Middle Romanticism

Introduction

Middle Romanticism (sometimes referred to as High Romanticism) is defined by many of the tenets of Early Romanticism, with the addition of several important elements:

• Harmonic innovation: While Beethoven and the Early Romantics were already continually extending harmonic language, it was during Middle Romanticism (particularly through Wagner and Liszt) where harmony and chromaticism was taken to a new extreme (“The Music of the Future”).  Works like Liszt's Sonata in B-Minor (1853) and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (1859) set the tone for the progressive movement during this period. 

• Nationalism: The revolutions of 1848 led to increased feelings of national pride, which was reflected in the music of many composers from countries that had previously not shown prominence in art music. Composers began incorporating folk themes and ideas into their music, creating schools of music uniquely attached to a certain nation or ethnicity. Grieg's Peer Gynt (1875), Dvořák's Slavonic Dances (1878), and Smetana's Má vlast (1879) are some of the major works that defined the Nationalism movement. 

• Exoticism: Due to Industrialisation and Eastern colonization, the public began a new fascination for the music of foreign countries. Spain, Russia, Egypt, the Middle East, and East Asia are among the regions which fell under the umbrella of exoticism. Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila (1877) and Verdi's Aïda (1871) are among the popular exoticised works during this period. 

Middle Romanticism is also the battlefront for a series of cultural and aesthetic conflicts, the largest of which being “The War of the Romantics”. 

• The Progressives vs. The Conservatives: Led by Liszt and Wagner, this group of radical progressives sought to create a “new future” of music which included near-limitless chromaticism and tonal ambivalence. This movement was attacked by the musical conservatives led by Clara Schumann, Joseph Joachim, and Johannes Brahms, who believed that the new developments in music were grotesque. Both sides claimed to be representing the legacy of Beethoven.

• Absolute music vs. programmatic music: Led by the same factions as the above, although it must be considered a separate conflict because of the discrepancies between the sides. For example, Bruckner (a progressive) wrote exclusively absolute music while Robert Schumann (an icon of the conservatives) wrote a large number of programmatic works. 

• The “Jewish question”: Wagner and his supporters waged war on what he called “Judaism in music”, which he accused of being anti-German and only imitative at best. This conflict is a part of the long history of anti-Semitism in Europe. 

The major composers within Middle Romanticism include Mily Balakirev, Alexander Borodin, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Emmanuel Chabrier, Ernest Chausson, Antonín Dvořák, Edvard Grieg, César Franck, Gabriel Fauré, Franz Liszt, Modest Mussorgsky, Joachim Raff, Camille Saint-Saëns, Johann Strauss II, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Important figures in opera include Georges Bizet, Léo Delibes, Jules Massenet, Jacques Offenbach, Giuseppe Verdi, and Richard Wagner. Under Saint-Saëns, the French school of composition gained prominence after several decades under the shadow of Germany. A number of nationalist composers develop indigenous art music styles, such as Edvard Grieg, Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, and The Mighty Handful (Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Mily Balakirev, Alexander Borodin and Cesar Cui). 

Defining works of Middle Romanticism

(as well as links to their recordings, because listening to a piece will explain it better than any description can)

Franz Liszt - Sonata in B Minor (1853) 

Liszt today sent a Sonata dedicated to Robert...But the things are frightful! 

—Clara Schumann

Completely baffling to all but the most radical progressives, Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor broke virtually all traditional guidelines concerning form, structure, texture, and harmony. Clara Schumann called it a “blind noise” and the conservative critic Eduard Hanslick remarked that “anyone who found it beautiful was beyond help”. On the other hand, the work's radical nature had a profound effect on progressive figures such as Wagner, who believed that it was "inexpressibly beautiful; grand, charming, deep and noble." The Sonata's thirty minutes of unbroken music encompasses both vague ideas of “movements” and ideas of sonata form, with some historians dubbing it an example of “double-function form”.  

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Johannes Brahms - Sonata No.3 (1853) 

Sooner or later…someone would and must appear, fated to give us the ideal expression of times...And he has come...his name is Johannes Brahms.       —Robert Schumann 

While containing very few of the innovations seen in Liszt’s sonata written in the same year, Brahms’ masterpiece of his early period brought the Germanic conception of the sonata into Middle Romanticism. It is massive, thickly written, and contains many of the early harmonic ideas that Brahms would come to perfect in his later years. 

