The Romantic Period of Music started somewhere around 1815- 1910 and was an evolution from the Baroque and Classical periods of music.
Several aspects that were incorporated in the Romantic Period of music that were significant changes include:
1. Chromaticism
2. Dissonance between notes
3. Diminished 7 Chords
4. Future Jazz Chords
5. Increase of Melodies, Harmonies, Motifs etc.
6. Different form of “songs”
7. Lyrical emphasis
8. Rhythm
9. Expansive use of Orchestral instruments
10. Technical (playing value) Savant
The beginning of the Romantic Period of music started with Beethoven's First Symphony and especially his fourth piano sonata. Beethoven's impact influenced and inspired composers in the following generations such as his fellow Vienna citizens Schubert, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Liszt and Wagner.
As the 19th century moved into its second half, many social, political and economic changes set in motion in the post-Napoleonic period became entrenched. Railways and the electric telegraph bound the European world ever closer together. The nationalism that had been an important strain of early 19th century Romantic music became formalized by political and linguistic means.
The dramatic increase in musical education brought a still wider sophisticated audience, and many composers took advantage of the greater regularity of concert life, and the greater financial and technical resources available. These changes brought an expansion in the sheer number of symphonies, concertos and "tone poems" which were composed, and the number of performances in the opera seasons in Paris, London and Italy.
During this period, some composers created styles and forms associated with their national folk cultures. The notion that there were "German" and "Italian" styles had long been established in writing on music, but the late 19th century saw the rise of a nationalist Russian style (Glinka, Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Borodin), and also Czech, Finnish and French nationalist styles of composition. Some composers were expressly nationalistic in their objectives, seeking to rediscover their country's national identity in the face of occupation or oppression, as did for example the Bohemians Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák, and the Finn Jean Sibelius. Johannes Brahms used an advanced form of Beethoven's motivic development that accommodated not only the formal frameworks of the Baroque era, but a rich and expressive vocabulary that focused on arpeggiation, rhythmic obfuscation, and advanced harmonies rivaled only by Wagner.
Different Song Types with brief explanation:
Keyboard Forms
There were various musical forms that were composed for the piano. Some of the popular compositions were etudes, character pieces , variations , and stylized dances. Etudes
The etude was a study that showed off the performer’s technical ability using arpeggios , octaves, scales, and chords. Character Pieces
The character piece was a short programmatic work that had descriptive titles, such as nocturne, ballade, rhapsody, intermezzo, and songs without words.
Variations
A variation is a virtuoso piece that states a theme and then modifies it through changes of rhythm, meter, and structure.
Instrumentation
Woodwinds
The woodwind section grew to include two or more bassoons, oboes, flutes, and clarinets. Additional color instruments such as the contrabassoon, the bass clarinet, the piccolo, and the English horn were added.
Brass
The brass section began to utilize instruments with valves, which gave this section a wider range and versatility. This section included trumpets, horns, trombones, and tubas.
Percussion
In addition to the use of timpani, there was now the use of percussion instruments such as bass and side drums, xylophones, celestas, gongs, cymbals, castanets, harps, bells, triangles, and chimes.
Strings
While no additional string instruments were invented during this era, the number of string instruments used in an orchestra increased in size to balance out the addition of the larger brass and woodwind sections.
Orchestration
New musical ideas were expressed through the use of additional solo parts into an orchestral work. A woodwind instrument or horn was favored for a solo part. Additionally, the string section experimented with, created, and used mutes, tremelo , harmonics, pizzicato , and double stops. Forms
Symphony
Symphonies were composed by a number of Romantic composers. These symphonies were very different from the ones written during the Classical era. These differences included:
1. Freer form of the internal structure of the movement
2. Variation on the number of movements
3. The symphony evolved from a formal design to a creative means of expression
4. The inner movements had more contrasting keys within them
5. Solo voices and choral sounds were added to the symphony.
Concerto
A concerto was an extravagant showpiece for a virtuoso soloist and orchestra. The violin and piano were the instruments of choice. This form had three movements, which was similar to that of the concerto of the Classical era.
Symphonic Poem (Tone Poem)
This form was introduced in the mid 1800s by the composer Franz Liszt. It was a one movement, programmatic work based on a literary work or legend and usually had a descriptive title. Examples included Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain, Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Fawn, Smetana’s The Moldau.
Concert Overture
This form was a single movement work and was usually found in sonata-allegro form. It was somewhat programmatic and usually had a descriptive title. It was not an orchestral introduction to an opera. A few examples were Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave Overture, and Brahms Academic Festival Overture.
Symphonic Variations
Very few orchestral works were written in variation form. A few examples of this form are Brahm’s Variations on the Theme of Haydn, Franck’s Symphonic Variations for piano solo and orchestra, and Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
Symphonic Suite
These are programmatic works in several movements which do not follow the symphonic form. Examples of this were Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, Rimsky-Korsikov’s Scheherazade, and Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite.
Dances
Orchestral music written in dance forms in pieces composed by Johann Strauss Waltzes, for example.
During the Romantic era, chamber music became increasingly obsolete. Chamber music did not possess the size, color, and sound of the symphony and could not match the piano’s warmth or versatility in range and expression. As a result, almost no new chamber music was written by composers, and virtually no program music was written for chamber ensembles.
"Monk and Dizzy Gillespie"
