Music, Theatre, Dance, Art1825-1900

Form character pieces, concertos, dances, etudes and

variations Harmony

chromatic harmony, accidentals, diminished, and dominant sevenths and modulation to distant keys

Thick textures with full chords were popular Piano was main instrument of this period Rhythm

Complex rhythms with two notes against three were used

Sycopation Style

Expressive personal feeling, singing (cantabile) lines, varied accompaniment figures, varied phrase lengths and varied dynamics and tempos were popular.

Symphony Tone Poem Concert Overture Opera Lieder

Expansion of the Classical Symphony Many movements (more than 4), many instruments Program Music- Told a story, uses musical themes

to represent characters Hector Berlioz- Symphonie Fantastique

Told story of a young man’s love for a woman Listen to the Symphony & see if you can

recognize reoccurring themes & music arranged to depict emotion and action.

Tone Poem- similar to symphony because it tells a story, but is one long movement. Ricard Strauss- Don Juan

Overture- Introduction to an Opera, also program music

Mendelsshon’s Fingal Cave Overture Opera

Famous composers of Romantic Opera: Verdi, Wagner

Lieder German for “song” Melody (usually sung) accompanied by piano Poetry set to music

Shubert’s Erlkonig- listen to the story it tells!

Before, most music was borrowed from Germany, France, or Italy regardless of composer’s nationality

Composers used native folk songs for melodies in their music

Russian Composers- Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Rimsky- Korsakov

Rimsky- Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee

Czechoslovakian Composer Dvorak

Age of Independence Rise of the middle class, increase in

population in cities & towns Classical period ideas gave rise to more

individual thought and want of rights

Abiding Trust in nature’s goodness Emotions & instinct more important than reason

Equality of People Era of revolution (civil war in the United States)

Premium on detail Details are important on the pathway to truth

Ultimate Truth Artist became misunderstood geniuses, common people

could not understand Lead to melancholy in the arts

Art served an exhalted purpose The purpose of art was to lead people and resolve conflict.

Subjective Democratic criticism- one’s interpretation was as good as

another’s

Goethe- Faust Schiller- William

Tell

Backdrops similar to today

Gaslight lighting More special

effects with traps doors, running water, and moving backdrops

Brought the ballerina to new heights of glamour and popularity

Male dancer's role decreased 1830-1840 - The Golden Age of Ballet

Ballet became supremely popular during the Romantic Era.

The most important composer and ballet choreographer is Tchaikovsky

The Romanticism movement saw the Golden Age of ballet develop, as we see in Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. The ballet is a narrative fantasy, for it shows the toys of a child coming to life and having an adventure. Part of the Nutcracker Suite is the "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," a fantasy of magic, whim, and emotion typical of the Romantic period.

The Nutcracker shows two key elements of the Romantic Period:1. a tendency to portray life as it is not; it may distort the

real world in order to escape from it, and2. reason came in second to feeling and intuition. Writers

abandon the old rules and started using stylized methods.

Exposition A mysterious magician and toymaker once

invented a trap that killed off half the mouse population.

In revenge, the wicked Mouse Queen cast a spell on Drosselmeyer's nephew, Hans-Peter.

Transformed him into an ugly nutcracker doll. The only way to break the spell is for the

Nutcracker to slay the Mouse King and for a young girl to love and care for him in spite of his awful appearance.

Drosselmeyer gives his nephew to Clara as a Christmas gift, hoping to end the curse.

At the end of the Christmas party, Clara goes downstairs and finds Drosselmeyer waiting to put her into a magical land

The magician summons the Mouse King and he and The Nutcracker fight.

The Nutcracker slays the Mouse King, but only through the intervention of Clara, who, out of compassion, saves the Nutcracker's life.

Hans-Peter is restored to his real self.

Clara and The Nutcracker (now Hans-Peter) travel to the Land of Snow, then the Sugar Garden in the Kingdom of Sweets, where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy

Drosselmeyer honors them for their bravery.

Returning to reality, Clara runs out to Drosselmeyer, but sees the human form of The Nutcracker instead

Drosselmeyer prays that his efforts will be rewarded.

His nephew returns; the spell has indeed been broken.

Watch a portion of The Nutcracker-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9nn6BcoRYo&feature=related

Romanticism was a reaction to Neoclassicism deeply-felt style which is individualistic,

exotic, beautiful and emotionally wrought North American Romantic artist

Hudson River School Painter’s inspired by Thomas Cole’s paintings of

the American WildernessThomas Cole’s River in the Catskills