Music after Beethoven (19th

century)

1750-1914 (Getz)
1789-1918 (Hazen)
1800-1890 (Jones)
1800-1899 (Calendar)
1814-1914 (Frisch)
1827-1901 (HMU126)

“The long 19th century” = something significant happening at the beginning and at the
end” (people referred to times starting in 1750 (bach died + Industrial revolution
happened))
1789: Storming of the Vastilles??
1918: end of 1st world war

Joseph E. Jones “a topical survey of 19th century music”

One of 3 general surveys in ARMA of 19th-century music;
the others are by Christopher Ruth (on genre and form) and Richard Bass (on harmony
/ key relationships)
Romantic Era
“music meant something beyond vibrations in the air”

article sub-headings:
→ Deviations and Expansions
→ Romanticism (1790-1850)
→ The Industry of Opera
→ Innovation versusCanon

Music after Beethoven (19th century) 1

 → Nationalism (when music speaks to a particular nation’s state as being emblomatic of
their identiy) (beethoven is a symbol of german nationalism) (Chopin is Poland’s
nationalist composer)
→ Exoticism
→ Large-scale Cohesion
Conclusion

Wagner has 4 of every instrument in most orchestras

The art song becomes a defining new genre in the romantic period
“the canon of works came about in the 19th century”

Brahms took 16 years to write a symphony since he knows Beethoven’s’ symphonies

are the standard

Rise of amateur music making

Composers started to make a lot of money (simple piano songs make insane
amounts of money and the more you make the more money you make)

Longing as a leitmotif

for the transcendent, infinite, unattainable, symbolized in literature by the Blue

Flower

Continuing genres
Symphony

Concerto

Chamber

Oprera

Newer

Music after Beethoven (19th century) 2

 Lied (germany) Mélodie (france)

Character piece

Piano showpiece

Symphonic poem (liszt)

The Romantic Generation (book, Charles Rosen)

The Romantic Generation

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
Louise Farrenc (1804-1875)
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
ersity Press, 1995

Freddie (friedrick aka frydrick) Chopin

ca. 200 piano pieces, mainly character pieces, including polonaises, mazurkas,
ballades all inspired by his birth in Poland

moved to Paris at age 21 (in London in 1848 to flee from revolutionary activity)
Schumann, reviewing Chopin's Op. 2 Variations in 1831: "Hats off, gentlemen, a
genius!"

played in salons (not concert halls) and taught with George Sand (woman writer)
1838-47 (he didn’t like playing in front of people)

died of tuberculosis; buried in Paris, but his sister took his heart back to Poland

He loves Bach
He likes Beethoven

Music after Beethoven (19th century) 3

 they stored his heart in a church in poland

Preludes, Op. 28 (1838-39): 24, in all major and minor keys, ranging in difficulty from
easy (E min, B min, A maj, C min) to difficult
Polish-inspired works: 57 mazurkas, 16 polonaises

18 nocturnes, 17 waltzes4 ballades, 4 scherzos, 4 impromptus, 3 sonatas, 3

rondos27 études (12 in Op. 10; 12 in Op. 25; 3 WoO)Plus 2 piano concertos, a cello
sonata, 19 songs, miscellaneous pieces(Berceuse, Barcarolle, Boléro, etc)

Music after Beethoven (19th century) 4