Music History: The Romantic Era

The Romantic era is one of the most popular periods in Western music history. And it’s easy to see why! Lasting from 1820-1910 (or so), music from this time is known for its shift away from the balanced and light Classical era characteristics and towards more emotive and descriptive sounds.

Romantic Era Ideals

A Shift in Tone

As composers like Beethoven pushed against the walls of the Classical era, music started to change. It was no longer composed for the sake of, well, itself. Music was now written for a purpose – to tell a story, paint a picture, or create an emotion. Composers wanted to ask the hard questions about life and death, and they used music to do so. While the Classical era was about elegance and detachment, the Romantic era was about complete mental and emotional involvement in the music.

One of the reasons for this change was the rise of the middle class in the 19th century. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, new forms and scales of production allowed for many to rise out of poverty (and away from serving a patron family). This led to a huge increase in public performances and concerts, which gave composers much more freedom in their writing. The patronage system in place during the Baroque and Classical eras often limited artistic freedom, but with the new middle class clamoring for fresh music, composers were happy to oblige.

Characteristics of the New Style

The main purpose of Romantic era music is to express emotion. Composers broke away from the old rules of harmony, melody, clarity, and simplicity to create this new style of music. Abrupt shifts in dynamics and tempo combined with daring harmonies and melodies are the basis for the Romantic era musical language. While the beginning of the Romantic era still borrowed many Classical characteristics, composers became increasingly comfortable with pushing the boundaries as the 19th century progressed.

Chromaticism

One of the main tools composers used to create emotional music was chromaticism. Chromaticism is a compositional technique where composers used notes outside of the traditional major or minor scale to add color and tension. Yes, Baroque and Classical music used chromaticism to some degree. But Romantic composers used chromaticism to the extreme. This allowed for new and exciting changes in melody and key signature.

Program Music

During the Classical era, music was written for listeners to enjoy simply as itself – pure music – instead of written to represent an idea (such as a painting or a story). This is known as absolute music. Like everything else, this idea also shifted at the start of the Romantic era. Instead of absolute music, composers began writing program music: music intended to tell a story or evoke images.

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Because there are so many wonderful composers from this era, I am going to divide the rest of the post into two main sections: early Romantic era years and late Romantic era years. I won’t be able to cover every single composer from this time, but I will showcase some of the more influential ones.

*Side note: There are no hard boundaries between the early and late halves of the Romantic era, and many of the composers influential in the first years of the time continued to compose during the second half of the era.

Early Romantic Era (1820-60)

Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Schubert was one of the first composers to kick off the Romantic era. (In fact, many group him in the Classical era because of when he was born.) The German composer wrote an astonishing amount of music during his lifetime, including over 600 vocal works (known as lieder), seven (complete) symphonies, operas, piano and chamber music, and more.

He is known for his beautiful and inventive melodies combined with intricate harmonies and technicality. Schubert experimented with pushing away Classical sentiments and injecting emotion and stories into his music. One distinct characteristic of Schubert’s music is the adventurousness of his modulations; he often changes keys in unique ways (especially compared to his Classical predecessors).

We can’t discuss Schubert without mentioning his leid Der Erlkönig (“The Elfking”), a song based on the poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe that tells the tale of the wicked Elfking and his desire to steal away young children.

This piece is bursting with the imagery of the poem. Here are the lyrics:

German Lyrics

English Translation

Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er faßt ihn sicher, er hält ihn warm.”Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?” – “Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht? Den Erlenkönig mit Kron’ und Schweif?” – “Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif.””Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel’ ich mit dir; Manch’ bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand, Meine Mutter hat manch gülden Gewand.” –”Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörest du nicht, Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?” – “Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind; In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind.” –”Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn, Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.” –   “Mein Vater, mein Vater, und siehst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?” – “Mein Sohn, mein Sohn, ich seh’ es genau: Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau. –” “Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt; Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch’ ich Gewalt.” – “Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt faßt er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!” – Dem Vater grauset’s; er reitet geschwind, Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind, Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not; In seinen Armen das Kind war tot.

