Transcript Romanticism in Music in the Early Nineteenth Century Gericault Officer of the Imperial Guard, 1817

Romanticism in Music
in the Early Nineteenth
Century
Gericault Officer of the
Imperial Guard, 1817
Romanticism
The thought and history of the nineteenth
century is full of contradictions: between
freedom and oppression, science and faith,
capitalism and socialism.
Napoleon’s conquests spread liberal reforms
and sparked revolutionary movements
throughout Europe. His myth, the myth of
the self-made man who rises to power
through ambition, will and genius, provides
a central symbol of Romanticism.
The bourgeoisie clamored for freedom of
speech and individual liberty. At the same
time, working class movements took form
to protest the miseries generated by the
Industrial Revolution. Capitalism came
under attack by “Utopian Socialists” like
Fourier; later the “scientific socialism” of
Karl Marx provided workers with a potent
revolutionary ideology.
David, Napoleon at St. Bernard
(1800)
Early in the century, thinkers
influenced by the
Enlightenment still believed
that science would lead society
to utopia. Later though,
advances in science led thinkers
to look at the world in radically
new ways. Charles Darwin’s
theory of evolution challenged
our traditional understanding of
the design of nature. Later
Sigmund Freud’s theory of the
unconscious would further
discredit the old idea that
human behavior could be
governed by reason.
Fuseli, The Nightmare 1781
In art, poetry and music, a new
interest in the mystery and
strange beauty of human nature
expressed itself. In literature we
find poets exploring myth,
folklore and themes of nature;
there is an outpouring of love
lyrics and a new fascination with
the fantastic and the historical.
Casper David Friederich, Wanderer Above a
Sea of Fog, (1818)
Romanticism in Music
Beethoven led Classical Music
into the Romantic Era. Early in
his career he wrote in the refined
and elegant forms developed by
Haydn and Mozart, but he found
that these could no longer
contain his spirit. Beethoven
forged new forms in music
which later composers would
imitate and extend.
In the early part of the nineteenth
century Beethoven’s disciples
were Schubert, Mendelssohn,
Schumann, and Chopin. Later
stages of the Romantic
movement are reflected in the
works of Berlioz, Liszt and
Wagner.
Ludwig van Beethoven (December 16, 1770 –
March 26, 1827)
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
While the music of the 18th century
played a formative role in Beethoven’s
early style, his last works are separated
from those of Haydn and Mozart by a
wide gulf. Beethoven’s greatness
manifests itself in a force and intellect
that required new styles and expanded
forms to contain his ideas and
emotions.
First Period: to 1800, when Beethoven
was thirty years old. (First Two
Symphonies)
Second Period: 1800-15 Third through
Eighth Symphonies
Third Period: 1815-27 Ninth
Symphony
Beethoven in 1803
First Period: Symphony #1
(1799-1800)
This work represents Beethoven at the height of his
Classical powers, building on the achievements of
Haydn and Mozart while not hiding his debt to them.
Beethoven's First Symphony was composed in 1799 and
premiered at the Imperial Court Theatre on the 2nd of
April, 1800. According to the lore, the audience was
rather surprised by the new piece of music, as he just
didn't do things right: the first movement started in the
wrong key and with a slow introduction, the second
movement was not in A minor as Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart and Joseph Haydn might have done it, the third
movement was far to vigorous (especially the Minuet)
and the fourth movement resembled a German drinking
song. In later symphonic works Beethoven said "hell" to
the sonata form, and you can sense the rebellion already
in this marvelous work. (NPR Music)
1. Adagio molto Allegro con brio
2. Andante cantabile con
moto
3. Menuetto (Allegro
molto e vivace)
4. Adagio - Allegro
molto e vivace
In 1802, the composer had declared, "I
am not contented with my works so far.
Henceforth I shall take a new path," and
he kept his promise. In 1805 he broke
from the mold of Mozart and Haydn to
produce a grand symphony, a daring
and dramatic work, stunning in its epic
scope and emotional impact. Audiences
which had become accustomed to the
image of music being purely for
entertainment suddenly faced a radical
new idea: like a literary masterpiece, a
symphony can present its creator's
image of the world. For Beethoven, the
grand idea was “heroic struggle”. That
concept lay at the core of the 19th
century’s understanding of progress
(see Hegel), and it was Beethoven who
first brought Romanticism into music.
