traviata" is a world-famous masterpiece. In addition to directly adopting folk songs from various countries, Puccini's music is also good at using new techniques. For example, "Turandot" uses the Chinese folk song "Jasmine". Representative works include "Madama Butterfly" and so on. France's Bizet's representative work "Carmen" is one of the best opera works in the world. It vividly embodies the characteristics of French music's pursuit of exquisite form and has a distinct romantic color. The works of German Wagner are extremely original. The masterpiece "The Ring of the Nibelung", which he completed in nearly 20 years, has distinctive German national characteristics.
7. The historical status of Romantic music
The status of Romantic music in the history of music is self-evident. This period was not only rich in great musicians, but also had unprecedented musical genres. Extensive, novel and unique forms such as wordless songs, nocturnes, art songs, ballads, symphonic poems, etc. have appeared. It is a great "treasure house" in the history of human art. Romantic music is also a bridge: Weber accepted the traditions of Gluck and Mozart and passed them on to modern Wagner; Schubert was the successor of Beethoven in terms of instrumental music, and his romantic art songs were inspired by Schumann and Austria. Wolf has been passed down to this day; Berlioz's title music originated from Beethoven's "Pastoral" symphony, and was later associated with modern French Impressionism.
8. Characteristics of romantic music
Nationality and democracy. Opposition to foreign invasion and national oppression, feudal rule and national division are the main ideological contents of romantic music. In order to express these contents, to shape the image of national heroes and reflect the ideas of patriotism and national unity, special attention is paid to absorbing the essence of national folk music in terms of musical style.
People’s character. Romantic musicians were inspired by the great power shown by the people in the bourgeois national democratic revolutionary struggle. In their works, they strived to truly express the mental outlook, social morality, aesthetics and ideals of ordinary people, and at the same time, in order to make people The work was understood by people, developed the title of instrumental works, and created a large amount of scalar music.
Lyricism. It is different from classicism, which advocates rationality. Romanticism advocates sensibility and focuses on revealing the human spirit and inner world, which are expressed through the composer's personal feelings. Therefore, lyrical personal psychological characterization and autobiography have become an important feature of romantic music and promoted the development of the lyrical genre.
Fantasy sex. This is a technique used by composers to resolve the contradiction between cruel reality and beautiful ideals in their works. The reason why Romantic composers like to choose themes and images from folklore and fairy tales is precisely because it can provide a world for their imagination to run wild.
New spirit. Romantic composers not only opposed conservatism in politics, ideology and moral concepts, but also made bold innovations in art, music genres, forms and creative techniques, thus developing and enriching human music. culture.
Asker’s comments
Thank you very much~!