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Giuseppe Verdi - Il trovatore and La traviata (1853)

Verdi has sinned a lot against his art by flooding the whole world with his tasteless barrel-organ melodies, but a lot must also be forgiven him for the sake of that indisputable talent and genuine sincerity of feeling which are inherent in every work of his.

—Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Composed and premiered around the same time, these two operas represent the pinnacle of Verdi’s development as an artist.  Between the two of them contain a number of the most well-recognized melodies in the history of the classical music. Highly influential and emulated, they are both considered trademark examples of Middle Romantic Italian opera and have remained among the most-performed operas since their premieres.

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Franz Liszt - Symphonic Poems No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4, No.6 (1854) 

Demanding for the players, conductor, and the listener, Liszt’s Symphonic Poems were the first major works in the experimental genre of the tone poem. In these poems, thematic material underwent a series of transformations and motivic developments throughout a 15-30 minute span, capturing various programmatic moods and scenes.

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Johannes Brahms - Piano Trio No.1 (1854)

Combining technical perfection with sublime beauty, Brahms’ Piano Trio No.1 is the first in a long line of seminal chamber works. It displays a maturity and refinement that many would not associate with a fledgling 20 year old composer, leading many to speculate that Brahms really could be the coming of the musical Messiah.

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Hector Berlioz - L'enfance du Christ (1854)

Berlioz was no stranger to hostile receptions to his works. Thus, it came a bit of a surprise when his oratorio The Childhood of Christ was received with great acclaim by both critics and the public. Indeed, reflecting its tender subject matter, the work is written in manner more gentle than Berlioz's typical style. It is one of the major French oratorios of the Romantic era and often performed during Christmas.

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Charles-Valentin Alkan - Douze études dans tous les tons mineurs, Op. 39 (1857)

Murderously difficult, taxing in both length and physicality, and harmonically radical, Alkan’s Piano Etudes for the Minor Keys represented an extension of the piano’s capabilities to the likes of which even Liszt had never conceived. Included among these "etudes" are movements of an overture, symphony, and concerto—all conceived for solo piano. This work saw little popularity or performance during the 19th century yet still represents one of the apogees of Middle Romantic excess.

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Jacques Offenbach - Orphée aux enfers (1858)

“Orpheus and the Underworld” is one of the iconic Opéra comiques of the Middle Romantic period. Its simplicity, economy of forces, and use of rhythm was in stark contrast to the German Romantic operas and Grand opera of the time. The Galop infernal (“Can-Can”) is still one of the most recognized classical tunes today. 

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Johannes Brahms - Piano Concerto No.1 (1858)

Beethoven had elevated the Piano Concerto to new heights; Brahms was determined to do the same. Of unparalleled length and breadth, Brahms’ massive First Piano Concerto was, rather than a vehicle for the virtuoso pianist, a “symphony with piano” which utilized the pianist more as a textural effect instead of a true solo capacity. Within it is mature, sublime, and contemplative writing, seeming more the work of a wizened master rather than a 25-year old youth. Ironically, it was poorly received by many conservative critics, despite its many homages to Classical and Baroque tradition. 

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Charles Gounod - Faust (1859)

Perhaps the quintessential French opera of the Middle Romantic period, next to Bizet’s Carmen. Faust meshes the scale and lushness of grand opera with the humorous side of opéra comique. The result is an opera that is highly accessible yet also legitimately artistic and magnificent.

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Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde (1859)

But before Tristan und Isolde, I stood in wonder and terror...  

—Giuseppe Verdi

Earth-shattering in its use of dissonance, chromaticism, and refusal to resolve, Wagner’s Tristan is the single most important proto-modern work and its influence on the music after it is scarcely calculable. Conservatives despised its evolutionary ideas and appeal to sensuality, while many progressives viewed it as the pinnacle of European art music. The timeline of music would be altered forever.

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Johannes Brahms - Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Handel (1860)

One sees what still may be done in the old forms when someone comes along who knows how to use them.

