Transcript The Medieval Time Period

The Romantic
Time Period
1820-1900
Characteristics
Music is written to express feelings and
emotions.
Composers during this period wanted
to express their innermost thoughts
and feelings through their music.
While Classical composers wrote
very structured music, Romantic
composers were much more free,
using it to express themselves.
They also began to compose in
nationalistic styles as a way to show
patriotism and love of country.
Music frequently represented something
(like a sunrise) or expressed something
(such as love of country) or was used to
describe something (like a poem)
Orchestras are now larger.
Orchestration skills become
important!
Instruments are used like an artist
(for effect, contrast, beauty).
Music becomes more difficult as
more conservatories grow (schools
to train musicians).
A new form, the symphonic poem,
was a fairly long work for orchestra
in one movement (as long as one
hour).
Program music develops, which tells
a story or paints a musical picture.
Composers also wrote short piano
pieces, as well as songs for solo
voice with piano accompaniment
using expressive poems as the song
lyrics.
The most grandiose new form of this
era was the music drama, a kind of
opera using an enormous cast and
large orchestra. These combined
music, drama, theatre, scenery, and
costuming.
Ludwig van Beethoven
- Born in 1770
in Germany
- Died in 1827
in Germany
Beethoven Facts:
- He represents
the transition
between
Classical and
Romantic
music.
Beethoven Facts:
- He began
piano lessons
at 4 years old
- Performed as
a Concert
pianist at 8
years old
Beethoven Facts:
- At age 14, he
became the
assistant
organist at a
local church
Beethoven Facts:
- At 17 years,
he met
Mozart, who
predicted a
great career
for him.
Beethoven Facts:
- In his early 20's,
he moved to
Vienna, Austria,
where he took
composition
lessons from
Franz Joseph
Haydn.
Beethoven Facts:
By the age of 45, he
had written:
- 8 symphonies
- 27 piano sonatas
- 10 piano trios
- 11 string
quartets
- and more!
Beethoven Facts:
- He began losing his
hearing in his early
20's
- By his mid-40's, he
gave up his
performing career,
and devoted as
much time as
possible to
composing.
Beethoven Facts:
- He spent the last
12 years of his life
composing while
he slowly went
deaf
Beethoven Facts:
- He never married his poor origins
kept him from
marrying the
upper class women
he really liked.
Beethoven Facts:
-
His musical
manuscripts were
terrible. One copyist
(the person who
copies someone's
music—by hand)
said, "I would rather
copy 20 pages by
another composer
than one page of
Beethoven's.
Beethoven Facts:
-
He was a slow
worker-- his
manuscripts and
musical notebooks
showed many
revisions (opposite of
what composer?). He
was never satisfied
with his music and
tried endlessly to
improve it.
Beethoven Facts:
-
Beethoven's early
music was composed
in the Classical style,
and his later music
was composed in the
Romantic style...thus,
he is often called the
musical bridge
between these two
periods.
Ludwig van Beethoven
Listening Selection:
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor
This is one of the most well-recognized
melodies of all time because of the motif,
the small musical pattern that appears
frequently in a musical composition
(sometimes called a hook).
Ludwig van Beethoven
Here's another Beethoven
selection.
Can you name it?
Ludwig van Beethoven
The translation is For Elise, a simple dedication. However,
we do not know who Elise is. There are a couple of
theories. One is that because of Beethoven’s sloppy
handwriting, the title was simply copied incorrectly.
Another is that Beethoven proposed marriage to a young
lady named Theresa Malfatti, but she turned him down
(that is fact). Beethoven may have then changed the title
to a non-existent woman’s name.
This piece was not discovered until 40 years after
Beethoven’s death, in 1865.
Franz Schubert
Born 1797 in
Austria
Died in 1828 in
Austria
Schubert Facts:
Schubert's father
was a schoolteacher.
Schubert Facts:
As a child, he attended
a boychoir school
where he sang in the
choir and played violin
in the orchestra. He
began to compose
while he was a student.
