-
Period: to
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
German poet who helped shape Romanticism
Writings were influential on our Romantic composers
Wrote: poetry, dramas, an autobiography, books about literature, 4 novels, and scientific books on anatomy, botany, and color -
Period: to
Luigi Cherubini
Italian composer -
Period: to
Napoleon Bonaparte
Military leader in the French Revolution -
Period: to
Ludwig van Beethoven
German Romantic composer
Transitional figure from the Classical to the Romantic style
Composed all genres: 9 symphonies, 1 bad opera, so much piano music, Lieder, and many chamber pieces
Virtuoso pianist
Expert improvisor
Made his living in Vienna as a performer before he gained fame as a composer
Created heroic music right out of the French Revolution
Began loosing his hearing young
Developed themes for longer stretches than other composers
Took older forms and expanded them -
Period: to
Klemenz Wenzel von Metternich
Chancellor of Austria
Hosted the Congress of Vienna and was instrumental in shaping social activities -
Period: to
Alessandro Manzoni
Had a difficult life
Early death of his wife in 1833 was followed by those of several of his children, and then of his mother.
Married again in 1837 and that wife who also died
Out of his 9 children, only 2 outlived him
The death of his eldest son was the final blow which hastened the poet’s end
Fell ill immediately and died of cerebral meningitis -
Period: to
Carl Maria von Weber
The creator of German Romantic opera with Der Freischutz -
Period: to
French Revolution
The “common” people saw themselves as empowered to break free from oppression
Nobility oppression of the commoners
Commoners revolted
Napoleon Bonaparte was a military leader -
Lodoiska
French opera although composed by Italian composer Cherubini
Plot: defeat of oppression dramatized as a heroic rescue from enslavement and imprisonment; this needed to display liberty, equality, and heroism fueled not only opera, but music performances in general, not just in France, but in other parts of Europe as well -
Period: to
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Jewish German composer who studied in Italy and composed French opera in Paris
Known primarily for grand operas: "Les Huguenots" and "Overture Act V – Ein feste Burg" -
Period: to
Gioachino Rossini
Continued Mozart’s operatic style: THE most famous composer in Europe between 1815 and 1835
One of 3 composers that mark the high point of bel canto
Most important opera composer in the early 19th century
Also most famous composer in Europe in the early 19th century -
Paris Conservatoire
France founded the Paris Conservatory as a state institution for the training of musicians, which replaced the training in churches and courts -
Period: to
Gaetano Donizetti
Wrote over 70 operas
One of 3 composers that mark the high point of bel canto
Italian opera composer -
Period: to
Heinrich Heine
Poet who helped shape Romanticism -
Period: to
Franz Schubert
Composed over 600 Lieder in his life
Composed 17 operas and Singpiele, 9 symphonies, 35 chamber works, 200 choral pieces, and more
Freelance composer
Composed in all genres -
Period: to
Romanticism
Romantic genre
Was seen as a distinct historical period or definable artistic style
Represented a reaction against Enlightenment values of rationality and universality
Favored emotionality and individuality -
Period: to
Vincenzo Bellini
Famous for his opera "Norma"
One of 3 composers that mark the high point of bel canto
Italian opera composer -
Period: to
Hector Berlioz
French Romantic composer, conductor, critic, and author
Innovator of orchestration techniques that created the modern orchestral sound
Wrote a treatise on orchestration
Composed works that are neither operas, symphonies, or oratorios
1 of the 1st conductors to stand in front of the orchestra and conduct
Supplemented his income by writing music criticism and was good at it
1 of the most important early innovators of new orchestration and genres -
Fidelio
Beethoven's only opera
Was a rescue opera -
Period: to
Fanny Mendelssohn
Sister to Felix
Composer and supporter of the arts
Given the same musical training as her brother and was also a child prodigy
Felix wrote to her and asked her not to publish her works just in case “they should bring shame to the family”
Composed
-More than 100 works for solo piano
-More than 200 Lieder
-24 works for chorus
-Several works for orchestra including an overture
-Works for various chamber ensembles
She cultivated the musical and cultural salon in her home -
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Opus 67
Composed by Beethoven
First movement
-Uses an insistent rhythmic drive
-Opening motive is used throughout all movements as a unifying device (cyclic symphony)
-Constructed almost entirely from the 4-note opening motive
Composed in Vienna 1804-1808 (1st performed in 1808)
Includes 3 trombones and a piccolo in the 4th movement
Strings still dominate thematically
replaces the minuet with a scherzo (movement III)
Scherzo moves attacca into Mvt. IV
