Romantic music is a term describing a style
of Western classical music that began in the late 18th
or early 19th century. It was related to and in Germany
dominated Romanticism, the artistic and literary
movement that arose in the second half of the 18th
century
in Europe.Romanticism, artistic movement in
music that, as in literature and painting, emerged
in the latter part of the 18th century. Romanticism
was dominant in Western music from the 1820s
until the early part of the 20th century. It followed
the classical period in music, which emphasized
balance, symmetry, and unity. Classicism had
flourished during a time known as the
Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason. The
romantic artists lived in turbulent times that
included the French Revolution (1789-1799) and
the Napoleonic Wars.
French Revolution, major transformation of the
society and political system of France, lasting
from 1789 to 1799. During the course of the
Revolution, France was temporarily transformed
from an absolute monarchy, where the king
monopolized power, to a republic of theoretically
free and equal citizens. The effects of the French
Revolution were widespread, both inside and
outside of France, and the Revolution ranks as one
of the most important events in the history of
Europe.
Napoleonic Wars, series of wars fought between
France and a number of European nations from
1799 to 1815. In 1799 France came under the
domination of Napoleon Bonaparte, who later
became Napoleon I, emperor of France, in 1804.
The Napoleonic Wars were a continuation of the
wars of the French Revolution (1789-1799),
Age of Enlightenment, a term used to describe
the trends in thought and letters in Europe and the
American colonies during the 18th century prior to
the French Revolution (1789-1799).
The most significant event for composers, as for
all artists of the romantic era, was the French
Revolution. The effects of that revolution could be
seen immediately in opera. Whereas the plots of
earlier French operas had generally been drawn
from classical antiquity and reflected an ordered
hierarchy of gods, rulers, and peoples, the subjects
of operas now began to come from the exciting
and dangerous present. One popular new genre,
the rescue opera, typically dealt with the
imprisonment of the heroine by a tyrant and her
rescue by her lover.
Opera, drama in which the text is set to music and
staged. The texts of operas are sung, with singing
and stage action nearly always given instrumental
accompaniment. Many operas also feature
instrumental interludes (called intermezzi) and
dance scenes, even extended ballets that interrupt
the action.
COMPOSERS
Luigi Cherubini (1760-1842), Italian composer,
born in Florence. He wrote a variety of church
music and 13 operas before moving to Paris in
1788. There he became associated with the new
Paris Conservatoire. As its director from 1821 to
1841, he greatly influenced the music of his time.
His music was classical in style and demonstrated
a mastery of counterpoint.
Counterpoint, the simultaneous combination of
two or more melodies. The word counterpoint is
derived from the Latin punctus contra punctum—
literally, “point against point,” or note against
note, but meaning melody against melody.
Jean Jacques
Rousseau (17121778), French philosopher, social
and political theorist, musician, botanist, and one
of the most eloquent writers of the Age of
Enlightenment.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-
1827), German composer, considered one of the
greatest musicians of all time. Having begun his
career as an outstanding improviser at the piano
and composer of piano music, Beethoven went on
to compose string quartets and other kinds of
chamber music, songs, two masses, an opera, and
nine symphonies.
Symphony, an extended musical composition for
orchestra (or orchestra with voice), usually of
more than one movement. The word comes from
the Greek syn, meaning “together,” and phōnē,
meaning “sound”; hence symphony is “a sounding
together.” The meaning of symphony has
undergone many changes in music history. The
symphony in the modern sense of the term arose in
Germany and Austria during the early 18th
century.
Napoleon I (1769-1821), emperor of the French,
whose imperial dictatorship ended the French
Revolution (1789-1799) while consolidating the
reforms it had brought about. One of the greatest
military commanders of all time, he conquered
much of Europe.
E. T. A. Hoffman (1776-1822), German writer
and composer, who was influential in the romantic
movement in German literature. He was born in
Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad,
Russia), the son of a lawyer. His third personal
name was originally Wilhelm, but he later adopted
Amadeus in honor of the composer Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart.
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826), German
composer, pianist, and conductor, who helped
inaugurate the romantic movement in German
music.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Austrian composer
who is considered the greatest of all art song
composers and who excelled at chamber music,
piano music, and orchestral music.
Nocturne, in music, a reflective character piece,
often for piano, introduced by 19th-century Irish
composer John Field and later adopted by Polish
composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin.
Waltz (German walzen,”to revolve”), graceful
couple dance in  time, and the name of the music
for this dance. The first of the three beats of waltz
rhythm (both in music and in dance) has a strong,
propulsive impulse; it is followed by two lighter
beats (or steps), the second of these an upbeat
“pushing” into the new first beat (... three ONE
two three ONE two ...). Developed in central
Europe from the Austrian couple dance known as
the ländler, the waltz, with its fast whirling of
partners held as if in an embrace, shocked polite
society when it was first introduced about 1800.