—Richard Wagner

Undoubtedly one of the greatest studies on variation form for piano, Brahms’ treatment of Handel is reflective of the Baroque revivals towards the mid-19th century as well as Brahms’ desire to continue the great variation-writing in the line of Bach, Beethoven, and Schumann. The massive fugue is preceded by 25 variations, which carry such creativity and refinement that even the progressive composers were forced to admire them.

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César Franck - Grande Pièce Symphonique (1862)

Alongside Emmanuel Chabrier and Ernest Chausson, César Franck led the new direction of French music during the 19th century. His music was highly original and distinctly French, with elements of Wagner’s innovations sprinkled in. With his Grande Pièce Symphonique, Franck invented the genre of the organ symphony and revitalized the popularity of an instrument that had fallen out of favor since the Baroque era.

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Johannes Brahms - Piano Quintet (1864)

Robert Schumann established the Piano Quintet as an important and lasting configuration of chamber music. Brahms was determined to add his own footnote in this relatively new genre, and the result is perhaps one of the most perfect chamber works ever conceived. Brimming with energy and darkness, Brahms’ Piano Quintet became one of his most popular works and is one of the defining chamber works of the Middle Romantic period.

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Max Bruch - Violin Concerto No.1 (1866)

On the corner of the Via Toledo they stand there, ready to break out with my first violin concerto as soon as I allow myself to be seen. They can all go to the devil! As if I had not written other equally good concertos! 

—Max Bruch

This highly lyrical and melancholic concerto in G minor was an instant hit with both audiences and critics, assuming a lofty status as one of the four great German violin concerti (alongside Beethoven, Mendelssohn, and Brahms). Bruch was eventually irritated by the disproportionate attention this concerto was given in comparison to his other works, which to this day hasn't changed. 

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Johann Strauss II - An der schönen blauen Donau (1866)

Unfortunately not by Johannes Brahms.

—Johannes Brahms

Known in English-speaking countries as “The Blue Danube”, this work is the most famous example of the orchestral waltzes that took Europe by storm in the 19th century. Under Strauss II and his father, the waltz became an iconic Viennese genre of light music.

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Richard Wagner - Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868)

I admire deeply the works of Richard Wagner, in spite of their bizarre character.

—Camille Saint-Saëns

Wagner’s most immediately appealing opera of his revolutionary years, and his only comedy. While lacking the innovation of Tristan or the visionary spectacle of Der Ring, Die Meistersinger nevertheless was a defining work of the German operatic zeitgeist and an important example of German nationalist art.

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Edvard Grieg - Piano Concerto (1868)

Perfection of form, strict and irreproachable logic in the development of his themes, are not perseveringly sought after by the celebrated Norwegian. But what charm, what inimitable and rich musical imagery!

—Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Grieg was a Germanic-schooled composer, having studied in the conservative Leipzig Conservatory under Ignaz Moscheles. His Piano Concerto shows evidence of his German teaching (being influenced by Schumann's Piano Concerto), but all the while it is more fantastical and highly influenced by Norwegian folk melody. This work became one of the most popular piano concertos of Middle Romanticism and is a prime example of Norwegian nationalism in art.

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Johannes Brahms - Ein deutsches Requiem (1868)

It could have only come from a first-class undertaker.

—George Bernard Shaw

Brahms’ decidedly humanist Requiem was written in the wake of his mother’s death in 1865. One of his lengthiest and most important works. Brahms’ German Requiem displays the perfectionist level of craftsmanship, form, and structure that became the trademark of Brahms’ music. 

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Bedřich Smetana - The Bartered Bride (1870) 

Smetana’s comic opera was the first opera of Czech origin to be performed more than one hundred times. Its first premiere in 1866 was not successful, but its revised version premiered in 1870 swung the spotlight onto Czech indigenous music during a time when the Czech people had been regarded to have been incapable of significant contribution to art music.

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Giuseppe Verdi - Aïda (1870)

I heard Aida and went into raptures over it.

—Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Set in the backdrop of Western Africa, Verdi’s Aïda is a prominent example of the European preoccupation with the exotic during the latter half of the 19th century. The opera itself stays rather close to its Italian composer’s musical style, but the setpieces and costume designs contained sensational depictions of Ancient Egypt. Aïda was an instant success and is considered the last great work of Verdi’s middle period.

