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Jean-Francois Le Sueur
French composer and writer; important to French music during and after the Revolution -
Luigi Cherubini
Italian composer, theorist, teacher, and administrator working in Paris, he was a dominant figure in French musical life, especially in opera and education -
Johann Simon Mayr
Founder of Romantic Italian Opera; German by birth; a central figure in Italian opera before Rossini and after Mozart -
Etienne-Nicolas Mehul
French composer; contributed to the genre of opera comique; he was the most important French composer of symphonies in the early 19th century -
Prince Nikolaus Eszterhazy
Haydn's patron and employer after 1790 -
Antonie [Anton] Reicha
Czech composer; especially important as a theorist and teacher in Paris -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Instrumental in moving music towards Romanticism; he is an icon in our present culture; he established the heroic topic in orchestral music and was the transitional composer between classicism and romanticism -
Ferdinando Paer
Italian composer and teacher; admired by Napoleon -
Gaspare Spontini
Italian working in Paris; conductor; Empress Josephine's favorite musician; the central figure in French serious opera from 1800 to 1820 -
Adrien Boieldieu
French composer; he was the leading composer of opera in France during the early 19th century; leader in opera comique -
E. T. A Hoffmann
German writer and composer; writer of The Nutcracker fable; his writings epitomize Romanticism; also an artist -
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Austrian composer, pianist, teacher, and conductor; student of Mozart; very important during his day -
Louise Reichardt
German composer and singing teacher; daughter of J. F. Reichardt; conducted women's chorus in Hamburg -
Nicolo Paganini
Italian violinist and composer; he contributed significantly to the history of the violin and to the development of virtuosity -
John Field
Irish composer and pianist; he originated the Romantic style of piano writing that is credited to Chopin; he invented the piano nocturne -
Georges Onslow
French composer of English descent; Berlioz thought he would be Beethoven's successor - he was not -
Ferdinand Ries
German composer, pianist, and copyist; student of Beethoven -
Louis Spohr
German composer, conductor, and violinist; he used Leitmotifs in his operas before Wagner did; prolific -
Carl Maria von Weber
Founder of German Romantic Opera; studied with Michael Haydn; important conductor -
Giacomo Meyerbeer
The leading composer of French Grand Opera; Jewish, and the object of Wagner's anti-Semitic writings in 1850 -
Gioachino Rossini
The most famous composer in the early 19th century in Vienna; composed mostly choral music and operas; Italian -
Ignaz Moscheles
Bohemian composer; pianist, teacher, and conductor of Czech birth; important as a pianist during the time of Schumann and Mendelssohn -
Saverio Mercadante
Italian composer and teacher; during his day he was as important as Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi; prolific in most genres -
Gaetano Donizetti
Student of Mayr; Verdi's immediate forerunner in serious Italian opera; prolific composer of all genres -
Franz Schubert
Austrian composer who created a genre of artistic and dramatic Lieder; expansive melodies; frequent modulations; many unfinished works; romanticized after his early death -
Vincenzo Bellini
Italian opera composer; created dramas with extreme passion, action , and emotion -
Hector Berlioz
French composer, conductor, writer and innovator; he was the leading French musician in his day; his works embody the notions of Romanticism -
Louise Farrenc
French composer, pianist, teacher, and scholar; the most esteemed French female professor in the 19th century -
Mikhail Glinka
The father of Russian music; European trained; prolific -
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Had the same training as Felix; she was discouraged from composing; married, then published more; her house was a center for intellectuals and culture -
Felix Mendelssohn
Early romantic; conservative style; important as a conductor; revived Bach's music; German composer Jewish heritage -
Summary
Most radical changes since music's recorded history, music was more emotional and was expected to be emotional, interest in the nature and mind of the artist, emotions were "romanticized", new harmonics were introduced, new forms and harmonic possibilities were also introduced, brass and percussion sections were enlarged, chromaticism was used freely, rubato, solo recitals became popular, -
Instruments
Piano had the most important improvements and the tunings of many instruments was significantly refined, percussion instruments became more involved, other instruments that were considered "accompanying" were integrated into the new modern orchestral sound -
Felicien David
French composer; after Berlioz, the only other composer to do something highly original in the symphonic genre; he favored oriental topics -
Robert Schumann
Important as critic, editor, and composer; center of musical life; lost his sanity at a young age -
Frederic Francois Chopin
Polish/French composer and pianist; he innovated new piano techniques; he is more famous today than during his lifetime; known for his character pieces -
Period: to
The Romantic Era
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Franz Liszt