Polonaise, a courtly processional dance for
couples arranged in line by rank. It is the national
dance of Poland, known since at least 1645. The
step is slow and gliding, and the dance has several
figures, including the exchange of partners. The
music is usually in stately  time. As concert
music, polonaises have been composed by Johann
Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and
Frédéric Chopin.
Mazurka, traditional, highly improvisatory Polish
dance for a circle of couples. It is danced with
many figures and stamping, heel-clicking steps, to
music in moderate  time with a strongly accented
beat.
Ballade, in literature, a lyric poem generally of
three eight-line stanzas with a concluding stanza of
four lines called an envoy.
Orchestration, the art of combining musical
instruments in orchestral compositions.
Orchestration is a complex instance of
instrumentation, the assigning of instruments in
music for an ensemble of any size.
Grand Opera, type of opera without any spoken
dialogue (unlike the opéra-comique style), as
performed at the Paris Opéra from the 1820s to
1880s. Grand operas were extremely long (five
acts), and included incidental music and a ballet.
Dissonance, in music, a combination of harsh or
clashing tones.
Symphonic Poem or Tone Poem, 19th- and 20th-
century genre of program music for orchestra.
Symphonic poems are generally in one movement
and are usually associated with ideas from
paintings, poems, dramas, natural landscapes, or
other extramusical sources. Such ideas may range
from literal portrayal, as of a locomotive in Pacific
231 (1923) by Arthur Honegger, to the nonspecific
and evocative, as in Les préludes (1854) by Franz
Liszt.
Hamlet (play), tragedy of revenge by English
playwright William Shakespeare. Probably written
in 1601, Hamlet is generally considered the
foremost tragedy in English drama
Richard Wagner (1813-
1883), German composer, conductor, and essayist,
one of the most influential cultural figures of the
19th century. Through his creative work and his
theoretical writings, Wagner revolutionized the
concept and structure of opera.
Bayreuth Festspielhaus, festival theater, located
in Bayreuth, Germany. The theater was founded
by German composer Richard Wagner and opened
in 1876. It is dedicated to the performance of
Wagner’s operas and holds a festival for this
purpose every summer.
The effects of Romanticism in music
 A freedom in form and design; a more intense
personal expression of emotion in which fantasy,
imagination and a quest for adventure play an
important part.
 Emphasis on lyrical, songlike melodies;
adventurous modulation; richer harmonies,
often chromatic, with striking use of discords.
 Greater sense of ambiguity: especially in tonality or
harmonic function, but also in rhythm or meter.
 Denser, weightier textures with bold dramatic
contrasts, exploring a wider range of pitch,
dynamics and tone-colours.
 Expansion of the orchestra, sometimes to gigantic
proportions; the invention of the valve system
leads to development of the brass section whose
weight and power often dominate the texture.
 Rich variety of types of piece, ranging from songs
and fairly short piano pieces to huge musical
canvasses with lengthy time-span structures with
spectacular, dramatic, and dynamic climaxes.
 Closer links with other arts lead to a keener
interest in programme music (programme
symphony, symphonic poem, concert overture).
 Shape and unity brought to lengthy works by use
of recurring themes (sometimes
transformed/developed): idée fixe (Berlioz),
thematic transformations
(Liszt), Leitmotif (Wagner), motto theme.
 Greater technical virtuosity – especially from
pianists, violinists and flautists.
 The idea of instrumental music composed without
reference to anything other than itself.
 The elevation of the performer as genius as
demonstrated through the virtuosity of Paganini
and Liszt.
MODERN MUSIC
20th-century music is defined by the sudden
emergence of advanced technology for recording and
distributing music as well as dramatic innovations in
musical forms and styles. Because music was no
longer limited to concerts, opera-houses, clubs, and
domestic music-making, it became possible for music
artists to quickly gain global recognition and influence.
Atonality, in music, the absence of the system of
harmonic relationships called tonality. In tonal
music, which makes use of diatonic scales, one
tone is treated as a center of gravity toward which
the others are attracted by varying strengths. In
atonal music all tones are treated as though they
were of equal strength.
Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), Austrian-born
composer, creator of the twelve-tone system of
musical composition, and one of the most
influential composers of the 20th century.
Twelve-Tone System, widely used approach to
writing music, developed by the Austrian
composer Arnold Schoenberg. He devised the
system between about 1908 and 1923 while
searching for a principle around which to organize
atonal music (music that avoids a central keynote
and all key relationships). The composer first
arranges the 12 notes of the chromatic scale in a
particular order, forming a row of tones.
Alban Berg (1885-1935), Austrian composer, whose
music represents a flexible, emotionally intense use of
the twelve-tone system of composition.

Anton Webern (1883-1945), Austrian composer,

who extended the twelve-tone system of the
Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg and
influenced a generation of post-World War II
composers.
Béla Bartók (1881-1945), Hungarian composer,
one of the most important figures of 20th-century
music. Bartók also was a distinguished pianist who
made major contributions to ethnomusicology (the
study of music, generally folk or non-Western, in a
cultural context).