Music History – Romantic Period Composers

Joseph Haydn:

Life/Career

• Birth: Early 1700s (1732 – 1809)
• Country of Birth:  Austria
• Earning a Living:  Served as teacher; Played sacred and secular jobs; Worked for Esterhazy family; Traveled to London twice to complete last twelve symphonies (6 each time.)

Joseph Haydn:

Claim To Fame

• Classical
• Achievements: Developed the symphony and string quartet; contributed to Classical style; one of greatest Classical composers of oratorio and Masses; use of folk-like themes and counterpoint.
• Genres: Oratorio, mass, string quartet, symphony
• Innovation: Tafelmusic, Monothematic
• Influences:  Influenced by Mozart, then later influenced Mozart

Joseph Haydn:

Style

• Melodic Simplicty
• “Surprises”
• Clear Harmony; slower harmonic rhythm
• Dominant Homophony
• Importance of Sonata Form
• Monothematic

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Life/Career

• Birth:  Mid 1700s (1756 – 1791)
• Country of Birth:  Salzburg, Austria
• Career:  Worked in Salzburg, moved to Vienna
• Earning a Living:  Virtuoso piano player early in life; worked at Archbishop’s Court in Salzburg; Worked in Vienna

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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

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• Classical
• Achievement:;;Established national German opera style; Master of all genres, strong development of Opera and Concerto; Major contributor in the classical genres of the Symphony, string quartet, piano sonata, and the violin sonata.
• Influences:;;
• Influenced Opera:
  • Fusion of National Styles
  • Fused Comic and Serious (Giocoso)
  • Ensemble Finales
• Influenced Concerto:
  • Created the “Classical Concerto”
  • Developed “standard classical-sonata form.”
  • Orchestra and Soloist equality.
  • Added new instruments to orchestra.
  • Wind-Band sonority; Question/Answer dialogue; Contrupuntal Collaborations; Orchestra with melody accompanied by soloist.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

• Synthesis of German and Italian Styles
• Clarity, restraint and proportion mixed with intensity.
• Lyrical Melodies
• Expressive Chromaticism
• Dramatic Contrast

Ludwig van Beethoven

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Life/Career

• Birth:;;Late 1700s (1770 – 1827)
• Country of Birth:;;Germany
• Career:;;Mostly in Austria.
• Earning a Living:;; Harpsichordist and organist along with teaching piano; played viola around court and theatre; Haydn urged Beethoven to move to Vienna; played for aristocrats; lost some hearing and pulled out from performing

Ludwig van Beethoven

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Claim to Fame

• Achievements:;;Culmination of classical period; transitional composer between romantic and classical; highly independent; helped elevate status of composers
• Influences:;;Changed relationship between patron and audience; expression of individual feelings
• Innovations:;;Expansion of sonata; cyclical structures; no pauses between movements; triumphant finales; independent overtures; program music; choral parts in a symphony

Ludwig van Beethoven

• Three periods:
  • Late Classical
  • Transitional
    • Heavily modified motives.
    • Rhythmic energy and driving rhythm
    • Abrupt shifts in mood and dynamics
    • Expansion of the orchestra
    • Wide tonal relationships
    • Altering proportions of sonata
    • Cyclic Structures
    • Programmatic Elements
  • Romantic
    • Sudden dynamic changes and explicit dynamic instructions.
    • Minor mode use; sudden and bold modulations
    • Expansion of Orchestra (Trombone)
    • Frequent use of octaves and thicker textures.

Franz Schubert

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Life/Career

• Birth:;;Late 1700s (1797- 1828)
• Country of Birth:;;Vienna, Austria
• Earning a Living:;;Father gave musical training; tried teaching school; wrote for small gatherings; sold subscriptions; wrote Schubertaiden, one large-scale concert.

Franz Schubert

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Claim to Fame

• Achievement:;;Wrote mostly in Vienna for mostly Lieder; created parternership/duet with piano and voice.
• Genres:;;Lieder, Song-Cycles, Schubertaiden
• Innovation:;;Duet/partnership between voice and piano.

Franz Schubert

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Style

• Romantic
• Known extensively as a “melodist.”
• Great skill at innovative modulation (Imaginiative modulations and dual modality.)
• Textpainting

Robert Schumann

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Life/Career

• Birth:;;Early 1800s (1810 – 1856)
• Country of Birth:;;Germany
• Career:;;Took lessons from Clara Wieck; turned to literary writing and came up with three “characters” (Master Raro, Florestan and Eusebius); music critic; spoke up for serious German style; married Clara; worked at Leipzig Conservatory, had nervous breakdown on concert tour; remained in asylum for rest of life.

Robert Schumann

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Claim to Fame

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• Achievements:;;Wrote reviews lifting careers of Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Chopin, and Brahms.

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Robert Schumann

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Style

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• “Autobiographical Music” = Fiercely Emotional
• Almost all piano.
• Significant portion of music is vaguely programmatic.
• Irregular phrasing and “seamless” connections.
• Innovative rhythmic use (hemiola, polyrhythm, etc.)

