Romantic Era (c 1820-1900)
by Nicholas deux
1. Composers
1.1. The composers no longer worked for monarchy. They worked for themselves, middle class people or maybe another middle-class person. The compositions they created were for fun. The aristocracy could not afford music because of the price of warfare.
1.2. Being a composer is usually a part-time job. They had side jobs like being a teacher, music critic, soloists etc.
1.3. Instead of the formal music of the previous era, composers needed to express themselves. They needed to add excitement to their compositions.
2. Elements and themes of compisitions
2.1. Programmatic music: This type of music told stories, ideas, morals etc.
2.2. The romantic times were riddled with war. Theere was a lot of chaos so music with style was needed tro lighten up moods. An example is smiling composers with costumes in portraits.
2.3. Nationilistic music: They were music for certain countries. They could be folk songs or anthems.
2.4. Composers used nature so that they can express their feelings. Stormy days would represent something bad and vice versa.
3. Changes to compositions
3.1. Symphonies of 3-4 movements used to last 15-20 minutes, but in this era, they could last for an hour.
3.2. Oratorios, concertos and chorales became a main feature in this time period.
3.3. The orchestra had many more people in it. Up to 110 people could play in one symphony orchestra.
4. Instruments
4.1. New Key Systems
4.1.1. Woodwind instruments were most affected by this. More keys were added to these types of instruments. The brass had valves added to them.
4.1.1.1. They allowed different noises which therefore allowed different music to be played. This allowed to give more colour to the songs composed.
4.2. New instruments
4.2.1. The contrabasoon, piccolo and bass clarinets were added.
4.2.2. Numerous percussion instruments were added. They were xylophones, different drums, celestes, harps, bells and triangles.