The Artist as Force of History
Gericault, The Charging Chasseur,
1812.
Beethoven had been a great admirer of
Napoleon Bonaparte, the heroic
liberator of the people. Furthermore,
with a concert tour to Paris in the
works, the composer may have been
considering how to smooth his
reception with the notoriously
capricious Parisian audiences by
composing a work in Napoleon’s honor.
Whatever the initial inspiration, in 1803
Beethoven complied with a suggestion
from the French ambassador to Vienna
that he begin a symphony honoring the
"First Consul.". He described the piece
as his "Bonaparte Symphony," and
might have published it under that title,
had not events taken a different turn.
(Classical Music Pages)
David, Napoleon in His Study (1812)
A few years earlier, Beethoven had
learned that his own hearing had been
damaged and that he was gradually
going deaf. When he confirmed the
prognosis, Beethoven considered
suicide, and he even drafted his will
(the Heiligenstadt Testament). It is
from this time that Beethoven’s music
underwent a drastic change. He struck
out in a new direction and began
composing the Eroica symphony. (See
The Eroica Website)
Portrait of Beethoven around 1804-05, the time of
the Eroica. By Joseph Mähler
David, Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress
Josephine in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris on 2 Dec 1804 (1806)
In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself
Emperor of France, and Beethoven,
in a tremendous fury, ripped the title
page from the score. According to
his friend and student Ferdinand
Ries, he stormed that now even his
hero had become a tyrant, and that
he would not dedicate a symphony
to such a person. The symphony's
new sub-title, "Eroica," implied
more of a general heroism than
specific deeds, and its inscription,
"composed to celebrate the memory
of a great man," seems to refer to the
earlier Napoleon, the idealistic
young hero who now lived only in
memory. When the work was
published in 1806, the concert tour
to Paris had been cancelled.
(Classical Music Pages)
Title page dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Eroica Symphony premiered in Vienna April 7, 1805. Four years later,
Beethoven himself conducted the work at a charity concert at the Theater-ander-Wien. By the time of the latter performance, France and Austria had fallen
into war. The French had occupied Vienna, and French troops filled the streets.
Napoleon had been amongst them, but he did not attend the concert. Whether
the diminutive ruler ever knew of the work's connection to himself is uncertain.
(Classical Music Pages)
Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, op. 55 “Eroica”
1st Allegro con brio 1st movement Bernstein
2nd Marcia funebre. Adagio assai 2nd movement Bernstein
3rd Scherzo. Allegro vivace 3rd Movement Bernstein
4th Finale Allegro molto 4th movement Bernstein
See Eroica website from SF Symphony's 'Keeping Score' with Analysis,
Beethoven’s Musical Innovations:
Rhythm: Beethoven composed powerful themes in which rhythm,
not melody, frequently becomes the driving force of the
composition. He reduced the ‘thesis’ or main theme of a
composition to a single rhythmic element rather than a melody:
Orchestration and Dynamics: Increased size of orchestra: greater
reliance on brass: Heroic, dynamic, driving power and elemental
force: Sforzando Beethoven, 5th Symphony 1. 2. 3. 4. (1808)
Harmony: His music would modulate into remote keys thus
allowing for greater contrast during the development section of
movement: the use of sharper dissonances. Beethoven, 3rd
Symphony (Eroica) (1804)
Form: Joining the 3rd and the 4th Movements in the 5th
Symphony (Beethoven, 5th Symphony 1. 2. 3. 4. (1808));
Synthesizing soloists, choir and orchestra in the 4th Movement
of the 9th Symphony: (Beethoven, 9th Symphony 1. 2. 3. 4.
(1817-24) )
Program Music: Music that tells a story. Instrumental music
that depicts a mood or tells a story suggested by the title or
program attached to a piece of music. (Beethoven,
6th Symphony (Pastoral) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. (1808))
Replacing the dance movement of a symphony with the
scherzo: (Beethoven, 9th Symphony 2. (1817-24) )
And just to prove that Beethoven could do anything, listen to
the melody in the second movement of the Seventh Symphony
(1811-12). (Beethoven, 7th Symphony 1., 2., 3., 4. ) This
movement is a classic example of the theme and variations
form.