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Camille Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No. 1 (1872)

Immediately entering the repertoire when it premiered, this concerto is one of the best examples of Middle Romantic virtuoso writing and a turning point in Saint-Saëns’ career. The cello receives the spotlight for the majority of the work, but rarely ever is reduced to playing virtuosic figurations for the sake of ego. Rachmaninov and Shostakovich deemed Saint-Saëns’ first cello concerto as the greatest concerto for the instrument. 

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Anton Bruckner - Symphony No.3 (1873)

Bruckner’s artistic breakthrough and his first major work as an individual, original, composer. Sometimes called the “Wagner” symphony due to Bruckner’s veneration of Richard Wagner, the expansively orchestrated work develops many Wagnerian ideas in the format of a Germanic symphony, a genre which Wagner himself only dabbled in. A large problem in performing this work today is that the always self-critical Bruckner produced six revisions of it; conductors must choose carefully which version they wish to perform.  

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Modest Mussorgsky - Boris Godunov (1873)

Mussorgsky’s only opera is the most recorded Russian opera of the Middle Romantic period. The combination of Mussorgsky’s highly original harmonic sense (criticized at the time as “crude”) with the distinctly Russian style and content was not well received by critics at its premiere but eventually came into its own as the most popular Russian opera of the 19th century. 

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Édouard Lalo - Symphonie espagnole (1874): 

...[Lalo] carefully avoids routine, seeks out new forms, and thinks more about musical beauty than about observing established traditions, as do the Germans.

—Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 

This charming violin concerto in five movements utilized many Spanish motifs and rhythmic ideas, launching a phase of Spanish-inspired music throughout Europe. It is one of the most popular Violin Concertos ever written and inspired Tchaikovsky to write his own concerto.

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Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition (1874) 

Inspired by the free-form suites of Robert Schumann and the paintings of Viktor Hartmann, Mussorgsky’s highly original ten-movement piano suite captured the imagination of the public and is perhaps the greatest example of a Russian Middle Romantic piano work. Many composers afterwards have produced orchestrated versions, of which Ravel’s is the most popular.

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Giuseppe Verdi - Requiem (1874)

The secular and the sacred moulded together to form one of the pinnacles of Middle Romanticism: Verdi’s Requiem. Verdi utilized all of his dramatic powers developed from years of crafting opera towards generating as much pathos as in any work yet written. Critics at the time detracted from the Requiem’s operatic nature, but none could deny its ability to inspire both horror and the sublime.

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Georges Bizet - Carmen (1875)

I foresee a definite and hopeless flop.

—Georges Bizet

Considered the apogee of opéra comique, Bizet’s depiction of lawlessness and immorality led to a cause célèbre surrounding the opera’s subject matter. It was not until after Bizet’s death did the opera gain international success as an icon of Middle Romantic orchestration, exoticism, and color.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Piano Concerto No.1 (1875)

There is such unsurpassed originality, such nobility, such strength, and there are so many arresting moments throughout this unique conception.

—Hans von Bülow

This massive and Lisztian work was Tchaikovsky’s first foray into the piano concerto, a combination of instruments which he was not particularly fond of. Harshly criticized by its dedicatee Nikolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky changed the dedication to Hans von Bülow who gladly premiered it to great acclaim. Today it is one of the most popular concerto ever written and represents the Russian style of concertante writing during Middle Romanticism.

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Edvard Grieg - Peer Gynt (1875)

Edvard Grieg wrote this suite (with great difficulty) for Henrik Ibsen's play of the same name. Containing some of the most recognizable tunes in the classical repertory, this is perhaps the most original and iconic example of Norwegian art music in the Romantic era. 

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake (1876)

Before Tchaikovsky's ventures into ballet, the music composed for ballets had typically been reserved for “specialist” composers who excelled at writing the often light and decorative music in ballets. Tchaikovsky, with no formal training in ballet writing, represented a break from tradition. The premiere was not well-received (thought to be too “symphonic") but the focus brought on Tchaikovsky’s highly original and visionary orchestration led it to become one of the iconic works of the 19th century.

