MUSIC9 (THIRDQUARTER)

What I Need to Know

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
a. Describes musical elements of given Romantic period pieces;
b. Explains the performance practice (setting, composition, role of composers /performers, and
audience) during Romantic Period
c. Relates Romantic music to other arts forms and its history within the era;
d. Improvises appropriate accompaniment to selected musical from Romantic Period
e. Performs selected music from the Romantic period;
f. Evaluates music and, music performances using guided rubrics.
Characteristics of Music of the Romantic Period
In music, the Romantic period covers from 1820 up to 1900. However, aspects f Romanticism
emerged even before 1800 and continued into the twentieth century. This is why there are some composers
considered Classical by one account and Romantic by another. Beethoven was an example of this.
It was during the nineteenth century when much of the population gained education in music,
especially in the United States. A wide interest in musical history was happening. This led to a great
appreciation of the music of Batch of the Baroque period and Palestrina of the Renaissance era. Hence,
musicology emerged. Musicology is scholarly discipline characterized by the systematized study of the
science, history, forms, and methods of music.
In this period, music became more expressive and emotional; it also encompassed literary, artistic,
and philosophical themes. Musical Romanticism or Romantic music dominated in Europe especially in
Germany.
Characteristics of Romantic Music
Although there was a deep fascination with music history, certain features of the nineteenth century
music were still observed that set it apart from other eras. It is also interesting to note that these radical
changes in Romantic music are brought about by the sweeping changes in the political, moral, and social
climate of the era.
o Romantic composers no longer relied on the support or sponsorship of the aristocrats and church but
on a considerably large audience. – the middle class. This was the gradual shift from an aristocratic
society to a democratic society.
o Virtuosic display of skill and techniques in performing was greatly admired.
o The public favored more such genres as opera, piano compositions, solo songs with piano
accompaniment, and orchestral works; chamber music and compositions for choirs were less
preferred.
o Devotion to one’s nation or nationalism was an important influence in Romantic music. It was
instilled in many compositions by using folk tunes, folk styles, and legendary folk heroes to identify
the composer’s music with his/her native land.
o Romantic composers enjoyed self-expression and created music that would purposefully shout their
identity or personality.

Did you know that…

Creating program music also thrived during this century as this was called the great age of
program music. Program music is an instrumental music that is linked with an idea, poem, scene,
or story. Romantic composers used music to imitate such sounds as bird songs, thunder, oceans
waves, wind, and bells. They also used musical rhythm to portray a moving object like a rippling
brook.
Aside from the aforementioned characteristics, here are the specific developments as far as
compositional styles and techniques are concerned.

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Timbre
Romantic composers used a richer, denser sounds especially in orchestral music to achieve diversity
in pervasive mood. This is done through adding more players in the orchestra. That is why public concert
halls necessitate an increase in size to accommodate the full orchestra of the Romantic period.
Tonality
Nineteenth-century composition are basically tonal, but the feeling of tonality is often clouded by the
use of modulations (changes in key within a composition) and keys remotely related to the key signature.
Texture
Just like in Classical music, textures of Romantic music, are essentially homophonic. The use of
counterpoint is not as important during this period.
Melody
To achieve greater brilliance and depth of sound, Romantic composers exploit the ranger of such
instruments as piccolo and contrabassoon. As a result, Romantic melodies generally have characteristics of
warmth and expressiveness.
Dynamics
Romantic composers explore the possibilities of expanding the expressiveness of their music through
the use of wider range of dynamic levels. Classical music uses dynamic marks such as fortissimo (very loud)
and pianissimo (very soft), but Romantic music uses such extremes as fostississimo and pianississimo. There
is also frequent use of crescendos (gradual decrease in volume from faint whispers to a very powerful sound
and vice versa.
Tempo and Articulation
As part of the exploration in the possibilities of expanding expressiveness, new characteristic
vocabularies of terms emerge to indicate not only the tempo but also the mood. Aside from the use of
accelerando (gradual increase in tempo) and ritardando (gradual decrease in tempo) to exhibit fluctuations in
tempo, the following are also used:
o Cantabile (in a singing manner)
o Con amore (with love, tenderly)
o Con fuoco (with fire)
o Con passion (with passion)
o Dolce (sweetly)
o Dolente (weping)
o Maestoso (majestic)
o Rubato (robbed time; deliberately and temporarily deviating from a strict tempo)
Harmony
Harmony is also a very significant tool for Romantic expression in music. To achieve heightened
emotional expressiveness, Romantic composers exploit new ways of treating harmony. They use a lot of
dissonances to produce an effect of action or tension. Additionally, the use of complex harmonies as in
chromatic harmony is prominent. Chromatic harmony uses nondiatonic chords. These chords cannot be found
in the major and minor scales but in the chromatic scale or twelve-one scale. Seventh and ninth play
important roles here.
Form
The conventional forms of music in the Classical period are usually subordinate to the subjective and
content expression in the Romantic period. Therefore, forms used in music are more flexible and more varied
as the composers favor more the expressiveness of their music. Romantic composers still write symphonies,
string quarters, operas, concertos, sonatas, and choral works, but they add such musical miniatures as piano
pieces because of the increasing number of people with pianos at home.

