1. 1. Large instrumental forms
1.1. Symphony and Concerto
1.2. Program music
2. Small forms
2.1. Lied
2.2. Piano
3. Romantic opera
4. Nationalisms
5. Dance in the Romanticism
5.1. Great romantic ballets
5.2. Ballroom dance
Índice del libro

2. Large instrumental forms
1.1. Symphony and Concerto
The Romanticism covered practically the whole 19th century and it was the most brilliant period in the history of music.
The composers were free artists.
Instrumental music was considered the perfect vehicle for the Romantic expression.
Large instrumental forms made use of the enlargement of the orchestra with a stronger use of wind and percussion instruments.
Along with the development of symphony and concertos for soloists, program music appeared based on the description of a storyline.
Among the most important symphony composers, we can highlight Franz Schubert ( ), Felix Mendelssohn ( ), Anton Bruckner ( ), Johannes Brahms ( ) and Gustav Mahler ( ).

3. Large instrumetal forms
1.1. Symphony and Concerto
The Romantic orchestra multiplies the number of performers (around 100) and increases wind and percussion families with new instruments.

4. The symphonic poem is an orchestral composition in just one movement.
Large instrumetal forms
1.2. Program music
The search for free and open forms made room for the development of program music, based on the description of a program or plot.
Program symphony
Symphonic poem
The program symphony is a compound instrumental form divided into several movements. It was created by
Hector Berlioz.
The symphonic poem is an orchestral composition in just one movement.
It was created by
Franz Liszt.

5. Small forms
2.1. Lied
Small forms represented the more intimate and subjective side of the Romanticism.
The lied is a song for a soloist voice with
piano accompaniment, written upon a
poetic text and with simple structures.
Among the most important lieder composers we can name Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann.

6. Small forms 2.2. Piano The piano was the favorite instrument in
small pieces with character that responded
to simple or free structures.
Romantic composers created small ≪pieces with character≫, composed upon simple or free structures, in which they gave free reign to feelings and fantasy.
Among the most important piano music composers we can highlight Franz Schubert, Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt.

7. Romantic opera
Gioacchino Rossini ( ).
During Romanticism, opera underwent a great development and became the wealthy bourgeoisie’s favorite performance.
In Italy, the bel canto took precedence, which by the end of the century was replaced by verismo. Guiseppe Verdi ( ) represents the peak of the Italian opera with pieces like Nabucco, Rigoletto, La Traviata or Aida.
In France the operetta was born, even more popular than the opera comique. Georges Bizet ( ) whit his opera Carmen.
In Germany, Wagner created the musical drama, conceived as a total work of art with continuous progress. Richard Wagner
( ).
In Spain, the zarzuela evolved into two types: zarzuela grande and genero chico. Federico Chueca ( ) with La Gran Vía.
Gaetano Donizetti ( ).

8. Nationalisms
Nationalisms appeared in the second half of the 19th century in order to reinforce the Romantic sentiment of individuality.
Russia, Scandinavian countries, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Spain, etc. make their way into the musical scene by using their folklore as a symbol of identity.
Modest Mussorgsky ( ).
Piotr Ilich Tchaikovsky ( ).
Anton Dvorak ( ).

9. Dance in the Romanticism
5.1. Great romantic ballets
Large Romantic ballets took classical ballet to its peak by imposing technical virtuosity, pointe dancing and steps of two.
it was the premiere of The Sylph (Paris, 1832) the event that marked the beginning of true Romantic ballet.

10. Dance in the Romanticism
5.2. Ballroom dance
Social dance became very popular with the new bourgeoisie’s ballroom dance. The favorite one was the waltz.
The most widespread and popular dance during this period was the waltz, which reached its peak in Vienna with the composers Johann Strauss I ( ) and his son Johann Strauss II ( ), acclaimed in his world tours as ≪the king of waltz≫.

11. Índice del libro