+Romantic Period

Romantic Period

The Romantic Period evolved from the ideas of earlier musical periods like the classical period.  The Romantic Period doesn't have to be about love though that theme can be seen in the many pieces from the period. The Romantic Period is said to have been between 1800-1910. The Romantic Period tried to add emotional expression to describe real human feelings and deep truths. The composors of the Romantic  Period tried to fuse the large structural harmonic planning in the style of Haydn and Mozart. In the Romantic Period composors such as Beethoven and later Richard Wagner stretched the harmonic language with cords that were previouslly unused. Some composers analized music to poetry and it's rhapsodic and narrative structures while they created a more organized basis for the compasing and performing of concert music. The main charachteristics for the Romantic Period included a freedom in form and design, emphasis on lyrical songlik melodies, greater sense of ambiguity, denser textures, expansion of the orchestra, and a rich variety of musical pieces.Now let's take a look at the chronology of the Romantic Period

Early Romantic

Early Romantic music is said to have been between 1800-1850. Beethoven's First Symphony and especially his fourth piano sontana were all published in the early 19th century. It marked a new wave of music that would continue for at least a century. Beethoven's huge impact influenced and inspired composers in following generations. By the second decade of the 19th century the change to new sources of musical inspiration along with a more expressed harmony became a certain stylistic shift. A new generation of composeres emerged in post Napoleonic Europe. Among these composers were Beethoven, Ludwig Spohr, E.T.A. Hoffman n, Carl Maria Von Webber, and Frank Schubert. Early Romantic composers all born in the 19th century include Franz Listz, Feliz Mendelssohn, Frederic Chopin, and Hector Berlioz. The music of Robert Schumann continued the trend of romanticism.

Late Romantic

The Late Romantic Period is said to have taken place between 1850-1900. As the 19th century went into its second half many social, political, and economic changes were set in motion in the post Napoleonic period. Railways and the electric telegraph bound the European world ever close together. An increase in musical education brought a wider sophisticated audience and many composers used this to their advantage. These changes stretched the number of symphonies, concertos, and tone poems. During this period some composers invented styles and forms associated with their folk cultures. The approach that there were German and Italian Styles had long been established in writing on music, but in the late 19th century we saw a rise of a nationalist Russian style. Other styles that came out of the late 19th century included Czech, Finnish and French nationalist.