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Recapitulation
 Romantic period in music covers from 1820 up to 1900 although aspects of Romanticism emerged
even before 1800 and continued into the twentieth century.
 During this era, musicology emerged. It is a scholarly discipline characterized by the systematized
study of the science, history, form, and methods of music.
 The changes in Romantic music were brought about by the sweeping changes in the political, moral,
and social climate of the era.
Program Music
It has been observed that the nineteenth century or the Romantic period is the Golden Age of program
music. In some form, program music could also be seen the previous eras, but it only rose to eminence during
this period when the art of music was closely linked with the art of literature. Musicians of the Romantic
period would want to create music as poetically as possible, and the writers or poets of this century would
want their works of poetry to be made as musically as possible.
Development
Program Music
Program music is commonly categorized as:
 A kind of art music;
 An instrumental music;
 Associated with an idea, poem, scene, or story;
 An endeavor to depict musically an extramusical narrative; and
 Able to draw forth a certain experience in the audience other than sitting in front of musicians.
Basically, composers of program music state the extramusical element or narrative through a title, or
notes in explanation called a program. Program music can elicit particular mental images of movements
or sounds in nature and therefore represent the characters and events in a particular story as well as the
menta and physical manifestations of feelings. This is done through imitation of sounds such as bird
songs, thunder, ocean waves, wind, or bells. Romantic composers of program music also make use of
musical rhythm to portray a moving object like a rippling brook or a galloping horse.
The musical forms, which are employed in this kind of art music, are similar t the ones used in the
absolute music or nonprogram music. Therefore, without a program, this program music may just be
heard as a simple music in a rondo, sonata, or a theme and variations from. As opposed to absolute music,
which is intended to be appreciated without any association to the outside world, nineteenth-century
composers of program music rely on the capacity of music to suggest or evoke nonmusical ideas, objects,
images, or events.
The following are the main forms of program music written for orchestra:
Program Symphony
A program symphony is an orchestral composition that relays ideas or narrates a story. It is written in
several movements, and each movement typically has a title that describes the idea. In this program
music, nineteenth-century composers employ themes such as witchcraft, death, mystery, and other
emotions. Some of the elements described here are water, wind, rain, sea, and field scenes. The program
symphony is a very important musical development in the Romantic era. Some of the examples of
program symphony are Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, and Symphonie Fantastique (Fantastic
Symphony).
Symphonie Fantastique was composed by Hector Berlioz, a French composer. It is composed of five
movements. Each movement has a descriptive title:
 First movement – “Reveries, Passions”
 Second movement – “A Ball”
 Third movement – “Scene in the Fields”
 Fourth movement – “March to the scaffold”
 Fifth movement – “Death of a Withces’ Sabbath”
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Berlioz used a single melody in this composition which he called idee fixe or fixed idea to represent
the character’s loved one. This melody occurs in every movement but is changed in character to fit in the
scene. In the second movement, for example, the theme of the fixed idea is presented in a waltz form and in
the third movement, it is set against a fast and exciting countermelody.
The following is the fixed idea in the fifth movement representing that the loved one is revealed as a witch.
Concert Overture
A concert overture is an independent single – movement work, which is usually written in sonata form. This
program music is not an orchestral introduction to operas, although it is patterned from the opera overture.
Some examples of concert overtures are:
 Fingala’s Cave Overture by Felix Mendelssohn
 Academic festival Overture by Johannes Brahms
 181 Overture and Romeo and Juliet Overture-Fantasy by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The following is a solemn melody with a hymn-like structure, which Tchaikovsky used an opening part
of his Overture Fantasy:

Symphonic Poem
A new orchestral form, called symphonic poem or tone poem, is also a single-movement composition.
It is a programmatic work with a descriptive title in which the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting,
or any other literary work is illustrated or evoked. It was introduced by Franz Liszt around the middle of the
century and had become an important type of program music after 1860.
Some of the well-known tone poems are:
 Les preludes by Franz Liszt
 Night on Bald Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky
 The sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas
 Danse macabre by Camille Saint-Saens
 In the Steppes of Central Asia by Alexander Borodin
 Isle of the Dead by Sergei Rachmaninoff
 Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks by Richard Strauss
 The Moldau by Bedrich Smentana
The Musical score below is an excerpt from The Moldau, the second of the six tone poems
collectively entitled Ma vlast (My Country) composed by Smentana, founder of Czech national music. It
starts with the running notes of the flute playing softly.

