Music, literature, and art that was created between the years 1820 and 1910 is called Romantic Music. The word Romantic doesn’t just mean romance or love. It describes how artists were trying to become more expressive and inventive through their work.  Romantic era music was created to express the composer’s emotions, individuality, imagination, hopes and dreams, as well as their pride in their home countries. 

What does the music sound like?

Although some composers wrote songs with lyrics, many Romantic era composers created mainly instrumental music. They felt that instrumental music was the best way to communicate different emotions and help the listener to imagine specific scenes and stories. Here is a list of musical elements that Romantic era composers commonly used to create their music: 

• • • Melody and Rhythm: Both melody and rhythm became more complex. As a result, there was an increase of virtuoso performers. 

    • Form: Composers were mainly concerned with the flow of the music, so music had no set form or structure. 

    • Dynamics (volume): The dynamic range of the music became wider and included very soft (pianissimo) to very loud (fortissimo)

    • Harmony: Harmony become more complex (chromatic) and made use of the all the keys of the piano. 

    • Texture: New instruments were created because of the advancements in technology during this era. Orchestras got much larger and could have as many as 100 players.

 Who were some famous composers? 

There are many famous composers from the Romantic era. Some of them include: 

• • • Frédéric Chopin

    •  Johannes Brahms

    • Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky

    • Franz Liszt

    • Robert Schumann

    • Franz Schubert

    • Felix Mendelssohn

    • Gustav Mahler

Improvements to the piano

The construction of the piano changed greatly during the Romantic era. More keys were added and stronger materials, like metal, were used in its construction. As a result, the range and tone quality of the piano greatly improved making it the most popular instrument of composers in the Romantic ear. 

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Johannes Brahms was born in Germany in 1833. He grew up in a musical family and learned to play the cello, horn, and piano. By the time he was a teenager, Brahms was already an accomplished musician, and he used perform at local  pubs to earn money to help his family. Brahms also loved books and read everything he could find including novels, poetry, and folk tales.

When Brahms was 20 years old, he met the famous musician, Robert Schumann. The two became good friends and remained close throughout their lives. Schumann praised Brahms as being a musical genius and helped him to become well known throughout Europe.

Throughout his life, Brahms worked as a conductor, music teacher, and a composer. He composed a lot of music in his lifetime, including music for singers, choirs, orchestras, solo instruments, and the piano. Brahms was very self-critical of his work and often destroyed any composition he thought was not really good. He thought that people were expecting him to be the “next Beethoven,”  and famously spent many years on his first symphony before he allowed it to be performed. 

When Brahms was about 30 years old, he moved to Vienna, Austria where he lived and worked as a musician until the end of his life in 1897. He became quite popular in his lifetime, and is now thought of as one of the main composers of the Romantic era. Because of his fame, Brahms earned a lot of money throughout his life. His wealth, however, was rivaled by his generosity, as Brahms often gave money to friends and young musical students. 

Brahms wrote a set of pieces called Hungarian Dances. The dances are very fast, energetic pieces that imitate some folk music elements from Hungary. He originally wrote them to be played by the piano, but they have become so popular, that many other musicians have created their own arrangements. 

Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)

Franz Peter Schubert was one of the most phenomenal musical geniuses of all time. In his short life of just 31 years, he composed nearly a thousand compositions. In some ways, Schubert was a very ordinary person. He enjoyed going to coffee shops, parties, staying up late, sleeping in, and hanging out with his friends. In other ways, he was unique. 

Franz was born into a middle class family, in Vienna (Austria), in the year 1797. He was the twelfth of fourteen children. In those days, many children didn’t live very long. Of those fourteen children, only five made it to adulthood. Franz's father was a school teacher and the family lived in a cramped, three-room apartment.  

Schubert’s father and older brother taught Franz how to play the violin and piano. It took only a few months of lessons for Franz to show that he knew more than his teachers. When he was eleven, Franz was admitted to one of the best boarding schools in Vienna. Discipline was strict, and there often wasn’t enough food for a healthy, growing boy. But Schubert made some life-long friends there. He sang in the Court Chapel Choir, played violin and piano, and composed music. He amazed his teachers with his musical ability. 

When it was time for Franz to start his career, it was expected that he would become a teacher, like his father. Franz went along with this plan for a short time, but he hated teaching. He wanted only to write music. “I have come into the world for no purpose but to compose,” he told one of his friends. 

