Romanticism is a basic creative method of literary and artistic creation, which first appeared in the field of literature. On the whole, the Romantic era of music is a loose era division based on music style, specifically referring to the period from the end of the 18th century to the early 20th century (the 1940s can be regarded as a lower limit of reference).
Romantic music has several very representative keywords - personality, emotion, freedom, desire, and love. The reason why people are unique is that they have independent thoughts and emotions, and people have an innate need to be able to express their thoughts and emotions freely. These expressions of personal emotion ultimately point to an unattainable longing—one of the most important longings for romanticism is love.
The themes of romantic music mainly fall into two categories: nostalgia and fantasy - they love history extremely; and fantasy is the inevitable path from freedom to desire. These fantasies include heroes (ideal people), childishness (freedom and simplicity), wilderness (unrestrained and lonely), pastoral (peaceful and peaceful destination), etc.
When talking about Romanticism, we cannot help but review the stylistic characteristics of Classicism. Romanticism followed Classicism, with considerable stylistic differences between them. Classicism advocates a sense of structure, balance and stability (or eternity) in order to achieve people's nostalgia for the entire past, especially the Greek history and culture before Christianity. Its theme is reverence, belief and understanding of classical culture and spirit. Because the belief of the Renaissance is that our literary and artistic ideals are in the Greek era. Although the core of neoclassicism from the late 18th to the early 19th century was no longer the reproduction of ancient Greek and Roman art, it was still based on severe themes. Romanticism advocates individuality, freedom, and the future, and hopes to deconstruct and imbalance. It's more personal - what you think, do, and determine how you feel. It emphasizes personal spiritual value and independent criticism and thinking about the external world. This expression is very abstract, and we can intuitively reflect the difference between the two creative concepts through the representative works of two painters - Jacques David and Caspar David Friedrich.
Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) was a famous painter during the French Revolution and the founder of neoclassicism
Horace was a Roman figure family. During the peace period of ancient Rome, the Romans had a war with the neighboring ancient Lycians. In addition to the damage caused by the war, what is even more confusing is that the two parties have always had an intermarriage relationship. In order to avoid large-scale fighting, the leaders of both sides reached an agreement, each selecting three warriors to fight, and the victory or defeat would determine the supreme rule of Rome and Albert. The Horace brothers were chosen to fight their enemies. The scene describes the scene where old Horace distributes weapons to three brothers, and the three brothers stretch out their right hands to swear an oath to the sword. The composition of the picture is rigorous, and the building behind it renders the solemnity of ancient Rome. The three brothers and old Horace occupy the main space of the picture, while the mother and sisters of the warrior on the lower right are heartbroken and sobbing. The theme of this story and this painting is the subordination of personal interests to national interests.
Marat was the chairman of the Jacobins in France during the French Revolution. Due to a severe skin disease, the only way to relieve the pain is to soak in a bathtub sprinkled with medicine every day. The bathroom has become the office space where he spends most time. He was assassinated on July 13, 1973 by royalists who opposed the Jacobins. Marat's death sparked outrage among the French people and shocked David. He depicts the truth of Marat's death in an extremely realistic style, and the picture is filled with a strong tragic atmosphere.
Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840), an early German Romantic painter
Compared with the works of Jacques David, Friedrich Xi's paintings are more personal and unrestrained, with no traces of profound history and civilization.
The viewer's first impression is not to admire him, but to easily put himself into the character in the painting - what is he thinking? What did he see? How is he feeling? Full of uncertainty. The point of his paintings is more about the present than history, but what the characters see, think and think about the situation. Compared with classicism, romanticism does not have many allusions or current political roots. Romanticism is closer to the individual's heart and can also be understood from the perspective of its painting composition and image outline. Compared with the classical style of rigorous composition and rich and solid images, Friedrich preferred less realistic pictures and lonely images, and used less gorgeous and solemn buildings and furniture in landscapes. It seems that only in solitude and wilderness can we think about the meaning of everything around us, including this moment and life. This is closer to the recognition pattern of our brains. What the brain remembers is not the rigorous and detailed picture like a photo, but the vague colors and outlines, so it is closer to the human soul.
However, it should be noted that classicism and romanticism are not completely different, they just reflect the different perspectives and thinking of people on art and culture. Together they constitute a change of era.
Music is the art of pure sound, human beings’ selection of natural sounds. It can only be experienced and comprehended, but it is difficult to explain it in words. Therefore, music is highly connected with emotions, especially inner life.
What romanticism flaunts is exactly personal independence, and the independent thinking and construction carried out in such an atmosphere forms a broad vision full of fantasy - in the view of romantics Come on, music is precisely the pinnacle of such an artistic ideal. Hegel once mentioned in his work "Aesthetics": Music is highly metaphysical, belongs only to the spiritual level, and is selfless and infinite. This infinite proximity between music and people's hearts made music the artistic ideal that the entire Romantic period was flocking to. Music developed extremely rapidly during this period, and it was through this period that music truly entered the homes of ordinary people.
Light music was also criticized by many mainstream composers at that time. So official romanticism is not popular.