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Léo Delibes - Sylvia (1876)

What charm, what elegance, what richness of melody, rhythm, harmony.

—Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 

Sylvia is a prime example of 19th century ballet writing, and considered to be the first “modern” French ballet (along with Delibes’ Coppelia). Unlike previous ballets, the music does not only set the mood, but also sets the action and the contour of the choreography. 

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Johannes Brahms - Symphony No.1 (1876)

I shall never write a symphony…you have no idea how the likes of us feel when we hear the tramp of a giant like [Beethoven] behind us.

—Johannes Brahms 

With the high expectations set upon him by the Schumanns and other conservatives, Brahms was expected to continue Beethoven’s legacy with his first symphony. Brahms’ self-critical nature forced him to continually rework and revise this symphony for twenty years, before he finally felt satisfied with the result in 1876. Upon its premiere, the conservative critics immediately dubbed it “Beethoven’s Tenth” and lauded its motivic development, adherence to form, and classically refined architecture, if not necessarily originality.

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Richard Wagner - Der Ring des Nibelungen (1876)

After the last notes of Gotterdammerung I felt as though I had been let out of prison.

—Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

The Ring was Wagner’s culmination of over twenty-six years of hard work. Made up of four operas (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried, Götterdämmerung), or “musikdrama” as Wagner coined them, the Der Ring des Nibelungen is possibly the single most ambitious and visionary musical work ever written. All of Wagner’s dramatic powers and inventive energies are combined into a staggering 15-hour cycle which tells the story of gods, heroes, and Armageddon. Der Ring can be considered the zenith of Middle Romantic opera.

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Franz Liszt: Années de pèlerinage: Troisième année (1877)

As Liszt aged, his focus veered away from showmanship, finding a newfound focus on spirituality, reflection, and harmonic invention. The third suite in his Années de pèlerinage is a prime example of his late style, containing many forward looking innovations and effects. Its First Threnody sets the suspended tonality and freely modulating style that would become a staple of Post-Romanticism, and the famous Les jeux d'eaux à la Villa d'Este is the pianistic precursor to Impressionism.

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Camille Saint-Saëns - Samson et Dalila (1877)

Although its popularity was not instantaneous (despite Liszt’s endorsement of the work), Samson and Delilah is widely considered to be Saint-Saëns’ operatic masterpiece. Telling the Biblical story of Samson and his treacherous lover Delilah, Saint-Saëns indulges fully in his leanings towards exoticism and crafts a highly evocative Grand Opera containing some of the most iconic scenes of French Middle Romanticism.

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Johannes Brahms - Violin Concerto (1878)

You will think twice before you ask me for another concerto! 

—Johannes Brahms

Heavily inspired by Beethoven’s Violin Concerto (also in the key of D), Brahms’ contribution to the genre was similarly lacking in virtuoso content and equally abundant in profundity.  This serene and majestic work is often listed among the most physically difficult and musically rewarding concerti of the Romantic era. It was received poorly by critics and other virtuosos, who were underwhelmed by its symphonic conception and relative death of opportunities to show off, which are the very same attributes that it is lauded for today.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto (1878): 

Despite it being composed in the same year as Brahms’ Violin Concerto of the same key, Tchaikovsky was much less influenced by his Germanic counterpart than he was Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole. Performance of the work saw resistance from several violinists that Tchaikovsky admired (Iosif Kotek, Leopold Auer, and Emile Sauret) and it was Adolph Brodsky (who had not been Tchaikovsky’s first or even second choice) who premiered it to a hostile press and public. The difficulties surrounding this work’s premiere soon fell under the shadow of its success; it became known throughout the 20th century as one of the greatest concertos written for the instrument and the Russian violin concerto of Middle Romanticism.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin (1878)

I congratulate you and ourselves on such a work, and God grant that you may bequeath many more such works to the world.

—Antonín Dvořák 

With a libretto based on Alexander Pushkin’s novel of the same name, this highly Russian, highly Romantic opera was seen as little more than a Slavic curiosity when it first premiered. Its sweeping lyricism and lush orchestration have led it to become characterized as the prime example of Russian Lyric Opera.

