VOCAL MUSIC OF

THE ROMANTIC
PERIOD
Ms. Joana Marie M. Bernasol
Bro. Andrew Gonzalez Technical High School
 Composers interpret poems, mood, atmosphere and
imagery into music.
 Romantic artists found inspiration in landscapes.
 Their subjects were traditional myths, legends and
folklore usually dealing with the supernatural,
grotesque, and less ordinary.
 Vocal music in this period require singers to perform a
greater range of tone color, dynamics and pitch.
 Opera became an important source of musical
expressions.
 The birth of the opera houses came.
COMPOSERS OF VOCAL
MUSIC
ROMANTIC PERIOD
Franz Peter  Schubert was born on the 31st of January
1797 in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria
Schubert  The proper name for Franz Schubert songs
is lieder, which is the German word for
song.
 He is considered the last of the classical
composers and one of the first romantic
ones.
 His famous vocal music works/ Lieder
were: “Gretchen am Spinnrade”, “Erlkonig”,
“Ellens Gesang III” (“Ave Maria”) and
“Schwanenge sang” (“Swan Song”).
 He also wrote piano pieces, string quartets,
operetta and the Symphony No.8 in B
minor (“Unfinished Symphony”)
 He died in 1828 in Vienna, Austria at 31.
  Verdi was born in Parma, Italy on October
Giuseppe Verdi 9, 1813.
 He studied in Busseto and later went to
Milan where his first opera “Oberto” was
performed in La Scala, the most
important opera house at the time.
 His final opera ends with “All the world’s
a joke.”
 His famous works are La Traviata,
Rigoletto, Falstaff, Otello and Aida were
he wrote for the opening of the Suez
Canal.
 Expressive vocal melody is the soul of a
Verdi opera.
 He died in Milan, Italy on January
27,1901.
  Giacomo Puccini was born in a
Giacomo poor family on December 22, 1858
in Lucca, Italy.
Puccini  He studied at the Milan
Conservatory.
 He belonged to a group of
composers who stressed realism,
therefore, he drew material from
everyday life, rejecting heroic
themes from mythology and
history.
 Puccini’s famous operas were: “La
Boheme”, “Tosca”, “Madame
Butterfly”, and “Turandot”.
Wilhelm Richard  Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born
in Leipzig, Germany on May 22, 1813.
Wagner  He was very much inspired by
Ludwig van Beethoven.
 Wagner introduced new ideas in
harmony and in form, including
extremes of chromaticism.
 He was an advocate of a new form of
opera which he called “music
drama” where musical and dramatic
elements were fused together.
 The expressiveness is aided by the
use of “leitmotifs” or musical
sequences standing for a particular
character/plot element.
Wilhelm Richard  His famous works are; Tristan
and Isolde, Die Walkure, Die
Wagner Meistersinger, Tannhauser and
Parsifal.
 His work would later influence
modern film scores, including
those of the Harry Potter and
Lord of the Rings film series.
 Wagner died of a heart attack on
February 13,1883 at age of 69.
 registered with the legal
Georges Bizet name Alexandre-Cesar-
Leopold Bizet, but was
baptized Georges Bizet
He was born October 25, 1838
in Paris, France.
Bizet became famous for his
operas.
His most famous opera is
“Carmen”.
Bizet died (June 3, 1875). He
was only 36.
ROMANTIC OPERA
ROMANTIC PERIOD
 OPERA
■ became increasingly popular during the Romantic
period.
■ It is a story (libretto) told by the composers through
music while using the words of the librettist. They work
closely together to tell the story.
■ The book that the composer and librettist put together is
called a score.
■ The score has all the musical notes, words and ideas to
help the performers tell the story.
COMPONENTS
OPERA
Components:
the texts of an
opera.
Librettist and the
Libretto composer work
closely together to
tell the story.
 the book that the
Components: composer and librettist
put together.
has all the musical
notes, words and ideas
to help the performers
Score tell the story.
Often, there are operas
with overtures,
preludes, prologues,
several acts, finales and
postludes.
 Declamatory singing, used
Components: in the prose parts and
dialogue of opera.
Different roles in operas
are created taking into
account different types of
voices.
Recitative Each role requires a
different type of singer,
not only able to sing a
given vocal range but also
with certain voice
characteristics, color and
power.
 Declamatory singing, used
Components: in the prose parts and
dialogue of opera.
Different roles in operas
are created taking into
account different types of
voices.
Aria Each role requires a
different type of singer,
not only able to sing a
given vocal range but also
with certain voice
characteristics, color and
power.
 an air or solo singing
Components: part that the public will
remember best when
leaving the opera
house.
Aria Properly and well sung,
a beautiful aria can
bring an audience to its
feet and decide the fate
of an entire opera.
Components:

Main division
Acts of an opera
Components:

Setting or place
Scene
 OTHER
COMPONENTS:
■ Duet, trio, and other small
ensemble
■ Chorus
■ Orchestra
 VOICE
CLASSIFICATIONS
For MALE

Tenor highest male voice

Middle male voice, lies

Baritone between Bass and
Tenor voices. It is the
common male voice.
Bass lowest male voice
For FEMALE
Soprano highest female voice

most common female voice;

Mezzo strong middle voice, tone is
darker or deeper than the
Soprano soprano

lowest female voice and

Contralto most unique among female
MUSICAL TERMS
 one or more
A Capella singers performing
without
instrumental
accompaniment
Cantabille Singing style
Capo Head, the
beginning
Coda Closing section
appended to a
movement or
song
Dolce sweetly
 A weaker and
Falsetto more airy voice
usually in the
higher pitch
ranges
 Sliding quickly
Glissando between two
notes
 Parts of singing
Passagio voice where
register
transition occur
 Slight speeding
up or slowing
Rubato down of the
tempo of a piece
at the discretion
of the soloist
 Most
Tessitura comfortable
singing range of
a singer
 Rapidly
Vibrato repeated slight
pitch variation
during a
sustained note