Musical Forms and Devices: Romantic Eras

Musical Forms and Devices: Romantic Eras

Musical Forms and Devices in the Romantic Era

Overview

  • The Romantic era extended from around 1800 to 1900, following the Classical period and predating the 20th century music era.

Styles of Composition

  • Music during the Romantic period was characterised by expressive, emotional, and often programmatic content, telling a story or portraying a scene, idea, or emotion.

  • Romantic composers created more complex and dissonant harmonies, while also making use of chromaticism to infuse drama and tension in their music.

  • The concept of thematic transformation, where a theme is developed and changed not just melodically but harmonically and rhythmically, became more prevalent in Romantic music.

Instruments and Ensembles

  • The orchestra expanded during the Romantic period, with the addition of ever more brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments.

  • Notable forms of ensemble music included symphonic poems and concert overtures, both typically programmatic in nature.

Key Composers

  • Prominent Romantic composers include Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Richard Wagner.

Form

  • Romantic music is known for its grand scales, with long works such as symphonies and operas.

  • Cyclic structure, where musical material from one movement returns in later movements, was a common form used in Romantic music.

  • Some musical forms from the Classical period, including sonata form and theme and variations, continued to be used in the Romantic period but were often extensively modified.

Harmonies and Tonality

  • Harmonies in Romantic music often involved the use of chromatic chords, modulation, and unconventional chord progressions.

  • While tonality remained crucial, composers increasingly used ambiguous key signatures and explored leading key progressions, creating a sense of restlessness in their music.

Melody and Rhythm

  • Melodies in Romantic music were characterised by their long, flowing, and highly expressive nature.

  • Rhythms were often complex and changing, contributing to a sense of fluid, continuous motion.

Texture

  • Romantic music texture was predominantly homophonic, yet composers also used polyphonic forms, particularly in their larger, more complex works.

Please refer back to these points in order to enhance your understanding and knowledge of Musical Forms and Devices: Romantic.