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Bedřich Smetana - Má vlast (1879)

Má vlast is Smetana’s nationalistic love letter to the Czech landscape and its people. In this set of symphonic pieces, Smetana combined the tone poem genre invented by Liszt with the folk elements of Czech music. Many will recognize “The Moldau”, the second of the six poems.

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Sir Arthur Sullivan - The Pirates of Penzance (1880)

While not being particularly weighty or innovative music, Sullivan’s most famous comic opera nevertheless deserves its place as a defining Romantic work. Its catchy themes and satirical nature were a welcome contrast from the excess and seriousness of Verdi and Wagner, and operas of this nature became a definitive English comic opera style. 

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Alexander Borodin - String Quartet No.2 (1880)

Russian chamber music was not particularly well-regarded at the time Borodin composed his second String Quartet. Borodin produced a musical feat equal to any German contemporary in this work, being full of lyricism, technical skill, lush harmony, and counterpoint; all while being distinctly Russian.

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Johannes Brahms - Piano Concerto No.2 (1881)

I want to tell you that I have written a very small piano concerto with a very small and pretty scherzo. —Johannes Brahms  

Massive, grand, and epically serene, this piano concerto stands virtually alone as an Everest of the Middle Romantic literature. While Brahms’ First Concerto extended the ideas of Beethoven and created a “piano-symphony”, Brahms’ Second is a proper concerto in regards to its virtuoso writing and solo passages. The remarkable texture and color in this work display the development of Brahms’ piano writing since his First Concerto.

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Richard Wagner - Parsifal (1881)

I cannot begin to tell you how Parsifal has transported me. Everything I do seems so cold and feeble by its side. 

—Jean Sibelius.

Describing the knight Parsifal on his quest for the Holy Grail, Wagner’s final opera is almost an oratorio in disguise. It contains ritualized processions, religious imagery, and a quasi-mass; the music is Wagner at his most solemn and reverent. With themes of compassion, redemption, and vindication, perhaps Wagner felt that Parsifal would be the most fitting end to an operatic career filled with decadence, sensuality, and materialism. 

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Emmanuel Chabrier - España (1883)

It is a piece in F and nothing more.

—Emmanuel Chabrier 

Charbrier was inspired by a trip to Spain to write an orchestral work based on the Spanish jota. The result was an immediate success; even indigenous Spanish composers praised its “authenticity” regarding the jota, and its inventiveness of orchestration led Mahler to call it the “start of modern music”. Charbrier’s lack of formal training often left him free to develop his highly original musical language, inspiring the new generation of French composers. 

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Jules Massenet - Manon (1884)

This charming example of opéra comique encapsulates the vitality and optimism of the Parisian Belle Époque. The poetry and floweriness of Massenet’s writing was highly influential on the French style towards the end of the 19th century. 

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Johannes Brahms - Symphony No.4 (1884):

I had the feeling that I was being given a beating by two incredibly intelligent people. 

—Max Kalbeck, music critic

Brahms’ final and possibly greatest symphony, this work represents a culmination of Brahms’ development, refinement, and depth as an artist. Dark, austere, and dense, there is hardly a better example of organic thematic transformation in a large scale work. The passacaglia in the final movement is the most prominent of this form’s use during the Romantic era. 

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César Franck - Symphonic Variations (1885)

A flawless work and as near perfection as a human composer can hope to get in a work of this nature. 

—French critic 

This concertante work can be seen as a textbook on thematic transformation, with the piano and orchestra organically sharing the continuous evolution of ideas. Its unusual structure shares more of the qualities of a free-form fantasy than a symphony, with the variations appearing in the second section and then ending with a sonata-form finale.

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Camille Saint-Saëns - Symphony No. 3 “Organ” (1886) 

I gave everything to it I was able to give. What I have here accomplished, I will never achieve again. 

—Camille Saint-Saëns

The Organ Symphony was Saint-Saëns’ first and last mature attempt at a symphonic work. It can be seen as an apotheosis of Saint-Saëns’ style, with all of his trademark musical tools: virtuoso piano writing, stylistic hybridity, colorful orchestration, conventional classical structure, mastery of counterpoint, and the use of the organ, an instrument that Saint-Saëns was particularly fond of.

