Ruminations on death, religion, and the supernatural were also rife in Romantic music. In Hector Berlioz
Louis-Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer. His output includes orchestral works such as the Symphonie fantastique and Harold in Italy, choral pieces including the Requiem and L'Enfance du Christ, his three operas Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens and Béatrice et Bénédict, an…
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romantic music puts unprecedented emphasis on self-expression and individuality of style. the romantics explored a universe of feeling that included flamboyance and intimacy, unpredictability and melancholy, rapture and longing.
orchestral programme musicAlthough descriptive music had always existed, orchestral programme music became very popular during the Romantic period (roughly the 19th century) when music developed close links with literature and painting.
Musical Romanticism was marked by emphasis on originality and individuality, personal emotional expression, and freedom and experimentation of form.
Key characteristics of the era include: New genres: In addition to standby forms like the sonata and the symphony, Romantic composers wrote in new musical forms including the rhapsody, the nocturne, the concert etude, the polonaise, the mazurka, the overture, and program music.
Richard Strauss was one of the Romantic period's most adept practitioners of program music. Program music is music that is based on a specific narrative and, as such, is intended to evoke extra-musical ideas or images in the mind of the listener, by musically depicting a scene, theme, events, or literary text.
In part because program music didn't have to tell a narrative story, but could be used to evoke the spirit of a time or place. The symphonic or tone poem, a popular form of program music from the Romantic era, was intended to paint a scene where it transports the listener, which may or may not be a narrative story.
Tone color became richer; harmony became more intricate. Dynamics, pitch, and tempo had wider ranges, and the use of rubato became popular. The orchestra was also expanded. As with the Classical period, the piano was still the main instrument during the early Romantic period.
romantic characteristic: composers emphasized rich, colorful, and complex harmonies. used more chromatic harmony, which uses chords containing tones not found in the prevailing major or final scale. adds color and motion.
General characteristics of harmony and tonality in the Romantic period. Chromatic harmony was used more frequently than in earlier periods. Composers added more notes to their chords to form extended chords. Composers used dissonance to make their music more expressive.
Piano music of the Romantic period was filled with innovations. Most of the compositions require a high level of virtuosity. Some were reinventions of sonatas from the Classical era.
Romantic music was often ostensibly inspired by (or else sought to evoke) non-musical stimuli, such as nature, literature, poetry, super-natural elements or the fine arts. It included features such as increased chromaticism and moved away from traditional forms.
Romantic composers can be divided into three groups: full, conservative, and regional.