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Incidental Music
Performed before and during a play is the incidental music. It is intended to add atmosphere to the
action. Interludes, background music, dances, and marches set the atmosphere or mood for certain actions of
a play. Nowadays, the term “incidental music” is less applied to film music. It is known more as the film
score or soundtrack.
An example of an incidental music is the famous “Wedding March” composed by Felix Mendelssohn
for the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Below is an excerpt from the “Wedding March.”

Recapitulation
 The nineteenth century or Romantic period is the Golden Age of program music
 Program music is an instrumental composition intended to depict or evoke nonmusical incidents,
ideas, or images drawn from literature or works of art.
 The main forms of orchestral program music are programs symphony, concert overture, symphonic
poem or tone poem, and incidental music.
Check for Understanding
1. How important was program music during the Romantic period?
2. How does program music differ from absolute music?
3. Which of the four main forms of program music appeals to you the most? Why?
Music for the Piano
Exposition
The piano is the most medium of the Romantic instrumental music. Romantic composers see this
instrument as the perfect instrument for their very expressive music. It has the capacity to distinctively
demonstrate progressions between loud and soft dynamic level – the characteristics that the harpsichord
lacks. As part of an ensemble, the piano is an indispensable component in producing chamber music.
Development
Nocturne
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A nocturne (pronounced nak’t rn) is a musical composition for the solo piano of a romantic and
dreamy character thought appropriate for or evocative of the night. It is full of poetic and sentimental moods
like melancholy. The first nocturnes were written by a Irish composer, John Field, who was considered to be
the “Father of the Romantic Nocturne.” However, it was Chopin who perfected the nocturne during the
Romantic period.
Norturne in E-flat Major, Op 9, No. 2 is an example of a nocturne. It was composed by Frederic
Chopin, a great composer of piano music. Below is an excerpt of the said nocturne. What is its meter
signature? What does it mean?

Etude
Étude (pronounced ey’tyud) is a French word that means “study.” It is a composition for piano that
contains technical difficulties such as scales, figurations, arpeggios, chords, and octaves. It is an instrumental
piece intended to help a performer study a particular technical aspect of playing the instrument. Etudes are
composed as virtuoso pieces for concert audiences especially during this era.
An example of an etude is Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12. This etude helps
the pianist to develop speed and endurance on the left hand. To do this, the pianist must play rushing
passages in octaves and chords.
The following is an excerpt from Chopin’s Revolutionary Etude in C minor, Op. 10, No. 12, its main
melody:

Dances
Composers
of the Romantic
period also created piano music for the stylized dances. These include the following.

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 Walts is a gliding couple dance performed in triple time. When it first arrived in England, it became
so controversial because there had never been a dance performed so closely by a couple, that is arm
to arm, belly button. Another type waltz had also been created for piano music. This waltz is called
Landler, a slow Austrian waltz.
 Mazurka is a folk dance from the province of Mozavia in Poland. It is characterized by hops and
strong steps performed in ¾ time.
 Polonaise is a French word for “Polish.” It is a dance for the Polish nolbility written in triple meter.

 Polka – is a Bohemian folk dance brought to France, then to England and finally to America. Just
like waltz, it is performed by a couple as they swirl around the ballroom.
 Gallop or Gallop - is a couple dance that originated in France. The dancing couple slides sideward
down the ballroom.
Character Pieces
Character pieces are short instrumental piano pieces suggesting an atmosphere or general mood.
These pieces have descriptive titles specifically invoking an idea or expressing the character intended. These
character pieces include compositions with such titles as romanza, lament, arabesque, moment musicale,
ballade, rhapsody, intermezzo, bagatelle, impromptu, and prelude. An example of this piece is Schumann’s
Kreisleriana.
Piano Sonatas
A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano. Unlike Classical piano sonatas with several
movements, nineteenth-century piano sonatas are usually written with sigle movement after Beethoven and
Schubert.
An example of a piano sonata is Liszt’s Sonata in B minor.