Finale is in C Major -
Period: to
Felix Mendelssohn
Romantic composer of most genres
Famous conductor, pianist and composer, and founder of the Leipzig Conservatory
Brother to Fanny
Started an “old music” trend (Baroque choral-orchestral works by Bach and Handel were again performed) -
Period: to
Robert Schumann
German romantic composer
Pianist, editor, writer, and bad conductor
Married Clara Wieck
Founder and editor for "The New Journal for Music" in Germany
Wrote 4 symphonies, a piano concerto, a lot of chamber and piano music and 1 bad opera
Close friend to Felix Mendelssohn, Johannes Brahms (when he was younger), and violinist, Joseph Joachim
Promoter of music -
Period: to
Fredric Chopin
Poet of the piano
Playing style was the most delicate of all performers of his day
Appreciated by other musicians and by the upper class
Polish/French
Educated at the Conservatory of Warsaw in Poland before moving to Paris
Found great success in the Salons
Credited with originating the modern piano style
Everything he composed had piano
Style was virtuosic, yet poetic
His character pieces were standards in piano repertoire
ballades, preludes, etudes, mazurkas, etc.
Pianist
Composer -
Period: to
Franz Liszt
Piano virtuoso
Writer
Conductor
Composer
Innovator -
Philharmonic Society
Founded by Johann Salomon in London -
Period: to
Richard Wagner
German composer who composed operas
Composed some early traditional operas
Wrote what he called music dramas
His music dramas were his idea of opera where all the elements were equal: Music, poetry that he wrote, drama, philosophy, staging, design, acting, and more
Detested the Italian start-stop style of opera
Changed opera, harmony, & music in general -
Period: to
Giuseppe Verdi
Most important Italian composer in the mid to late 19th century
Primarily an opera composer
Composed a very popular Requiem, some other choral music, and 2 string quartets
Hailed as a hero of Italy and audiences yelled “Viva Verdi” at his productions
Composed 28 operas -
Erlkonig
1 of Goethe's most famous Lieders (he wrote it at 18 years old)
Had 1 singer and 4 characters (Narrator, Father, Son, & Erlking)
Based on the legend that whoever is touched by the king of the elves must die
Several German words have vague meanings, so where they are riding to is not clear:
(the German word “Hof” can mean “yard,” “courtyard,” “farm,” or royal “court”)
The reader must imagine the details -
The Carlsbad Decrees
Placed severe limits on freedom of expression by individuals (including artists) and institutions such as Universities and presses -
Period: to
Jacques Offenbach
Known for his operettes: "La belle Helene" & "Orphee aux enfers" -
Period: to
Clara Wieck
Married Robert Schumann
Composer, teacher, and famous pianist
Child prodigy (virtuoso) and performer
Already wrote the majority of her piano concerto at age 13
By age 15, she had composed several works including a piano concerto
Toured as a concert pianist
Composed
-1 piano concerto
-Chamber music, songs, and many pieces for solo piano
-Cadenzas for piano concertos by Mozart and Beethoven
Wrote "Piano Concerto in A Minor" -
Period: to
Der Freischutz
1st German romantic opera
Means "The Magic Bullet -
Royal Academy of Music
London opened its own music school -
Period: to
Bedrich Smetana
Bohemian
Romantic composer
Best known for his programmatic cycle of 6 symphonic poems called Má vlast (The Moldau is the second tone poem in this cycle)
Considered the founder of Czech music
Took part in the fighting in the 1848 nationalist uprising
A pianist and a child prodigy
Identified with the progressive ideas of Liszt and Wagner
Wanted to create specifically Czech music but lost artistic support in Prague where he was the Provisional Theatre’s director -
Period: to
Stephen Foster
American song composer
1st American to make a living as a professional songwriter -
Period: to
Louis Moreau Gottschalk
American Nationalist from New Orleans
Child prodigy on the piano (endorsed by Chopin)
At age 7, substituted for his teacher at the organ at Mass
Sent to Paris to study -
Symphony orchestrated by Berlioz
Hector Berlioz orchestrated a program symphony in a new and modern way
Orchestration was innovative
Concept behind his semi-autobiographical storyline for the program symphony was revolutionary -
Symphonie fantastique
Written by Berlioz
Program symphony in 5 movements
1. Reveries, Passions
2. A Ball
3. Scene in the Fields
4. March to the Scaffold
5. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath -
Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung
A music journal that reviewed new music and composers -
Mazurka in B-flat minor, Opus 24, No. 4
Composed by Fredric Chopin
Character piece and mazurka -
Period: to
Johannes Brahms
Was a young German romantic composer
Continued the classical traditions, especially in form
Scholar; one of the first editors of J. S. Bach’s music
Composed 4 symphonies, choral music, piano music, lieder, chamber music, overtures, but no operas
Composed 2 serenades before he wrote “true” symphonies.
