Download There were many influential composers during the

Music culture
The Romantic Period
(1820-1910)
Music saw many changes during the Romantic period. Composers expanded
existing musical forms and developed new forms as a way of expressing themselves.
Thus, a huge variety of instrumental and vocal music appeared on the scene. There
were no restrictions on the length of a piece, the number of movements, or the
number of instruments or voices used. The operas of Richard Wagner sometimes last
6 hours. Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony requires an oversize orchestra, a
full choir, and vocal soloists.
It was during the Romantic period that most of the band instruments came into
being as they are today. The invention and widespread use of valves on brass
instruments and new key systems on woodwind instruments made them much
easier to play, encouraging composers to write more music for them.
There were many influential composers during the Romantic period. They
included Hector Berlioz, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, and Piotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky.
Romantic Characteristics
Form
Types of pieces popular during this period were character pieces, concertos,
dances, etudes and variations.
Harmony
There was a wide use of chromatic harmony, accidentals, diminished, and
dominant sevenths and modulation to distant keys. Thick textures with full
chords were popular.
Keyboard Instruments
The pianoforte (piano) was the instrument of this period.
Rhythm
Complex rhythms with two notes against three were used. There was also
much syncopation.
Style
Expressive personal feeling, singing (cantabile) lines, varied accompaniment
figures, varied phrase lengths and varied dynamics and tempos were popular.
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Music culture
Romantic symphonies
The Romantic Symphony is an expanded version of the Classical symphony. It
is much larger in size and in length with the addition of many more instruments
and sometimes more than four movements.
Many Romantic symphonies were examples of program music,
a new instrumental form. Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastiqueis an
example of a Romantic symphony. Throughout the symphony,
the story of a young man's love for a woman is told. Berlioz
uses one main musical idea to describe the woman. This theme
is known as the idee fixe.
Tone Poem
The tone poem (also known as the symphonic poem) is
similar to the program symphony because it, too, tells a story.
The difference between a tone poem and the romantic
symphony is that the tone poem only consists of one long
movement.
The most Famous composer of tone poems was Richard
Strauss.
Concert Overture
Overtures appeared throughout the Baroque and Classical periods as
instrumental introductions to operas in order to set a particular mood or
atmosphere. During the Romantic period composers wrote only overtures without
writing operas attached to them. These came to be known as Concert overtures.
Concert overtures are also considered to be program music, as they to tell a
story. Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave Overture is an example.
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