Pianos or pianofortes have pedals. These pedals were introduced by John Broadwood. There are
usually two pedals – the sustaining pedals to preserve the sound and the soft pedal so that the
hammers strike only one string for each note. However, there are also pianos with as many as four
extra pedals.

Recapitulation
 The piano is the most important medium of the Romantic instrumental music.
 A nocturne is a musical composition for the solo piano evocative of the romantic and dreamy
character of the night.
 An etude is a piano composition that contains technical difficulties intended to help a performer study
a particular technical aspect of playing the instrument.
 Romantic composers also created piano music for the stylized dances such as waltz, mazurka,
polonaise, polka, gallop, and landler.
 A character piece is a short instrumental piano piece evoking an atmosphere or general mood.
 A piano sonata is a sonata written for a solo piano.
Composers of the Nineteenth-Century Instrumental Music
The instrumental music of the Romantic period is prominently described as nationalistic,
individualistic, and virtuosic. These characteristics can be seen in the compositions of such great Romantic
composers as Frederic Francois Chopin, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Franz Liszt, ad Camille Saint-Saens.
Development
Frederic Francois Chopin (1810-1849)
The most distinguished nationalistic composer of piano music in the
nineteenth century and a child prodigy, Frederic Francois Chopin (pronounced
fred’rik fran’shwa show’pan) was born in Zelazowa Wola in Poland on March 1,
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1810. Frederick was the second child and only son of Nicolas Chopin and Justyna Kryzanowska. Chopin
received his first professional music training from Wojciech Zywny from 1816 to 1821. At age 7, he already
composed two polanises, in G minor and B-flat major. In June 1825, Chopin performed the first of his works
to be commercially published – Rondo Op. 1.
In 1826, Chpin studied music theory, figured bass, and composition with the composer Jozef Elsner at
the Warsaw Conservatory. In 1838, Chopin ha a live-in relationship with Aurore Dupin, a French author with
a pen name George Sand (six years older than he was). As cited by Chopin, he was influenced by the music
of Bach and Mozart, the two most important composers in molding his style in musical work, although he
had been educated in the musical style of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, and Clementi. On October 17,1849,
Chopin died of pulmonary tuberculosis.
Most of Chopin’s works are written with only one movement exploring the capacities of the piano. He
used his etudes in teaching his technique to his students – in playing double thirds (Etude Op. 25 No. 6), in
playing repeated notes (Etude Op. 10 No. 7) and in playing successive octaves (Etude Op. 25 No. 10). Thus,
he was called the “Poet of the Piano.”
Chopin’s works are generally described as:
 Homophonic in texture
 No descriptive titles
 Extensively chromatic with modulation
 Excellent melodic and harmonic creativity
 Delicate in style
Aside from those mentioned, his compositions include:
o Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. No.2
o Etude in C Minor, Op. 10, No. 12
o Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53
o Prelude in D-flat Major, Op. 28, No. 15

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

From a family
a small town of Votkinsk in Russia on May 7, 1840. His father Ilya Petrovich
Tchaikovsky served as a lieutenant colonel in the Department of mines, and his
mother was a French cultured woman.
Peter received a
speak fluently in French and German at age 6. At age 10, his family moved to St.
Petersburg where he attended the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in preparation
for a career in law. He graduated in 1859 and served as a government clerk for a
short time. However, he deeply felt a call for music.
In 1861, Peter
well that after graduating, he became a professor of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory in 1866. In 1867,
Tchaikovsky accepted a bold marriage ended unhappily and quickly – they lived together for only two and a
half months. It turned out he was trying to conceal his homosexuality. He attempted to drown himself in the
Moscow River. They did not divorce but lived separately. During these times, he could not write or compose
anything, but his family remained supportive of him.
Later in that year, Tchaikovsky had acquired a good fortune in the person of Madame Nadezhda von
Meck, a wealthy widowed benefactress. They never met each other, but they had a constant and intimate
friendship through correspondence. For 13 years, Madame von Meck supported him financially and
commissioned him some works. At age 53, Tchaikovsky died probably of cholera.
Worried about his delayed start in his musical career, Tchaikovsky composed so diligently and
furiously.
Tchaikovsky’s famous compositions include the following:
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o Romeo and Juliet – a concert overture (1869)

