Grade 7 Romantic Era Music History

Grade 7 Romantic Era Music History

Learning Intention: To understand the general characteristics of the Romantic Period and its music.

Success: To have a copy of the traits of the romantic period and complete the quizz.

Romantic Period..ish

• The Romantic Period developed directly after the Classical period and the two are often confused with each other.

• The Romantic Period occurred approximately between 1780 to 1910

• As a result this period lasted about 130 years.

Some of the main composers during this time

• Some of the most famous composers from this period include

• Peter Tchaikovsky

• Edvard Grieg

• Johannes Brahms

• Felix Mendelssohn

• Sergei Rachmaninoff

Beethoven?

• As we found out last week, some of Beethoven's works were in fact written and performed in the Romantic period.

• As the music and instruments developed over his lifetime so did his music.

• Approximately the last half of his life was during the romantic period.

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The style of Romanticism

• So what comes to mind when we think of Romantic?

• Romantic focuses on stirring emotions within the listener, telling stories, memories and conveying colours or places.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJNNJTRD1GQ - Richard Wagner Symphony in C

• What piece of music has ever stirred a powerful emotion or made you so very happy

Concept of colours in music

• Often in this period, composers tried to convey a mood, feeling or emotion in their music.

• Almost like they are trying to paint a picture with sound

• What colour would this piece be?

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3F9tmIpg-w - Macdowll, To a rose.

An example of this style

• One example of this is found in Felix Mendelsohn's Fingal's Cave

• Nature was often a source of inspiration for Romantic music.

• For Mendelsohn it was his trip to Scotland's Staffa Island and sailing through this cave.

• Listen closely and see if you think the music reflects the cave and what it looks like.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcogD-hHEYs

Trait #1

• Music in the romantic period was played by much larger orchestras

• Strings- Violin, viola, cello, double bass, multiple parts for each

• Woodwind - Flute and piccolo, oboes and clarinets, bassoons and double bassoons.

• Brass - trumpets, trumbones, and french horns, tuba was added in the late romantic period

• Percussion - Timpani, bells, chimes, glockenspiel, marimba, triangle, cymbals, blocks, almost every percussion instrument

• Keyboard - The very lovely Grand Piano

Trait #2

• Unlike previous eras, musicians themselves were able to influence the music they were playing

• This technique is called Rubato - to play without a strict tempo

• Musicians were allowed to alter the flow of the music's speed

• let me play you an example

New Techniques

Dynamic Contrast - The music can change from very loud to very soft.

Sforzando - Instantly loud and the suddenly soft.

Timbral colour- Use of instruments to tell a story, voicing

Modulations - Changing the key of the music rapidly

Types of Romantic Music

• Symphony for Orchestra - made up of four movements, louder and longer, dynamic contrast

• Virtuoso - highly technical music that showcased the musicians level of skill and ability

• So lets listen to Rahcmaninoff's Piano Concerto and see if you can identify which elements of romantic music are used

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Multiple Choice

Which Composer is both Classical and Romantic?

• Mozart

• Brahms

• Bach

• Beethoven

Multiple Choice

When did the romantic period begin and end?

• 1990-2020

• 1670-1720

• 1630-1640

• 1780-1910

Multiple Choice

What was the name of the island that inspired Fingal's Cave?

• Staffa

• Eyre

• Stradbroke

• Hawai

Multiple Choice

The Romantic Period is known for trying to create ___ in the listener?

• Emotions

• Colours

• Stories

• All of the above

Multiple Choice

Which one of these composer groups was romantic?

• Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven

• Bach, Handel and Stravinsky

• Tchaikovsky, Grieg and Brahms

Multiple Choice

What woodwind instrument was added in this period?

• Clarinet

• Saxophone

• Bassoon

• Piccolo

Multiple Choice

Rubato means?

• The music has no fixed tempo

• Slow down and speed up

• The music gets softer

• The music gets louder

Multiple Choice

Sforzando means

• Music is played loudly

• Music is played softly

• Music is loud and then suddenly soft

• The music is played smoothly