Declaration of Romanticism By Jordan Jegge

I can no longer listen in silence! When life reaches out to you, you must reach back! Reach back,

and demand the right to be an individual.

I stand before those who would dare say otherwise, and make this declaration with a resounding

bellow: The tides of change are here! And not unlike the breaking tides of our mighty oceans;

nothing can withstand such momentum. Such force!

It is undeniable that behind us lie only waste and despair.

Because of this, it would be a sin for any man, woman, or child to turn a blind eye to the endless

possibilities that still wait before us. Aye! Endless, as are stars in the sky; too many to count! I

am half hopeful, half torment, with only visions of these beliefs, but the vision of one, I wary,

may be weak. TOGETHER, we must hold these beliefs to be sublime! That every one of us, on

this earth, if not created equal, without a doubt, will be found equal!

That no one is denied the right to think freely or with emotion. Where we all connect with nature

and have an atmospheric perspective regarding our rights. That among these are Love,

Spontaneity , and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Notes: Romanticism
Basic Ideas
➢ Emphasized the…
■ Individual
■ Imaginative
■ Irrational
■ Spontaneous
■ Emotional
■ Visionary
■ Liberal
■ Radical
➢ The movement used emotion as a valid source of aesthetic experience.
➢ Sympathetic interest in the past, especially the medieval
❖ Vocabulary
➢ Romanticism - A trend in thought that prevailed during
the mid-eighteenth century affecting styles of art, literature, and philos
➢ Realism - An accurate representation without idealization.
➢ Sublime - A sense of elevated beauty or grandeur.
➢ Aesthetic experience - On the one hand, aesthetic experience is rooted in the
immediate sensory enjoyment of its object through an act of perception. On the
other, it seems to reach beyond enjoyment toward a meaning that is addressed to
our reasoning powers and that seeks judgment from them. (britannica; 2013)
❖ Quotes
➢ “While the industrialism brought forth many economically good reforms, a
majority of the people looked back on the time, seeing it as a romantic period,
before they were commodified and nature was destroyed.” (Albanyinstitute.Org;
2021)
➢ “a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of
Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature”
❖ Art
➢ Nature
■ Becomes the center of many American artists paintings
■ Notable artists: the Hudson River
School Artists
● First official landscapes
● Led by work of Thomas Cole
● Paintings and writings by these
and other artists bring more
people
● More people = more cities =
more industrial pollution =
less/worse off natural
enviroments
 ■ By mid 1800s- Industrial movement is encroaching on “the majestic beauty
of the American wilderness”
■ European Romantic Movement influences American culture but with clearly
American aspects
■ American Indians = Nature
■ Expanding industry pushes artists westward

❖ Music
➢ Composers go from servants of the rich → Able to compose for themselves
➢ Classical music perios = logical order/clarity
➢ Vienna/Paris center stage
➢ Program Music
■ Instrumental music to narrate whole story
■ Berlioz's Fantastic Symphony
➢ Character Pieces
■ short pieces for the piano that depicts a single emotion, often in ABA form
➢ Composers
■ Franz Schubert, Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt
■ Chopin

❖ Feelings while listening to music →

➢ Peaceful, happy, uplifting, positive, leveled, calm
❖ Walt Whitman
➢ Joyous celebration of America (songofamerica)
➢ His works inspired musicians to compose songs using his words

❖ Literature
➢ Types
■ Novel
■ Ballad
■ Lyrics
■ Sonnet
➢ Feeling/intuition over reason

Bibliography
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