Chapter 15 Prelude: Music after Beethoven: Romanticism Style Features of Romantic Music

Key Terms Rubato Romantic melody Chromaticism Romantic orchestra Instrumental combinations

Style Features of Romantic Music Music had to mirror inner feeling Artists were expected to have a personal style Important to sound different from others Constant striving for higher experience Innovation became essential Hard to define Romantic style in general Easier to spot innovations & novelties There were some common interests In rhythm, melody, harmony, color, & form

Rhythm: Rubato Italian tempo rubato = robbed time Reflected Romantic tendency to blur sharp edges Refers to flexible handling of rhythm Tempo speeds up & slows down (Or melody can move in & out of phase with strict beat in accompaniment) Rubato a sign of individual expressivity Seldom notated, but nearly always used

Romantic Melody (1) The most recognizable Romantic feature More emotional than before Wider melodic range Dramatic buildups to sustained climaxes (insert CD4)

Romantic Melody (2) More irregular in rhythm & phrase-lengths Overall a more spontaneous feel Many individual emotional shadings Exaggeratedly emotional, intimate, passionate, dreamy, ecstatic, sensitive, and so on

Romantic Harmony Major advances in the area of harmony Used to support emotionality of melody Also savored for its own sake New chord types & chord progressions Potent tools for creating countless moods – mysterious, sinister, rapturous, ethereal, etc. Chromaticism used to expand expressivity Use of all 12 notes of chromatic scale Permits much wider harmonic vocabulary Also used to create instability, ambiguity, etc.

The Expansion of Tone Color (1) Sheer sensuous quality of sound assumed importance for the first time On a par with melody, rhythm, or form Major advances in instrument design Elaborate key mechanisms for woodwinds Metal frame for piano strings, and so on Romantic fascination with the orchestra Ingenious new combinations of sounds

The Expansion of Tone Color (2) Orchestra grew to modern size & makeup

The Expansion of Tone Color (3) Composers mixed instrumental colors with great freedom & virtuosity Like mixing paint colors on a palette Multicolored shades of blended orchestral sound replaced simpler Classical sonorities Orchestral effects became more elaborate Conductors with batons needed to control & balance orchestral sounds Opera composers used orchestral effects that nearly overwhelmed the singers