Franz did not have a flashy personality, and he cared little about becoming famous or making a fortune. He was casual and easy-going. He had many friends, most of whom were simple, ordinary people, who would help him out with money, food, music paper, concert tickets, and a place to stay whenever he was in need. Schubert constantly relied on his friends' support because he was careless, forgetful, and unconcerned about money or finding a good-paying job for himself. He wanted nothing more than to stay at home and compose music. 

Schubert gave only one public concert in his life, and that was in his final year. He did give dozens – maybe hundreds – of private, informal performances in the homes of his friends around Vienna. Anytime there was a party, Schubert would end up playing his piano compositions, or accompanying a singer in some songs, or picking up a violin to play with other musicians. 

Of all the great composers, Schubert died the youngest, a few weeks before his 32nd birthday in the year 1828. Near the end of his life, he was very sick and went through periods of physical suffering and mental depression. After he died, Schubert was buried in a special spot in Vienna’s Central Cemetery, near Beethoven. The tomb is surrounded with trees, bushes, flowers and vines, showing that the city of Vienna still honors one of its greatest geniuses. 

Throughout his short life, Schubert composed an astounding amount of music. In just seventeen years, between the ages of 14 and 31, he wrote more than six hundred songs, thirteen symphonies, fifteen string quartets, six masses, nine operas, over twenty piano sonatas, dozens and dozens of short dance pieces, and many other works. Schubert was a fantastic melody writer, and many of his song themes are considered immortal. 

This song, Der Leiermann, means the Organ-grinder. The lyrics are written in German and it is about a street performer who stands on a corner playing his musical instrument. Even in the cold of winter, when no one is there to listen to him, he still plays. The song says that the man has a smile and is not sad, he just keeps on playing. 

The word Classical is often used to describe music that is not rock, pop, rap, or another style. However, there is also a Classical era in music history includes compositions that were written from about 1750 to 1820.  

What does the music sound like?

Music from the classical era has a particular style. It is often orderly, balanced, and clear  and includes the following musical elements: 

• MELODY - Classical music often has a simple melody that is singable and easy to remember.

• DYNAMICS -  Classical music uses changes in volume -  from loud (forte) to soft (piano) -  to make different parts of the music stand out. 

• FORM - The structure of each piece of music is very important in Classical compositions. Popular forms included the sonata, symphony, and concerto. 

• TIMBRE - In the Classical era, the orchestra was very popular and included string instruments (violin, viola, cello, and double bass), woodwind instruments (flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon), and brass instruments (french horn, trumpet and trombone). Keyboard instruments like the Fortepiano (an early version of the piano) were also very popular. 

Who were some famous composers? 

Although there are many composers from the Classical era, the big three are:

• • • Franz Joseph Haydn

    • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Franz Joseph Haydn was born on March 31, 1732, in the tiny town of Rohrau in Austria. His father was a carpenter who made huge wooden carts and wagon wheels and his mother was a cook.  Franz began to study music at the age of 5 and throughout his life he played the harpsichord, piano, organ, and violin.  When he was 8, he went to Vienna to sing in the choir at St. Stephen's Cathedral, and to attend the choir school. His younger brother Michael joined him a short time later. Franz could never resist playing a practical joke, which got him in trouble at school. Since his brother Michael was much better behaved, everyone thought he would be the more successful musician. They were wrong!

Haydn became the most famous composer of his time. He helped develop musical forms like the string quartet and the symphony. He’s actually known as the “Father of the String Quartet” and “Father of the Symphony” because of how he developed these genres in the music he wrote. In total, he composed more than 100 symphonies, and more than 80 string quartets. He also wrote many other compositions including operas, masses, songs, and over 150 musical pieces for the piano.

When Haydn first began his career as a musician, he struggled to earn a living as a composer. He eventually got a job with a rich, powerful family named Esterhazy. It was Haydn's job to write music for the Esterhazy princes, and to conduct their orchestra. Haydn composed symphonies, operas, string quartets, and all kinds of other music for performance at the Esterhazy court. Haydn spent over thirty years working as music director for the Esterhazy family and wrote an enormous amount of music while working in that role. 

Haydn was also a good businessman and by the end of his life, he was both rich and famous. Music publishing made him and his music famous all over Europe and, after he retired from working for the Esterhazy family, Haydn made two very successful trips to England, where audiences at his concerts treated him like a superstar. Haydn was also a close friend and mentor of Mozart and he  was a teacher of Beethoven. 

