Romanticism

This is such a musical comfort zone it's almost boring....

Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Beethoven is regarded as the transition from classical to Romantic. He holds on to classical aesthetics in terms of proportion, form, organization, harmony and motivic use while progressing the thought forward and stretching it - the phrases aren't always equal, the harmony is more complex, a motif is milked for all it's worth and the emotion is back, and then some.

Sonata in C minor (Pathetique) (1798)

A must for every pianist, I am familiar with this piece forwards and backwards... I approached listening to it as a comparison to a Mozart sonata and marking some of the evolution.

Form -
Like I mentioned earlier, Beethoven holds on to the form and proportion of a sonata in theory, but stretching it by giving a long and virtuosic introduction before the A theme appears.
The transitional and closing sections are also stretched and given a lot of room and personality.
The sections flow into each other more, there isn't always a cadence finishing a part, it simply hangs on a chord and the resolution is already the beginning of the next section.


Virtuosity -
More and more we see composers composing for themselves as a way to impress the audience with their playing, and this again raises the bar on virtuosity with fast passages and demanding accompaniment.


Emotion -
This isn't as level headed as Mozart's sonatas, the emotional depth of the piece comes through as the pianist and the listener really go on a journey.


Affect -
Beethoven does change topics similar to a Mozart sonata, but it done much more dramatically - as a Mozart sonata is expected to change a topic every even number of bars, Beethoven takes the freedom to either hang on to an emotion and play it out, or to change abruptly.


My appropriation contribution:



this reminded my I completely forgot to share "Bach on Banjo"! I know we're past it but it's too good. Please excuse the digression and enjoy it anyway!




Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Dichterliebe (The poet's love)  (1840)
A well known song cycle. I would compare it to a continuation and a progression of the Renaissance aria and song. It is just a pretty melody with pretty harmony, performed in a pretty and emotional manner.
There is simplicity to the form, and the harmony, though at times complex works to support a melody. The melody's contour, the personality of the piano, phrasing, dynamics and the performance bring up the emotion of the text. Short, approachable style that anyone can enjoy, and will probably find it "beautiful". That aesthetic is of most importance here.


Carl Maria Fon Weber (1786-1826)

According to Wikipedia "Debussy remarked that the sound of the Weber orchestra was obtained through the scrutiny of the soul of each instrument"
How's that for sentiment?
It seems the Romantic composers have gone back to the sentiment similar to the Italian madrigals where the emotion is of most importance. Unlike the madrigals the approach is less literal, but rather uses harmony, phrasing and technique to create and evoke an emotion. Another important difference is that here that emotion is achieved often with instrumental music, and not by relying on text.

We also see the use of the leitmotif both in this opera and Berlioz's "Symphony Fantastique". This is a development of working with a motif, as well as a continuation of Mozart's cymbolism and assignment of certain characters with certain keys, meter etc. 


the very first youtube video I watched was of this, oh so disturbing staging: