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Romantic Era Music & Arts Overview

The document discusses the historical and cultural background of instrumental romantic music. It explains that the Romantic Era was a period of artistic freedom and experimentation as composers moved away from classical standards of balance and restraint. The music of this period featured themes of national identity, nature, mysticism, spirituality, and subjectivism. Romantic elements were also portrayed in paintings of the time that focused on nature, supernatural themes, and spiritual experiences. The musical characteristics included more lyrical melodies, use of the piano for emotion and mood, and expressive use of dynamics. Program music also became popular as a way to musically depict literary themes and images.

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236 views4 pages

Romantic Era Music & Arts Overview

The document discusses the historical and cultural background of instrumental romantic music. It explains that the Romantic Era was a period of artistic freedom and experimentation as composers moved away from classical standards of balance and restraint. The music of this period featured themes of national identity, nature, mysticism, spirituality, and subjectivism. Romantic elements were also portrayed in paintings of the time that focused on nature, supernatural themes, and spiritual experiences. The musical characteristics included more lyrical melodies, use of the piano for emotion and mood, and expressive use of dynamics. Program music also became popular as a way to musically depict literary themes and images.

Uploaded by

iya
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Gr. 9 – St.

Rose of Lima
Group 1: Angel Bonita Jania Araneta Jayrhol Galeste
Angela Gavina Oliver Agas Janle Tarectecan
Alliyah Ortiz Mark Orseo

Romantic Era
(Music)

The Historical-Cultural Background of Instrumental Romantic Music


Primarily, the Romantic Movement was an intellectual, artistic, and literary movement that
started in the second half of the 18th century in Europe. People at that time was rebelling against
social and political standards of the Classical Period. They believed in expressing their
imaginations and passion and expressing it in their artwork like literature, arts, education, and
music.

How Romantic Era music related to its historical and cultural background?
People in the Romantic Era moved away from the standards of balance and restraint prominent
during the Classical Period. The Romantic Era swayed away from the Classical Period by
allowing artistic freedom and experimentation.

(Painting by Girodet, a painter of the Romantic Movement)

The Characteristic Features of Instrumental Romantic Music


Noteworthy are the music characteristics attributed to Romanticism. These characteristics
include themes that focused on national identity, surrender to nature, mystic and supernatural, a
longing for the infinite, the strange and surprising, spiritual experiences, and subjectivism.

(Cover Page of a Music Score)


Art and Media Portrayed by Romantic Era Elements
Romantic Era elements are presented in arts and media in the form of paintings and literature.
They reflect themes that focused on surrender to nature; the mystic and supernatural; a longing
for the infinite, the strange, and the surprising; and spiritual experiences. Examples are paintings
shown below:

Death of Sardanapalus Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde


Eugene Delacroix Robert Louis Stevenson

Wanderer above the Sea of Fog


Caspar David Friedrich

The Musical Elements of Romantic-era Music


The art song became lyrical, and composers gave efforts to associate the music text to its
musical counterpart. Here are some of its elements:
First, compared to the dramatic tones of the opera, the melody tones became more lyrical.
Next, the use of the piano as accompaniment resulted to the adding of emotion, mood, and
meaning to the melody through the use of harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic material independent
of the voice.
The Performance Practices during the Romantic Era
Romantic music composers found themselves essentially compelled to use sharp contrasts.
This may be found in the use of dynamics as composers sought to include expressiveness in their
composition through the use of abrupt changes in music volume.

Composers explored the expression of feelings like flamboyance, intimacy, unpredictability,


longing, and rapture.

Program Music
Is a form of instrumental music that is intended to express a story or image that depicts the
theme and scenes in a literary text. An example of this is Fantastic Symphony by Hector Berlioz.

Other Arts that Portray Romantic Era Element


Romantic-era influences on pop music may not prove easily to pinpoint as modern music
embody elements coming from a number of past movements. Examples of musicians
representing new romanticism include Boy George, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Visage, and
Peter Robinson.

Steve Strange Adam Ant Boy George

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