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Camille Saint-Saëns - The Carnival of the Animals (1886)

While never publicly performed during his lifetime (for fear that it would damage his reputation as a serious composer), Saint-Saëns’ Carnival is nevertheless one of the most brilliant examples of character piece writing for orchestra. Abundant in color, beauty, and humor, it remains one of the most popular works of the Middle Romantic period.

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Johannes Brahms - Cello Sonata No.2 (1886)

This passionate and grand work for piano and cello is one of the greatest cello sonatas ever written. In typical Brahmsian nature, very little virtuoso writing is done for the solo instrument; the piano often leads the action and is at times almost overpowering. Stunning counterpoint, brilliant flourishes, and touching melodies pervade this sonata.

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César Franck - Violin Sonata (1886)

The first and purest model of the cyclical use of themes in sonata form. 

—Vincent d’Indy

Like Brahms’ 2nd Cello Sonata, Franck’s only violin sonata has come to define Middle Romanticism for its instrument. The movements outline different moods—longing, turbulent, phantasmagoric, and at last majestic. Thematic unity and sheer beauty are the two hallmarks of this work. 

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Anton Bruckner -  Symphony No.8 (1887): 

...The work of a giant. 

—Hugo Wolf

Bruckner’s last finished symphony, gargantuan in scope and magnificent in its conception, holds a distinct place in the repertoire as one of the most complete representations of Wagner’s philosophy outside of opera. With that said, it is also original in many ways, incredibly dense and complex, and filled with underlying darkness that at times gives way to great beauty.

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Antonín Dvořák - Piano Quintet No. 2 (1887)

Being unsatisfied with his 1872 attempt at a piano quintet, Dvořák tried again in 1887 and produced an instant mainstay of the genre. Within the work, his own distinct style of expressive lyricism meshes perfectly with Czech folk melodies (original melodies conceived by Dvořák in the Czech style).

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Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade (1888)

Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite based on One Thousand and One Nights has secured its spot in the repertoire as one of the most colorful and dazzling works ever put to score. It inherits its use of the leitmotif from Wagner, but precious little else—the orchestration is uniquely Rimsky-Korsakov and replete with exoticism, imagery, and technical brilliance.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.5 (1888) 

The last three of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies (4, 5, 6) were not all received particularly well, but they have come to represent Tchaikovsky’s mastery of the genre. The Fifth Symphony among the three is the darkest, yet ends with the most triumph. And the serenely beautiful horn solo in the second movement—possibly the greatest horn solo in any symphony.

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Erik Satie - Trois Gymnopédies (1888)

Rejected by the Paris Conservatory due to his perceived lack of talent, the highly eccentric Erik Satie composed these three short pieces while working as a pianist at a café. These strange, melancholy, miniatures are almost ambient in their simplicity and can be considered a precursor to modernism in French music. 

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Sleeping Beauty (1889)

Very nice.

—Tsar Alexander III

Tchaikovsky's fondness for fairy tales culminated in his 1889 ballet based on the tales of the Brothers Grimm. This epic four-hour ballet is Tchaikovsky's longest work and one of the most magical scores ever composed. It was only modestly successful at its premiere, but by the 20th century it was one of the most commonly performed ballets on the planet.

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Alexander Borodin - Prince Igor (1890)

Borodin’s magnum opus was finally completed three years after his death by his friends Alexander Glazunov and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who reconstructed the rest of the work from Borodin’s notes and memories of Borodin’s performances at the piano. This opera is noted for its musical characterisation of different characters and ethnicities—the Russians are represented through Russian folk music while the Polovtsians are represented through techniques not associated with folk music such as chromaticism, melismas, and appoggiaturas.  

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Johannes Brahms - Clarinet Quintet (1891)

It was nice, but the sound of five clarinets was a bit odd.

—Newspaper reviewer who did not actually attend the premiere

In 1890, Brahms did not believe he had anything creative left to offer the musical world. It took the extraordinary playing of the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld to bring Brahms out of his avowed retirement. He went to work right away on a clarinet quintet, modelled after Mozart's own setting for clarinet + string quartet. Its sleek Classical architecture belies an elegiac and autumnal hue which portrays a master towards the end of his life. 

