Romanticism (1800-1850)

The romantic era rings a lot of bells with me. When reading about the 'romantic' artist, I was drawn to their way of thinking and the style in which they created art. A few quotes and points that distinguished the thinkers of this era from the classical era preceding it:

"I am not made like any of those whom I have ever seen; I dare to believe that I am not made like any who exist." -Rouseau

-The feudal class was done away with and people were no longer seen as units, rather, as individuals.

-The idea that individuals could rise from a low position to a position of prominence was born.

-The romantics concentrated on emotional conflict and climax and taking the audience through an entire range of emotional reactions.

-Romantic art generally inclines to the sublime rather than the beautiful. Its aesthetic aim is not pleasurable satisfaction, but emotional stimulation.

-There were five major themes in Romantic art: love, death, mystical religion, politics, and nature. Composers of the romantic era frequently incorporated these into their works.

Portrait of Beethoven by Arthur Paunzen

It goes without saying that Beethoven is probably the greatest musical figure in Classical music to this day. He fully embodied the persona of a romantic artist. Instead of writing music with clarity and transparency in the structure like composers of the classical era, Beethoven was writing music based on heroism and political events of the time (he was especially inspired by the French Revolution and the ideals of liberty and equality). He was truly 'pouring his feelings' into his work. Faced with the 'fate' of losing his hearing, he rose up against that and asserted a heroic attitude towards life. Through his music, we can understand the different events and things Beethoven went through during his life. A few points about romantic composers:

1. Their music was appreciated during their lifetime more than music had been in previous eras
2. They were not supported as much by the patronage system and worked more as private entrepreneurs. This way, they could express their own thoughts in new ways, but still had to appeal to the 'marketplace'.
3. There were generally three kinds of composers in the Romantic era:
1. ones with great artistic imaginations and support from serious critics, but found themselves subject to financial insecurity
2. ones who succeeded by making brilliant impressions on the public and had much financial success
3. ones who appealed to the mass market, writing popular works but rarely masterpieces
4. Overall, the need to appeal to the public was very important to Romantic composers.

Another notable event during this period was the rise of the modern music conservatory. The downfall of the aristocracy after the French Revolution brought the end of the patronage system and threatened to make a musical crisis. The Paris Conservatory was created to educate new musicians, since the private apprenticeship style training no longer existed.  To this day, the Paris Conservatory is a prime school in the classical music world.

Composers were also writing music inspired by their own feelings or events that took place in their lives. This was the beginning of program music, music that renders a musical narrative. Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz was exactly could be classified in this category. Using many of the themes of Romantic art, mainly love, death, and mysticism, he told the story of an artist with a lively imagination who poisons himself with opium in the depths of despair (most Romantic artists) because of hopeless love (sound familiar?). Here is a summary of the story:

Okay, so it's a little more complicated than that, but I got a good laugh when I saw this picture circulating a few months ago on my newsfeed.

The fourth movement "March to the Scaffold" depicts the part of the story that is unfolding. Because the artist is so desperately and hopelessly in love with the woman of his dreams who returns no feelings, he poisons himself with opium which, instead of killing him, sends him into a deep sleep with crazy dreams. In these dreams, he kills his beloved and then is condemned to death and watches his own execution. In the fifth movement, Berlioz goes so far as to write a passage in the strings marked 'col legno' (with the stick of the bow) that represents the sound of bones falling.

Here's a recording of March to the Scaffold. It is one of my favorite pieces ever. (Please note the epic pedal notes in the bass trombone throughout.)

 The following tidbit is awesome:

"Leonard Bernstein described the symphony as the first musical expedition into psychedelia because of its hallucinatory and dream-like nature, and because history suggests Berlioz composed at least a portion of it under the influence of opium. According to Bernstein, 'Berlioz tells it like it is. You take a trip, you wind up screaming at your own funeral.'"

 What a looker.

In summary, composers during the Romantic Era were leaving no stones unturned. They allowed many aesthetic factors to influence their music and created works that took audiences through an array of emotions. This paved the way for the next era, where all of these things were magnified and expanded, making music the most popular ways for anyone to tell stories, share emotions, and even communicate.