Wrote his first symphony at 40 years old -
Notturno in G Minor
Composed by Fanny Mendelssohn
Character piece: subgenre Nocturne -
Period: to
Georges Bizet
Blended styles into opéra comique -
Period: to
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Russian composer
His Russian nationalist colleagues did not support his music
Composed 8 operas, 7 symphonies, 3 piano concertos, 1 violin concerto, symphonic poems, overtures, chamber, keyboard, choral music, and songs
Composed symphonies and symphonic poems -
Period: to
Nationalism
Romantic genre that was a reaction against Germany by countries who wanted to proclaim their own nationalistic worth and patriotism in the face of Germany’s arrogant stance
Germany exerted its artistic superiority in Europe while other countries responded with ideas that promoted the worthiness of their own cultures
National schools came up in all non-Germanic European countries
Prominent national schools of composers arose in Russia, Scandinavia, Spain, England, and Bohemia -
Period: to
Antonin Dvorak
Czechoslovakian nationalist composer
Friends with Brahms
Took an interest in the US folk music but didn't quote folk tunes but composed in the idiom
Studied Black American cultures and music of the Native Americans
Decided to use pentatonicism in his new symphony of 1893, which quickly became known as the “New World” symphony (actually “From the New World”)
Used the tonalities, melodic shapes, harmonies, and general musical characteristics of the folk music and not the music itself -
Period: to
Edward Grieg
Norwegian nationalist composer
"Peer Gynt' (incidental music), which was a famous piano concerto of his -
Macbeth
One of Verdi's operas -
Classicism
Romantic genre
Was seen as a distinct historical period or definable artistic style -
Rigoletto
One of Verdi's operas
First produced in Venice, Italy
Act III, “La donna è mobile”
-beginning with recitative with Gilda and her father watching the Duke flirt with Maddelena
-Homophonic texture
-scene continues with dialog between Sparafucile and Rigoletto
-older type of recitative is not used here
-quartet between the Duke, Maddelena, Gilda, and Rigoletto follows -
Symphony no.4 in Dm op.120
Composed by Schumann -
Il trovatore
One of Verdi's operas -
La traviata
One of Verdi's operas -
Variations in E-flat on an Original Theme
Composed by Schumann -
Period: to
Leos Janacek
Czechoslovakian composer -
Period: to
Le banjo: Fantasie grotesque
Means "The Banjo"
Piece composed by Louis Gottschalk
Character piece
A B A coda -
Period: to
Edward Elgar
English nationalist composer -
Period: to
Giacomo Puccini
Italian composer
The last great Italian operas were written by him
Didn't compose a lot, but his compositions are treasured today
Was the most important Italian composer after Verdi
At 17, he composed seriously
1st pieces were for organ based on his own improvisations from popular Tuscan folksongs and Italian operas
Decided to pursue a career in operatic composition
Also composed motets, songs, a mass, and cantatas, a few instrumental works including works for solo piano -
Period: to
Gustav Mahler
Most known as a conductor and secondly as a composer
Bohemian
Bridged the Austro-German romantic traditions of composing with the new modern styles in the 20th century
Music was neglected until after the end of WWII -
Period: to
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Polish pianist and composer
Prime minister and foreign minister of Poland -
Period: to
Isaac Albeniz
Spanish nationalist composer -
Italy
Became a country -
Period: to
Frederick Delius
English nationalist composer who also lived in France and the US -
Period: to
The Bartered Bride
Comic opera composed by Smetana that played a large role in establishing Czech music -
Period: to
Jean Sibelius
Finnish nationalist composer -
Period: to
Enrique Granados (1867-1916), Spain
Spanish nationalist composer -
Aida
One of Verdi's operas -
Period: to
Alexander Scriabin
Russian composer -
Period: to
Ralph Vaughan Williams
English composer -
Period: to
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Russian composer -