o Overture and Marche Slave – his orchestral showpieces (1812)
o The Nutcracker (1892), Swan Lake (1876), and The Sleeping Beauty (1889) – his three ballets
o The Queen of Spades and Eugene Onegin – his operas
o Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor (1875)
o Violin Concerto (1878)
o Symphony No. 4 (1877), Symphony No. 5 (1888), and Ymphony No. 6 “Pathetique” (1893) – his most
famous symphonies
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Hailed as the “King of Pianists,” Franz Lizst (pronounced frants list) was born
to Anna Liszt and Adam Liszt on Octorber 22, 1811 in Raiding, Hungary. Liszt’s
father could play the piano, violin, cello, and guitar. His father introduced him to
play the piano when he was 7. Liszt studied piano in Vienna with Carl Czerny
and composition with Antonio Salieri.
Liszt went to Paris in 1823 expecting to study at the Paris Conservatory. But
the conservatory director, Cherubini, disliked child prodigies and refused Liszt
using the excuse that he was a foreigner. So he studied privately.
Toward the early part of 1824, Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli was Liszt’s
first composition to be published. At 16, his father died, but at this time Liszt was already a well-known
piano virtuoso able to support himself and his mother. Inspired by the spectacular violin performances of
Paganini in 1830, Liszt explored the possibilities of the piano and launched a virtuoso career. He used
chromaticism (extensive use of nondiatonic pitches in melody and harmony), remote modulation (shifting
from one key to another dissonances, repeated notes, fast arpeggios (broken chords), scales piano in octaves,
and chords simultaneously played by both hands. The larger and most prominent of Liszt’s works are his
original piano composition. Examples of his pian the age o music are etudes, rhapsodies, and other piano
pieces. A rhapsody is an instrumental composition of free, irregular to suggesting improvisation.
In 1833, Liszt began a relationship with Countess Marie d’Agoult. I 1835, te countess left her
husband to live with Lizst. Tey had three children. On July 3, 1886 Liszt died of pneumonia in Bayreuth at
the age of 74. For many years, he was idolized by all Europe as much as any rock or pop star of today.
Some of Liszt’s compositions include the following:
o Faust Symphony (1854) and Dante Symphony (1856) – his program symphonies
o Mephisto Waltz, Dance of Death, Funerailles –his compositions that have titles about death or the
devil
o Transcendental Etude No. 10 in F Minor (1851) – one of the best virtuoso pieces of the Romantic
period
o Hungarian Rhapsodies
o Years of Pilgrimage – three sets of short poetic pieces
o Petrarch Sonnets
Charles-Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921
Once called the “Greatest Organist n the World,” Charles-Camille Saint-
Saens (pronounced karl ka mill san san) was born in Paris, France on October 9,
1835. His father died three months after his birth. Consequently, he was brought up
by his mother with the help of his aunt, who introduced him to piano. At age 2 he
was found to have a perfect intonation. At age 3, he already knew how to read and
write. At age 4, his first composition was a little piano piece dated Mach 22. 1839.
When he was 7, Saint-Saens received formal training in piano using the
strength of te hand rather than the arm with Camille-Marie Stamaty. Under the
tutelage of Fromental Halevy, he studied organ and composition at the Paris
Conservatory in the late 1840s. At age 16, Saint-Saens wrote his first two symphonies; the second was
published as Symphony No. 1 in E-flat Major. In 1888, Saint-Saens’s mother died, and he decided to leave

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France. The nest years were spent traveling around the world – in Europe, North Africa, Southeast Asia, and
South America.
On December 16, 1921 Saint-Saens died of pneumonia in Algiers. He wrote over 300 compositions in
all. He was also one of the first major composers who wrote music for cinema entitled The Assassination of
the Duke of Guise.
Some of Saint-Saens’ compositions include the following:
o Piano Concerto No. 4 in C Minor
o The Carnival of the Animals
o Symphony No. 3 – organ symphony
o Danse Macabre – a symphonic poem
o Samson and Delilah – his most famous opera
o Helene – an opera
o Cello concerto No. 1
o Havanaise
o Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso – for violin and orchestra

Aside from the aforementioned great composers of Romantic instrumental music, Felix Mendelssohn,
Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms were also known for their instrumental music. Mendelssohn’s
principal piano works were some 50 Romantic pieces called Songs Without Words, Robert Schumann’s
works consist mainly of short character pieces with descriptive titles grouped in collections entitled
Butterflies, Scenes from Childhood, Carnaval, Fantasy Pieces, and others. Johannes Brahms wrote three
piano sonatas ans serval sets of variations, including Variations on a Theme of Haydn for two pianos.

Important: Do not submit the entire Music Material to your subject teacher.
Submit the Learning Activity Sheets ONLY. Thank you and God bless!

Reference: MAPEH 9: The Pheonix Publishing House Inc, 2017

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