Virtuoso pianist; conductor; author; supporter of Wagner; innovator in musical form, aesthetics, and harmonics; inventor of the orchestral tone poem -
Ambroise Thomas
French composer; important to French opera -
Giuseppe Verdi
The leading Italian opera composer of the 19th century; became a national hero of Italy -
Richard Wagner
Created of German Music Drama; conductor, writer, musical innovator; wrote about music of the future; anti-semite; profoundly influenced Western harmony; strove for endless melodies -
Josephine Lang
German composer and singer; one of the most published women composers in the 19th century -
Niels Gade
Danish composer, conductor, violinist, and teacher; he was ranked with Brahms by his contemporary public -
Charles Gounod
French prolific composer; wrote in most genres of the day -
Jacques Offenbach
The founder of Opera bluffs; introduced the can-can -
Clara Wieck Schumann
Virtuoso pianist; wife of Robert Schumann; close friend of Brahms -
Pauline Viardot-Garcia
French composer, teacher, singer, and pianist; student of Liszt -
Cesar Franck
French nationalist composer, teacher, and organist -
Joachim Raff
German composer, teacher, and writer, ranked with Brahms during his day; associated with Liszt -
Anton Bruckner
Austrian composer and organist; follower of Wagner; known for his large orchestrations; incredibly conscientious approach to composition -
Carl Reinecke
German composer, teacher, pianist, writer, and conductor -
Bedrich Smetana
Czech composer; established Czech opera in the 19th century; nationalist -
Eduard Hanslick
Austrian music critic and writer; he is considered the first professional music critic; we learn a great deal about 19th century aesthetics from his writings; professor of music history and aesthetics at the University of Vienna (1861) -
Johann Strauss
Viennese composer, conductor, and violinist; called the "Waltz-King" -
Stephen Foster
American songwriter; vernacular style -
Louis Moreau Gottchalk
American composer and virtuoso pianist; one of the most significant American 19th century musicians; well known in Europe -
Anton Rubinstein
Russian composer and virtuoso pianist; Founder of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862 -
Joseph Joachim
Hungarian vionlinist, composer, conductor, and teacher; toured with Clara Schumann; friends with Brahms -
Aleksander Borodin (Russian Mighty Five)
One of the Russian Mighty Five; a chemist by profession -
Johannes Brahms
Austrian composer; known as a classic-romantic; strong knowledge of the musical past; one of the first editors of Bach's music; conductor, pianist; friends with Schumanns; never wrote an opera -
Nikolay Rubinstein
Russian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher; brother of Anton; he founded the Moscow Conservatory -
Camille Saint-Saens
French composer, pianist, organist, and writer -
Cesar Cui (Russian Mighty Five)
One of the Russian Mighty Five; of French descent -
Mily Balakirev (Russian Mighty Five)
One of the Russian Mighty Five; one of the more professionally trained musicians of the five -
Georges Bizet
French composer who created a new type of serious French opera -
Modest Musorgsky (Russian Mighty Five)
One of the Russian Mighty Five; most famous of the 5 today; his music is rooted in Russian folksong and lore -
John Knowles Paine
American; organist, composer; teacher of the new generation of American composers; Harvard's first professor of music -
Piotr II'yich Tchaikovsky
Russian composer, conductor and teacher; Western trained; emotional; conservative harmonic language -
Emmanuel Chabreir
French composer and pianist; Ravel's main influence; important for his piano works and imaginative stage works -
Antonin Dvorak
The most famous of the Czech composers; lived in the USA; influenced by African-American and Native American music and culture -
Jules Massenet
French composer; prolific and versatile -
Arthur Sullivan
English composer and conductor; his comic operas are still popular today (Gilbert and Sullivan operas) -
Edvard Grieg
The most important Norwegian composer during his day -
Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov (Russian Mighty Five)
One of the Russian Mighty Five; important as a teacher; conductor; wrote an orchestration treatise -
Gabriel Faure
French composer, teacher, and keyboardist; he foreshadowed moder tonality and style; extremely important as a teacher; head of the Paris Conservatory -
Vincent d'Indy
French composer, theorist and writer; Franck's leading pupil; used folksong -
Charles Villiers Stanford
British composer, conductor, writer, and teacher; he made important contributions to English church music -
John Philip Sousa
American; leader of the U.S. Marine Band in 1880 -
Leos Janacek
Czech composer; ethnomusicologist; influenced by folk music -
Engelbert Humperdinck
German composer, critic, and teacher; close to Wanger -
Ernest CHausson
French composer; admirer of Franck and Wagner -
Cecile Chaminade
French composer and pianist; most of her works were published -
Edward Elgar
English composer; received international acclaim; not folksong oriented -
Ruggiero Leoncavallo
Italian composer and librettist; strove for realism in his dramatic works -
Giacorno Puccini
Italian opera composer; gift for delicate melodies; strove for realism; the most successful Italian opera composer after Verdi -
Cecil Sharp
English composer; collector and editor of folksongs -
Hugo Wolf
Wrote mostly Lieder; influenced by Wagner -
Aleksander Glazunov
Pupil of RImsky-Korsakov; the last of the Russian nationalist