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Frederic Chopin

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Life/Career

• Birth:;;Early 1800s (1810 – 1849)
• Country of Birth:;;Warsaw, Poland
• Country of Career:;;Paris, France
• Earning a Living:;;Studied at Warsaw Conservatory; moved to Paris; Performed mainly at small, friendly gatherings; taught pupils of high social/economic standing; had relationships with several women, the most notable being George Sand

Frederic Chopin

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Claim to Fame

• Influence:;;Wrote high quality piano music; Use of progressive harmony
• Output:;;Mainly character pieces. ;(non-programmatic)

Frederic Chopin

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Style

• Graceful, sensitive, romantic, and virtuosic. ;Did not focus on “showing off.”
• Lyrical, graceful melodies.
• Extremely ornamental (grace notes, passing tones, and extreme embellishment)
• Adventurous harmony.
• Ambiguity of diatonic and altered pitches.
• Delayed resolutions
• Not beginning and ending piece in tonic or even the same key.
• Tempo Rubato

Franz Liszt

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Life/Career

• Birth:;;Early 1800s (1811 – 1886)
• Country of Birth:;;Hungary (Lived in Austria and France as a boy.)
• Career:;;Mixture of “worldy and priestly”; ;travelled internationally; ;participated in religious studes and took “minor orders”; actively pursued women and relationships; aspired to make piano sound like Paganini; had the first complete solo recital; became a full-time conducting

Franz Liszt

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Claim to Fame

• Achievements:;;Paganini of the piano; set new expectations for piano technique; first solo recital; harmonic experimentation
• Innovation: ;Symphonic Poem (Many character pieces.)

Franz Liszt

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Style

• High technical demands.
• Great variety of expression and contrast (e.g., extremely soft, lyrical, legato to loud, poweful, marcato.)
• Irregular Phrasing
• Polyrhythm
• Tempo Rubato
• Wide Intervals

Clara Schumann

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• Birth:;;Early 1800s (1819 – 1896)
• Country of Birth:;;Leipzig, Germany
• Career:;;Began composing at age 11; performed concerts even after marriage and 8 kids; taught piano at Leipzig conservatory
• Claim to Fame:;;One of first women to have successful international career as concert pianist.

Felix Mendelssohn

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Life/Career

• Birth:;;Early 1800s (1809 – 1847)
• Country of Birth:;;Germany
• Earning a Living:;;Father was authoritarian; allowed for early compositional experiences in life; studied the works of J. S. Bach; organized Choir to meet weekly and sing his music

Felix Mendelssohn

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Claim to Fame

• Achievement:;;The leading German composer in the second quarter of the 19th century
• Influence:;;Independent program overtures; first to use baton for instrumental conducting

Felix Mendelssohn

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Style

• Proportion and balance.
• “Elfin” Style
• Program Overture
• Largely Diatonic
• Variety of tone color and excellent orchestration
• Very restrained, classically.
• Tuneful
• Some sudden shifts in dynamics.

Hector Berlioz

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Life/Career

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• Birth:;;Born in the early 1800s ;(1803 – 1869)
• Country of Birth:;;France
• Earning a Living:;;Had conflicting parental ideology (conservative Catholic mother v. liberal, secular father); took flute and guitar lessons; self-trained in harmony (read Rameau’s treatise); started Medical degree trainng at father’s wishes; later entered Paris Conservatory; ;became infatuated with Harriet Smithson; won Prix de Rome;;studied in Italy; made his living as a music critic; became a virtuoso conductor; published a treatise on orchestration.

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Hector Berlioz

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Claim to Fame

• Achivements: ;Published treatise on orchestration; important music critic.
• Influences:;;Wrote in “hybrid genres.”

Hector Berlioz

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Style

• Importance of programmatic associations or stories
• Importance of instrumental color.
• Inclusion of previously unimportant instruments (e.g., harp)
• Recurring and transforming themes
• Free counterpoint
• Classical Harmonic language.

Gioachino Rossini

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Life/Career

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• Birth:;;Born Late 1700s (1792 – 1868)
• Country of Birth:;;Italy
• Country of Career:;;Between France and Italy
• Earning a Living: ;Began career as Opera composer; wrote about 37 operas in 20 years; recieved world-wide popularity; moved to Paris; composed last masterpiece “William Tell”; lived in semi-retirement, going back and forth between Italy and France

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Gioachino Rossini

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Claim to Fame

• Achievements:;;Most prominent Italian composer in early 19th century; most important work and development in Opera Buffa; greatest work was William Tell.
• Influences:;;Rossini crescendo; development of Opera Buffa

Gioachino Rossini

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Style

• Patter style
• Accompanimental orchestra
• Sometimes, utilizes traditional basso.
• Wrote our vocal ornamentation.
• Rossini Crescendo

Fanny Hensel

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• Birth:;;Early 1800s (1805 – 1847)
• Country of Birth:;;Germany
• Career:;;Composed first piece at age 14; family discouraged her from publishing, wasn’t respectable from a woman of her social class
• Importance:  Composed many partsongs, lieder, and piano pieces.

Carl Maria von Weber

Life/Career

• Birth:  Late 1700s.  (1786 – 1826)
• Country of Birth:  Germany
• Career:  Virtuoso pianist; had a hand rage of a 12th; Established a German romantic opera; worked as a theatre director;  unifcation of all the arts in opera productions