On May 31, 1809, Haydn died peacefully in his sleep, but his memory lives on in his music that is still performed by people all over the world today. The house in which Haydn lived for the last 12 years of his life, in Vienna Austria, has even been persevered as a museum that many people from all over the world come to visit. 

Baroque

The word Baroque is used to describe music that was made from about the year 1600 to 1750. The word ‘baroque’ is funny to say…Ba-Row-k…think of a sheep rowing a boat: Baa-ROW-k.

What is Baroque music like?

During this time period, composers wrote music in a certain style.

During the Baroque era, music was perfectly structured. Composers came up with all sorts of rules that they had to follow in order to make music.  After they followed the rules, they decorated their music with ornaments like scales and trills. 

Composers liked to add volume changes to their music. They wrote some parts that used very loud dynamics, and some parts that used very soft dynamics. Before this time, music was played without much dynamic change. 

Where did musician work?

Baroque composers often worked in churches as organists and choir directors. They wrote music, like cantatas that were to be performed during church services. 

Some composers worked for royalty or people who were very rich. These people, called patrons, would contract musicians to write music only for them. These were the best jobs for musicians to have because the pay was steady, and the musicians were usually treated well by the patrons. 

Other composers worked in opera houses where they created music that told stories about myths and legends and featured the talents of the opera singers.

Baroque Instruments

Popular instruments in the Baroque era were...

Organs (usually found in churches)

Harsichords (like early versions of the piano)

Violins (similar to what they are today.

Types of Music

Composers wrote various types of music like...

Suites  - These were dance pieces that would have been played by small ensembles at dance parties held by patrons and royalty.  

Sonatas - These were pieces written to be played by solo instruments. These solos were sometimes accompanied by harpsichord or a small ensemble.

Concertos - These were big solo pieces that were accompanied by an orchestra

Fugues - These pieces were written to sound like two melodies were fighting. The word fugue means “fight”. Composers would write at least two melodies that were to be played at the same time making it sound like they were fighting together. 

The Composers

 There are many composers who wrote music during the Baroque era. Three of the most famous are… 

George Frideric Handel (1685-1759). He was originally from Germany but moved to England to write music for royalty.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741). He was a violin player and wrote a famous piece of music called The Four Seasons. 

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). He was the greatest composer of the age. He was a masterful organ player who wrote an enormous amount of music for both the church and for royal patrons. 

Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706)

Johann Pachelbel was born in Germany in 1653. As a boy, he learned how the play the organ and showed amazing potential in both music and his studies at school. His abilities allowed him to start university at the age of fifteen, but, because of financial difficulties, Johann's family couldn't afford to have him remain. Pachelbel had to return the high school in his home town where he continued to show amazing potential as a musician. It was at this time that he began to take organ and composition lessons with a man named Kaspar Prentz who is believed to have inspired Pachelbel to pursue a career in music.

When he about 24 years old, Pachelbel was hired to be the organist for a German Prince. During this time he became well known all throughout Germany as an organist and composer. Pachelbel also became friends with the Bach family and soon began to give music lessons to several of the children. It's possible that he even gave some early lessons to a very young Johann Sebastian Bach.

When he was about 42 years old, Pachelbel was hired as the organist and music director at a big church in Germany. He worked there, writing music for the church and teaching organ students, until he died in 1706. Throughout his life, Pachelbel wrote many different pieces of music, including hymns, cantatas, works for the organ, harpsichord, violin, and voice. 

Even though Pachelbel wrote a lot of music, he is best known for his Canon in D. If you've been to a wedding, chances are you've heard this piece played as the bride walked down the aisle. Pachelbel's Canon has also been used in numerous films and its chord progression has been copied by countless pop and rock music songs. 

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, Italy, which is where he spent most of his life. His father taught him to play the violin, and the two would often perform together. 

Antonio continued to study and practice the violin, even after he became a priest. He was called the "Red Priest" because of his flaming red hair. However, after a while, his bad asthma kept Antonio from saying Mass. 

After that, Vivaldi spent all his time writing music and teaching. He taught at an orphanage for girls, and wrote a lot of music for the girls to play. People came from miles around to hear Vivaldi's talented students perform the beautiful music he had written. 

Many people think Vivaldi was the best Italian composer of his time. He wrote concertos, operas, church music and many other compositions. In all, Antonio wrote over 500 concertos. His most famous set of concertos is The Four Seasons.

• This piece was composed in 1715

• It was Vivaldi’s most famous choral piece 

• After Vivaldi died, this piece wasn’t discovered again until the late 1920s when it was found buried among a pile of forgotten Vivaldi manuscripts.