The Romantic Era 1820-1910

1. The term romantic comes from the romance, an epic story written in
one of the romance languages. It is synonymous with mystical,
fantastic, remote, far-off, boundless etc. The term was first applied to
the poetry of Lord Byron and John Keats.

2. The romantics felt that enlightened thinkers placed too much

emphasis on process and environment when considering human
nature and did not give individuals enough credit for what they could
accomplish on their own (look at Napoleon). As a result, the music is
less developmental or process orientated. You can grasp the character
of the music even if you don’t grasp the structure because the music is
so individualistic.

3. Romanticism was primarily an intensification of the Enlightenment

ideal of egalitarianism. It was a celebration of the uniqueness of every
individual. This resulted in composers cultivating individual styles of
great originality (guess who showed them how to do it?)

4. Romanticism was about going beyond the scientific rationalism that

characterized both the Baroque and Classical eras in order to focus on
the emotional and the spiritual. Romantic thinkers like Goethe and
Hegel believed that science explains everything except what we really
experience. Therefore, romantic art emphasized the supernatural, the
spiritual, and emotions. It was about digging beneath the surface,
finding what lies beneath appearances, revealing realities that are
beyond the senses. It was the job of the artist as genius/ hero to reveal
these truths to us.

5. Romantics placed great emphasis on individuality because they

believed that it is through the particular that the universal comes
about. They wanted to capture individual experiences so vividly that
they would become universal, and thus facilitate greater empathy and
understanding between people. As a result, romantic art explored
intensely personal subjective emotions. Emotions were considered
more important than the intellect.

6. Romantics believed that only freedom and spontaneity can ensure

truth and authenticity. Therefore romantic art is often rather free in
form. Philosophers like Schiller stated that we cannot know freedom
until it is constrained so romantic forms often give just enough
structure to emphasize the freedom. It was the expressive content that
determined the form. The romantics often give one the feeling that the
form is going to burst because the expression is so intense.

7. During the mid 1800s people were openly revolting against

feudalism (or really wanted to) so freedom and spontaneity were
particularly valued in art. Romantic artists believed that truth and
sincerity were revealed through spontaneity.

8. The wealthy merchant class replaced the aristocracy as the primary

shaper of culture. Because of this, patronage largely disappeared and
musicians were forced to become entrepreneurs. Originality was
paramount in order to sell tickets and sheet music.

9. Because the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution often

created more problems than they solved, romantic art often expresses
a deep yearning or longing, a sense of collective disillusionment hangs
over romantic art. But yearning also complimented the romantic
obsession with the pursuit of the unattainable (this went along with
expressing unseen realities).

10. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, the arts were seen as re-
humanizing. Also, since most artists lived in cities, nature was a huge
source of inspiration and revelation. The romantics used nature to
symbolize inner emotional states i.e. a storm scene symbolized an
inner storm of emotion, a tranquil landscape symbolized inner peace.

11. The romantics often brought class-struggle and political activism to

their art. They were concerned with the poor and mass suffering. The
romantics emphasized the humanity and dignity of poor people and
outcasts.

12. Experiencing art was a way for people to get in touch with their
emotions, and better themselves. Art was supposed to stimulate
audiences and teach them morals. It was supposed to beyond
entertainment and make audiences more empathetic towards others.
This ties in with the artist as hero and the romantic desire to create
universal statements through extreme individuality.

13. The Napoleonic wars awakened a feeling of nationalism across

Europe. Folk music was a major source of inspiration. Forging a
connection to the land and to one's national identity was considered a
good way to get in touch with one's true inner self.

14. For most romantic composers Beethoven was something of a demi-

god, therefore they sought to distinguish themselves in genres that
Beethoven did not cultivate extensively, or at the very least, they
adopted a new personal approach to the symphony, sonata etc.

15. With Beethoven enshrined as the blueprint the stage was set for
the establishment of “museum culture.” Bach, Dante, Shakespeare,
Mozart, etc. were all resurrected as romantic geniuses, and their works
reinterpreted in a personal emotional manner.

Major Writers of the Romantic period: Lord Byron, Victor Hugo, William
Wordsworth, Charles Dickens, Emily Bronte, Edgar Allen Poe, Alfred
Lord Tennyson, Jane Austin

Major Artists: Francisco Goya, Auguste Rodin, Eugene Delacroix,

Casper David Friedrich, John William Waterhouse

Romantic Bohemianism

Bohemian is a French term meaning gypsy. It is a term associated with

outsiders, vagabonds, outcasts etc. It was a status felt by most
romantic artists and a state that they often deliberately cultivated.

Bohemianism had its origins in the romantic ideal of art as a religion.

The idea that art can change people by deliberately appealing to their
emotions was raised to the status of a faith. Originality and emotional
power were the pillars of the faith.

Romantic bohemians had a deep hatred for bourgeois society. They

hated the capitalist industrial system, phony morality and piety, official
knowledge, institutions, and orthodox thinking. Bohemians wanted to
slaughter all of society’s sacred cows.

They believed that mainstream values were corrupt, selfish and rotten.
Bohemians felt that in order to discover the deep deposit of truth that
lay beneath social conventions and institutions one could not be
guided by everyday norms.

Since Bohemians found industrial society dehumanizing, and Victorian

morality hypocritical and unnatural, they boldly displayed their non-
conformity through style: long hair, wild clothes and jewelry, etc. It was
considered essential to show that one did not belong to the 9-5 world.
As society inevitably suppresses its freest spirits, poverty was seen as
a virtue, proof that the artist was being authentic and true to
themselves- not selling-out.

Bohemians were, in a sense, elitist. They were ardent leftists who saw
middle-class society as stupid and phony, but they also felt contempt
for, and frustration with, “rednecks.” Bohemians, however, sincerely
wanted to improve society for everyone's benefit. The idealists and the
utopians are the ones who ultimately move the world forward.

The Romantic era marked the beginning of a world where the creative
artist had no real place:
The church and aristocracy no longer patronized the arts as they once
did, and without these commissions artists worked for a pittance.

The bourgeois only liked art that was pretty, sentimental, safe, and
unimaginative. The merchant class despised art that made one think,
that had emotional depth, or that offered any kind of social
commentary. There is nothing that bankers, politicians, doctors,
lawyers, and military people hate more than art that points out the
flaws of society.

Under the feudal/capitalist system of the 1800s an artist could get rich
but starvation was more likely. The demand for art was great but
vicious competition devoured the independent artist. Nobody suffered
from exploitation more than artists.

The bohemian view of love was also rather nihilistic. Love was
necessary for inspiration but had no value beyond that. Unrequited
love was the ideal because it kept passion and emotion at fever pitch.
Requited love on the other had led to domestication and the death of
spontaneity and truth.

So what’s left? Retreat into the absinth bottle and opium vial.

For the romantic bohemian there were only a few acceptable ways to
die:

Suicide was the ideal because it allowed one to end life artistically.

Starving to death for art was also a good choice.

Alcoholism, drug overdose, and venereal disease were good second

choices for the bohemian.