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker (1892)

Based on E.T.A. Hoffman's Nutcracker and the Mouse King, Tchaikovsky's 1892 ballet did not have a particularly auspicious start. The premiere of the work was met with poor reviews, and Tchaikovsky himself did not think as highly of this work as his previous ballet, Sleeping Beauty. However, the Nutcracker has endured as one of Tchaikovsky's late masterpieces and quintessential Christmas music. 

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Ernest Chausson - Poème de l'amour et de la mer (1892)

Most song cycles are written on texts by great poets—Chausson's Poem of Love and the Sea is not one of them. The poet Maurice Boucher was known—or rather unknown—due to his florid, cliché-ridden, verse. However, Chausson brings the decidedly saccharine text to glorious life, with beautiful scene painting and Romanticism at its peak.

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Johannes Brahms - Klavierstücke Op.116, Op.117, Op.118, Op.119 (1892-1893)

Known for his tendency towards the huge and grand (even in typically intimate chamber settings) Brahms was not a miniaturist in any sense of the word until his later years. Like his other late works, Brahms’ final piano pieces are tonally wayward and harmonically forward-looking. Beyond anything else, they are remarkably intimate and shine a light deep into the depths of Brahms’ soul.

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Giuseppe Verdi - Falstaff (1893)

I believe it will take years and years before the general public understand this masterpiece, but when they really know it they will run to hear it… 

—Arturo Toscanini

Verdi’s final opera (and only the second of his comic operas) was a tremendous success on its premiere but its popularity with audiences soon waned. This can be attributed to its lack of grand finales, choruses, and catchy aria tunes—nevertheless it was deemed a masterpiece by critics, who admired its sophistication, diversity of texture, and vitality.

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No.6 “Pathetique” (1893)

Something strange is happening with this symphony! It's not that it displeased, but it has caused some bewilderment. So far as I myself am concerned, I'm more proud of it than any of my other works...

—Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Tchaikovsky wrote this symphony in the same year as his death from cholera. It is the most tragic out of his symphonies, ending with an aching Adagio instead of the thunderous finales seen in his 4th and 5th symphonies. Much speculation has been made regarding the connection between the program behind this work and his own death months later. In any event, few deny that this work represents the zenith of Russian orchestral music.

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Antonín Dvořák - Symphony No.9 “New World” (1893)

Written during Dvořák’s fruitful “American” phase, this work is both Dvořák’s final symphony and the final major symphony of the Middle Romantic era. It is inordinately catchy, displays immaculate mastery of its classical form, and a superb sense of drama—all while incorporating elements of the American folk melody and African-American spiritual. It is hard to think of a higher point on which to end the Middle Romantic period of music. 

How and why it ended

Middle Romanticism gives way to Late Romanticism during the 1890s. 1893 is the most compelling end year of Middle Romanticism due to several major events:

• The death of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

• The debut of Tchaikovsky’s last symphony, “Pathetique”, and Dvořák’s last symphony, “From the New World”, marking the end of the Middle Romantic symphony.

• The debut of Giuseppe Verdi’s final opera, Falstaff, marking the end of the Middle Romantic opera. 

• The debut of Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune in the following year, marking the start of Post-Romanticism.

Other events around this time that signified the end of the old period and the start of a new period:  

• The rise of modernism in art and literature in the 1870s and 1880s

• The death of Franz Liszt in 1886

• The death of Wagner in 1887

• The advent of recording technology; the first classical recording being Handel’s Israel in Egypt in 1888.

• The maturation and debut of the new generation of composers during the 1890s, such as Isaac Albéniz, Ferruccio Busoni, Claude Debussy, Edward Elgar, Leopold Godowsky, Enrique Granados, Charles Ives, Gustav Mahler, Carl Nielsen, Giacomo Puccini, Sergei Rachmaninov, Maurice Ravel, Max Reger, Arnold Schoenberg, Alexander Scriabin, and Jean Sibelius.

• The debut of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.1 in 1896.

• The death of Anton Bruckner in 1896

• The death of Johannes Brahms in 1897