Romantic period - Harmony and tonality

General characteristics of harmony and tonality in the Romantic period

• Chromatic harmony was used more frequently than in earlier periods.
• Composers added more notes to their chords to form extended chords.
• Composers used dissonance to make their music more expressive.
• Music was modulated to more distant keys than those used by composers in the Classical period.
• Some music became tonally ambiguous. This was developed further in the 20th century.

Chromatic harmonies

Composers added chromatic notes to their chords and melodies to make their music more expressive. In the slow movement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, the opening flute melody contains chromatic notes as well as accompanying chords. These dissonances usually resolve to consonant chords - or diatonic chords - which creates a feeling of tension and release.

Extended chords in Impressionism

Extended chords are chords which have extra notes – through adding thirds on top of the seventh, ninth, eleventh, thirteenth etc. Extended chords were frequently used by Claude Debussy.

Classical (and Romantic) periods - Structure

Structures and forms that were established in the Baroque period were developed into longer and more complex structures during the Classical and Romantic periods. As melodies and phrases became longer, so did individual sections.

Sonata form

Sonata form was a new structure that evolved from the Baroque forms of the Classical period. It was usually the form of the first movement of sonatas, symphonies and concertos.

Sonata form has three main sections - exposition, development and recapitulation. Most of the musical ideas come from two main themes known as the first and second subject.

In the exposition the material is 'exposed' - or presented for the first time. There are two main melodies known as the first and second subject.

• The first subject is in the tonic key. The second subject is in a different key, usually the dominant or the relative minor, and has a different character. The two subjects are connected by a transition or bridge passage.
• In the development section the material from the exposition is transformed. The music goes through several modulations, or key changes.
• In the recapitulation the material from the exposition isrecapped-repeated in a slightly different and shorter form. The first and second subjects are now both heard in the tonic key.

The first movement of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 is in sonata form.

In the Romantic period, composers further developed sonata form. Instead of modulating to the dominant, composers would choose keys which were less related). Sections were much longer in the Romantic period, with development sections modulating to more distant keys as well.

Cadenza

The cadenza is a section found in the Classical concerto. It is a brilliant dramatic solo passage where the soloist plays, and the orchestra pauses and remains silent.

The cadenza:

• is usually played towards the end of the first movement
• is improvised and based on one or more themes from the first movement
• shows off the skills of the soloist
• often ends on a trill

Minuet and trio

The minuet and trio was often found in symphonies as an additional third movement, which came before the final movement. The minuet and trio originated from the Baroque dance form. The overall form of the minuet and trio is ternary, but within each section there is usually binary form. After the trio, the minuet returns but without the repeats: