At the start of the Romantic Era, the music seemed very shocking when compared with the idyllic chords, harmonies, meter, and overall strict structure of Classical/Neo-classical music. The sudden dynamic changes, the unconventional chords, and the raw emotion that was poured into romantic music was too much for some classical music die-hards to take. In other words, Romantic music was to Neo-Classical music as early 90's grunge rock was to idyllic 80's pop.
Beethoven was the composer who started off the Romantic Era. He was an accomplished pianist at an early age, winning audiences over more with his passion and deep expression than with his technical skills. This passion carried over into his numerous compositions, and it continues to be his trademark.
Beethoven's genius lies in his music's profound emotional power, a genius which is elevated by his extraordinary ability to create so many musical elaborations and complexities on a fundamental. This is shown very clearly by his use of a four-note musical idea in what is perhaps his most famous work, Symphony no.5.
The Overture to Egmont is a very good example of Beethoven's passion. The emphatically repeated phrases, the deep minor undertones, and the expressive countermelodies all wonderfully demonstrate Beethoven's romantic fervor. Other than one meter change from 3/4 to common time, the meter remains fairly constant throughout most of the piece. However, Beethoven left the beginning and meter transition open to the conductor's interpretation. This value of individual ideas and preferences is a characteristic of the Romantic spirit.
Instrumentation: Full strings, woodwinds, brass, tympani. Strings vs. winds much of the time. There are a few unified statements, especially in the introduction and coda, but it is mostly a call/response feel.
Melody/Harmony: Handed off between the strings and winds. When one has the melody, the other tends to have the harmony, and sometimes countermelody.
Texture: Beethoven switches quickly from thin orchestration to full orchestra intensity. Has a very woven feel due to the melody switching places so often.
Form: Introduction (mostly minor), A statement (minor), bridge (major), B statement (major), recapitulation, coda (major).
Personal Reactions: I really like this piece. There's something very deep in it that speaks to the soul of anyone who is listening. It goes from deep sadness and almost resignation to total jubilation in a relatively short amount of time.
Other Beethoven MIDIs:
Franz Liszt was a major musical icon of his time. He was very popular and had a loyal group of followers, what we call "groupies" today. The reasons for his extraordinary popularity were his virtuosity, originality, and his uncanny ability to create emotion and impressions through music. Liszt pioneered the "symphonic tone poem", which is an orchestral work not obeying traditional forms based only on a literary or pictorial idea.
Liszt used many tools to craft the emotion in his works, some of which he created himself. Rubato is the most obvious, which is used liberally in his slower pieces such as Ave Maria and the Liebestraum songs. The beautiful cadenzas provided the perfect opportunity for Liszt to show off his virtuosity and add a great deal to the overall effect. Liszt also introduced some very advanced and sophisticated chord structures. These chords and the "symphonic tone poem" allowed Liszt to pave the way for Impressionist music.
Instrumentation: Piano.
Rhythm: Many, many underlying triplets. Melody is a flowing line of quarter and eighth notes.
Melody/Harmony: Melody is always in the mid/upper range of the piano, the supporting triplet rhythms are always in the mid/lower range. Chord progression is very advanced, switching sometimes once every two measures. This shows how far Liszt was ahead of his time.
Texture: The moving triplets and bright cadenzas give the piece a light, bubbly feel.
Form: A statement, B statement, cadenza, A, B, cadenza, A, coda.
Personal Reactions: This is a piece that makes you smile. It epitomizes Romantic love and gives the listener a window into Liszt's heart.
Wagner was a true revolutionary of his time, forever changing the face of opera. His early works reflect the style of such musical masters as Beethoven, Weber, and Rossini. However, during the 1840's, Wagner's personal style emerged in such works as The Flying Dutchman, Tannhauser, and Lohengrin.
The 1850's saw Wagner's development of a new idea: the Gesamtkunstwerk. This was his effort to produce an art that unified all forms of art. He used self-written verse which was metrically free and alliterative. The vocal line melody was open-ended and supported by a continuously fluctuating musical accompaniment. This accompaniment followed the text and was held together by motifs for characters, things, ideas, or events. Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk was fully realized in his masterpiece Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung). This huge work contains four full-length operas which include Rheingold, Die Walkuere (The Valkyries), Siegfried, and Goetterdaemmerung (Twilight of the Gods).
Instrumentation: Full Orchestra, prominent low brass, upper woodwinds, first violins.
Rhythm: Lots of dotted-eighth sixteenth note rhythms. Many underlying trills. Sometimes moving sixteenth notes.
Melody: Mostly in low brass, sometimes augmented by upper brass, very triumphant and marcato.
Harmony: Switching off major to minor throughout the piece.
Texture: Strong low brass gives it a heavy feel. The overlaying trills and runs in the upper woodwinds and strings make it feel very thick.
Form: Introduction, A, A, B, A, bridge, A, a more thickly orchestrated A, coda.
Personal Reactions: This song is OK. I like it, but not as well as the others. It’s very passionate, but its intensity seems a little past the pleasing zone for me.
If there ever was a music master during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century who had one foot on each side of the Romanticism vs. Neo-classical debate, it was Johannes Brahms. He successfully used the lyrical, powerful, expressive, and harmonically daring elements of Romanticism and put them in a traditional Classical form and structure.
When Brahms initially ventured into music composition, Beethoven's formidable shadow still covered the music world. Brahms was influenced by Beethoven so much that his First Symphony, 14 years in the making, was dubbed "Beethoven's Tenth." Brahms' continued composing saw the development of his own style. His densely interwoven melodies create enthralling emotional depths and a rich, flowing texture, and yet somehow are made to fit in a classical music structure. This is the root of Brahm's genius.
Instrumentation : Piano.
Rhythm : Mix of quarter notes and intermittent sixteenth notes, often layered on one another.
Melody: Often in the mid- to upper-range, sometimes goes to lower registers. Gently flowing, almost singing, then to an accented climax, and back to a flowing rubato.
Harmony: Minor throughout. Mournful at first, then bright during the climax.
Texture: The rubato makes this piece feel smooth, almost floating. The minor key adds a dark feel to the piece.
Form: AABA
Personal Reactions: I really like it, it’s very emotional. It allows the listeners to feel their own melancholy.
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