-
Ma vlast (My Country)
Composed by Smetana (his best known work)
Cycle of 6 tone poems
No. 2: “Vltava” (“The Moldau”)
Tone poem
Used tone painting to evoke the sounds of the Moldau River
Wrote a program for the piece as an explanation
For each of the places that Smetana mentions, he has musical themes and material to depict the scenes -
Carmen
Composed by Bizet -
Period: to
Manuel de Falla
Spanish composer -
Period: to
Manuel de Falla
Spanish nationalist composer -
Swan Lake
Composed by Tchaikovsky -
Period: to
Bela Bartok
Hungarian composer
Published 2000 tunes that he collected from Eastern European countries
Wrote books and articles on this music
Arranged and created music based on these traditional tunes
Virtuoso pianist
Taught piano at the Budapest Academy of Music
Developed a set of 153 pieces in 6 books of graded difficulty for teaching
Fused folk elements with the highly developed modern techniques of compositions
Wrote in all genres: Opera, string quartets, concertos, orchestral music -
Period: to
Zoltan Kodaly
Hungarian composer -
Prague Carnival
Smetana began composing this symphonic suite but couldn't get past the introduction -
Symphony No. 3 in F Major, Op. 90
Composed by Brahms
Traditional 4 movement symphony
Movement 3 is not a Minuet and Trio
-III. "Poco allegretto"
-has an ascending 3-note motive
This symphony is a good representation of late romantic absolute music
Sonata and rondo forms
Traditional development of themes and motives
Harmonic language is more colorful and “modern”
Brahms turned the motive into significant musical material and develops it over and over while creating a modern sonata-ish form -
Period: to
Ernest Bloch
Jewish
Nationalist composer -
Otello
Composed by Verdi
Italian Tragic Opera -
Period: to
Louis Durey
member of Les Six -
The Sleeping Beauty
Composed by Tchaikovsky -
Period: to
Sergei Prokofiev
Russian composer -
The Nutcracker
Composed by Tchaikovsky -
Period: to
Germaine Tailleferre
Member of Les Six -
Period: to
Darius Milhaud
Member of Les Six -
Period: to
Arthur Honegger
Member of Les Six -
Manon Lescaut
Opera by Pucchini -
Falstaff
Last opera composed by Verdi
Comic opera
In the last scene he composes a fugue with the words: “All the world’s a joke. We are all born fools.” -
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World
Composed by Dvorak who composed this symphony “from the new world” that he was visiting
Symphony can be seen as a descriptive landscape
Imbued the symphony with the flavor of America as he saw it
Traditional aspects
-4 movements with expected forms
-strings are the primary group of instruments
-1st movement is in sonata form
-largely diatonic
-uses melodies reminiscent of spirituals and folk tunes -
Period: to
Paul Hindemith
German composer -
Period: to
Carl Orff
German composer -
La boheme
Opera by Puccini -
Finlandia
Composed by Jean Sibelius
Tone poem cycle -
Period: to
Francis Poulenc
Member of Les Six -
Period: to
Georges Auric
Member of Les Six -
Tosca
Opera by Puccini -
Period: to
Kurt Weill
German composer -
Madame Butterfly
Versimo opera by Puccini
Premiere was a disaster due to audience being rude
The story: A young geisha named Cio-Cio-San( Madame Butterfly) from Nagasaki has renounced her profession and religion to marry an American naval officer named Pinkerton, and after they marry, Pinkerton departs. When he returns several years later, with a new American wife on his arm, he learns that Butterfly had a baby, their son, while he was gone. -
Period: to
Michael Tippett
English composer -
Period: to
Dmitri Shostakovich
Russian composer -
Das Lied von der Erde
"Song of the Earth"
Orchestral song cycle by Mahler
A set of six poems
No. 3, “Von der Jugend” (“Of Youth”)
Pentatonic melodies
Folk-like quality in this Lied descends from the Austrian tradition of Brahms and German Romanticism -
Period: to
Benjamin Britten
English composer -
Gianni Schicchi
Opera by Puccini -
Turandot
Opera by Puccini -
Mikhail Baryshnikov
(Still alive) One of the most famous Russian ballet dancers of recent times
