Chapter 18:The Late Romantics

Late Romantic Program Music

Key Terms

Realism

Symphonic poem

Theme transformation

Late Romantic Timeline

The Late Romantics

1848 a year of failed revolutions• In France, Italy, & various German states•Hopes for political freedom seemed to die•Many Romantic aspirations died as well•Romanticism lived on, but as nostalgia

1848 a convenient point of demarcation•Early Romantics were dying – Mendelssohn,

Chopin, & Schumann died 1847-1856•Revolution & exile transformed Wagner’s

career

Romanticism and Realism

Dominant trend in literature & art from 1850s on was realism – not Romanticism•Novelists Dickens, Trollope, Eliot, Balzac,

Flaubert, Zola, & Howells•Painters Courbet & Eakins•French & Italian opera also more realistic

Wagner’s music dramas not realistic at all•Much late 19th century music assumed an

inspirational yet escapist function•Escape from political & economic conditions

Late Romantic Program Music

Liszt wrote a series of symphonic poems in the 1850s•A new genre – a one-movement orchestral

work with a program in a free musical form•Word “poem” emphasized literary connection•Could be based on a poem, play, or other work•Liszt’s works include Les préludes & Hamlet•Gave new impetus to late Romantic music•Genre was used by Smetana, Chaikovsky,

Musorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Strauss, Sibelius, and others

Pyotr Ilyich Chaikovsky(1840-1893)

Music not a “respectable” Russian career•Chaikovsky was fortunate to study at the

brand-new St. Petersburg Conservatory•Professor at Moscow Conservatory at 26•Long subsidized by wealthy recluse Nadezhda

von Meck – though they never met!

A prolific composer•6 symphonies, 11 operas, symphonic poems,

chamber music, songs, concertos, ballets•One of the best-loved melodists in music

history

Chaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet

One of several of his symphonic poems•Lengthy pieces in one movement•He uses free forms that adopt features of

sonata form, rondo, & so on

Romeo and Juliet followed outlines of the original play in a general wayEasy to link themes to aspects of the play•Surging, Romantic melody for the two lovers•Angry, agitated theme for families’ enmity•Hymnlike theme for kindly Friar Laurence

Romeo and JulietSlow Introduction

Introduction already heavy with drama

Somber, solemn Hymn theme statements• In low clarinets & bassoons

Anguished strings answer•Forecasting an unhappy outcome

High woodwind announcement•Punctuated by strumming harp

The above repeats & builds to a climax•Over dramatic drum roll

Romeo and JulietAllegro (1)

Begins with fast Vendetta (Fate) theme•Short, vigorous rhythmic motives

•Climax punctuated by cymbal claps

Romeo and JulietAllegro (2)

Shifts to highly romantic Love theme•First heard in English horn & violas

• Interrupted by a gentle sighing figure

•Returns to Love theme in woodwinds

Romeo and JulietAllegro (3)

Lively development section follows•Reminiscent of sonata form development•Battle between Vendetta & Hymn themes

Romeo and JulietFree Recapitulation (1)

Vendetta theme returns in original form•Reminiscent of sonata form recapitulation

Sighing motive & Love theme also return•Big, ecstatic statement of Love theme

Romeo and JulietFree Recapitulation (2)

•Ending broken up & interrupted – a reference to the drama’s tragic outcome

Vendetta & Hymn themes combine once more•They build to a huge climax & die down

unwillingly

Romeo and JulietCoda

Introduces transformations of Love themeBegins with broken version of Love theme•Over funeral drum taps in timpani

Woodwinds sound an optimistic note•Transformation of sighing motive

Harp strumming introduces Love theme•Beautiful new cadential version surges upward

ecstatically•Suggestion that their love transcends death?