Who rides, so late, through night and wind? It is the father with his child. He has the boy well in his arm He holds him safely, he keeps him warm.”My son, why do you hide your face in fear?” “Father, do you not see the Elf-king? The Elf-king with crown and cape?” “My son, it’s a streak of fog.””You dear child, come, go with me! (Very) beautiful games I play with you; Many colorful flowers are on the beach, My mother has many a golden robe.””My father, my father, and do you not hear What the Elf-king quietly promises me?” “Be calm, stay calm, my child; Through dry leaves the wind is sighing.””Do you, fine boy, want to go with me? My daughters shall wait on you finely; My daughters lead the nightly dance, And rock and dance and sing to bring you in.”   “My father, my father, and don’t you see there The Elf-king’s daughters in the gloomy place?” “My son, my son, I see it clearly: There shimmer the old willows so grey.” “I love you, your beautiful form entices me; And if you’re not willing, then I will use force.” “My father, my father, he’s touching me now! The Elf-king has done me harm!” It horrifies the father; he swiftly rides on, He holds the moaning child in his arms, Reaches the farm with great difficulty; In his arms, the child was dead.

Listen for the changes in mood as the speaker shifts perspective from the Elfking to the young boy. It’s eerie and incredible that Schubert so perfectly captured the story in the music.

Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)

Chopin was a Polish pianist and composer who wrote primarily for the piano. Educated in the style of Beethoven and Mozart, he incorporated his own virtuoso abilities with unique harmonies and beautiful melodies. Some of Chopin’s early compositions were influenced by salon music: short virtuoso piano pieces performed at a social gathering, usually by the composer.

Chopin’s nocturnes are some of his most famous pieces, and rightly so; they are packed with color and emotion. Here’s his op. 62 no. 2 in E major:

*Fun fact: Chopin was the first to establish the prelude, ballade, and scherzo as individual concert pieces (rather than movements of a larger work).

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

A staple of the early Romantic era, Liszt was a virtuoso who composed to show off his skill. Most of his huge musical output are original piano pieces (like Liebestraum No. 3, composed in 1850), although he also transcribed many well-known works into piano solos. His style is known for its dramatic flourishes, difficult passagework, and gorgeous melodies.

Liszt also invented the symphonic poem: a one-movement programmatic orchestral work that tells a story or paints an image.

Clara Schumann (1819-1896)

Oppressed as a composer because of her gender, Schumann still managed to create some astounding compositions during the 19th century. She was known for her remarkable skill as a pianist from a very young age, and her 61-year career as a pianist left impressions on the musical scene that influence us today (she was the first pianist to play a concert from memory!).

Her compositional style combines aspects of traditional Baroque and Classical ideas with modern takes on harmony and chromaticism. Listen for that beautiful balance in her piano trio, op. 17:

Late Romantic Era (1860-1910)

The latter half of the Romantic era saw some interesting trends in music. Composers got more and more daring in their use of chromaticism, and as the 19th century drew to a close, various “sub-Romantic-era” musical groups emerged, including Nationalism (a musical movement where composers combined folk music characteristics with Romanticism) and French Impressionism (a movement where composers focused on suggestion and atmosphere rather than melody).

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Known for being a traditionalist as well as an innovator, Brahms combined Classical elements with modern ideas. His music is firmly planted in Classical roots with Romantic themes; he adored Beethoven and sought to keep his own music pure and orderly. His first piano concerto was composed in 1858, and it foreshadowed the future of Romantic era music with its drama and emotion:

*Fun fact: Clara Schumann’s husband Robert was a big advocate of Brahms and his music. All three of them spent many years together as friends and colleagues, and when Robert died in 1856, Brahms helped take care of Clara.

Pytor Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

One of the greatest ballet composers of all time, Tchaikovsky helped establish the “Russain musical style” as he led the way for other Nationalist composers to hone in on their craft. Russain folk melodies (and harmonies) combine with Romantic chromaticism and Classical harmonies to create his musical voice. He is known for his melodies; they tell powerful stories in every piece, which is partially what made him such a wonderful ballet composer.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Debussy is known for his French impressionist style of music. In fact, many don’t even consider him to be a “Romantic era composer” at all! However, seeing as French impressionism is a branch of Romanticism, I’d like to include him in this post.

Debussy’s compositional style combines images with sound. His music creates scenes and moods through fluttering motifs, ambiguous chords, and constantly changing rhythms. His piano work Images Book 1 so thoroughly captures the essence of his style.

Debussy’s orchestral works also create strong moods and images:

La Mer (“The Sea”) deposits the listener directly into the open waves of the ocean. Read more about this work here.

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As you can see, the Romantic era resulted in an immense amount of beautiful music. There is no possible way to cover it all in one post! Who is your favorite Romantic era composer?

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