Schubert Facts:
At age 21, he took a job as a
music teacher at the summer
home of Count Esterhazy (the
same count who support Franz
Joseph Haydn). However,
most of his music still
remained unperformed
outside of the palace. He left
his job here after just two
years.
Schubert Facts:
By the age of 23, he had
written over 500 musical
works, but only two had ever
been performed in public. He
spent his mornings composing,
his afternoon with friends, and
his nights partying. He was
always short on money and
lived in terrible conditions,
then his health began to fail.
Schubert Facts:
In 1828, some friends put
together a concert devoted
exclusively to his music. It
was well received, and he
was told success was near.
However, he died eight
months later at the age of
31.
Schubert Facts:
Ten years after his death,
another composer began
studying his music and
organized performances. One
of his most famous works was
not even finished at the time
of his death, and became
known as the Unfinished
Symphony. In fact, it wasn’t
even premiered until 50 years
after his death.
Schubert Facts:
Writing music was Schubert’s
only goal in life. He had no
business sense and lived in
poverty for most of his life.
He was buried next to Ludwig
van Beethoven, as the two
were great friends.
Listening Selection
Symphony No. 8 in B Minor
"Unfinished"
Listening Selection #2
“March Militaire”
“March Militaire”
(arranged for 8 hands)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
• Born in 1840
• from Russia
• Died in 1893 in
Russia
Tchaikovsky Facts:
Tchaikovsky did not
begin studying music
seriously until the
age of 22. He had
only taken a few
piano lessons.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
He got a job with the
government, and wrote a
song while working there, so
he began considering music
as a career. He left his job
and entered the musical
conservatory of St.
Petersburg, Russia, where he
studied music composition
and orchestration.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
After graduation, he
moved to Moscow,
Russia, and became an
instructor of music
theory at the Moscow
Conservatory. This
position allowed him to
continue composing.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
He completed his first
symphony at the age of
28 and his first opera a
year later. Both were
successful. He also
began writing music for
ballets.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
In 1878, he married
Antonina, but the marriage
did not last. After that a
wealthy widow (Madame von
Meck) began supporting him
financially. This enabled him
to leave his teaching position
and devote full-time to
composing. It also allowed
him to travel to the musical
capitals of Europe.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
Tchaikovsky was supported
by the Madame von Meck
for 13 years on one
condition: he was never to
attempt to meet her. At
first he wrote a lot, but
from 1881-1888, he
traveled a lot and wrote
very little.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
At age 48, the Russian
government recognized
Tchaikovsky’s talents and gave
him an annual salary for life.
He spent two years touring
Europe as an orchestral
conductor. In 1890, Madame
von Meck ended her financial
support, and Tchaikovsky, even
though he didn’t need the
support, felt abandoned by her.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
Tchaikovsky made an
extended visit to the United
States in 1891 (age 51) and
conducted one of his most
famous works, the 1812
Overture at the grand
opening of Carnegie Hall in
New York City.
Tchaikovsky Facts:
Tchaikovsky died in St.
Petersburg during a
cholera epidemic
(virus in intestines
that leads to severe
dehydration).
Tchaikovsky Facts:
Like Beethoven,
Tchaikovsky agonized
over his music, never
feeling like it was
good enough.
Listening Example:
“March”
from The Nutcracker
Listening Example:
Tchaikovsky was the most popular
composer in Russia during the late 19th
century. He loved the world of makebelieve, and when commissioned to
write a ballet, he chose the story of The
Nutcracker and Mouse King by E.T.A.
Hoffman as his subject.
Listening Example:
The ballet was first performed at the
Imperial Opera House in St. Petersburg
on December 18, 1892, but it was not
well received, but has since become
one of the most popular ballets of all
time. It is regularly performed
throughout the world during the
Christmas holiday season.
Listening Example:
“March” is one of eight dances in the
second act. A young girl, Marie, is
transported to an enchanted kingdom
by a Prince (the transformed
Nutcracker), and watches as the eight
special dances are performed.
Listening Example #2:
(if time)
Duke Ellington’s version,
“Peanut Brittle Brigade”
The Romantic
Time Period