The Romantic Period relates to the European artistic and literary movement that arose in the second half of the 18th century, and Romantic music in particular dominated the Romantic movement in Germany. The Romantic movement was strengthened as a result of the Industrial Revolution. In part, it was a revolt against social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature.
Trends of the 19th century
Events and changes that happen in society always affect music. In the 19th century the rise of the middle class had such an effect. on music.
Classical composers lived on the patronage of the aristocracy; their audience was generally small, upper-class, and knowledgeable about music. However the Romantic composer was often writing for public concerts and festivals, with large audiences of paying customers. In fact, the nineteenth century saw the first “pop star” type stage personalities. Examples are performers like Paganini and Liszt. Composers of the Romantic Era, like Elgar, showed the world that there should be “no segregation of musical tastes” and that the “purpose was to write music that was to be heard.”
Classical Roots – Classical period composers were determined to get away from what they considered the highly developed forms and textures, and styles of the Baroque. However, the composers of the Romantic era did not reject traits of the preceding Classical period. In fact, they were consciously emulating the composers they considered to be the great classicists: Haydn, Mozart, and particularly Beethoven. Symphonies, concertos, sonatas, and operas are forms that were all popular with classical composers – were also popular with the Romantics. They kept the basic rules for the performance practices established during (or before) the Classical period.
The main difference between Classical and Romantic music came from attitudes towards structure. Classical composers were primarily interested in following a logical structure. In the nineteenth century, composers began to explore, test, expand and extended these boundaries as the they began to wander much further afield than a Classical composer. Harmonies could be more dissonant and lead to more frequent and distant modulations before returning to the tonic, for example. One could divide the main part of the Romantic era into two schools of composers. One took a more conservative approach. Their music though clearly Romantic in style and feeling, does not stray too far from the Classical rules. Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn and Brahms are in this category. The other school who felt more comfortable with pushing the boundaries were Berlioz, Strauss, and Wagner among others – all of whom were progressives whose music challenged the audiences of their day.
Romantic Music as an Idea – The Enlightenment
Two categories of Romantic Music: Program vs Abstract
Program music tells a story or describes a scene. Richard Strauss’s tone poems are perhaps the best-known works in this category, but program music has remained popular with many composers through the twentieth century. Unlike the abstract universal music of the Classical composers, Romantic-era program music tried to use music to describe or evoke specific ideas. Classical rules became less important. The form of the music was chosen to fit with the program (the story or idea). If it was necessary at some point to choose sticking more closely to the form or to the program, the program usually won. Post-Romantic composers felt even freer to experiment and break the established rules for form, melody, and harmony. Many modern composers have, in fact, gone so far that the average listener again finds it difficult to follow. Romantic-style music however still finds a wide audience. Romantic Music still finds a wide audience with its emphasis on emotions and breaking musiscal “rules” .