Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Essential Question:
How were the ideals of Romanticism evident in the lives and works of composers of the Romantic Era?
Exoticism in Music
Flicien David
(1810-1876)
Wrote piano music while abroad Returned in June of 1835 with a fascination about the Middle East
Influential Works
Le dsert (1844)
Three movements describing a desert storm, a prayer to Allah, and a traveling caravan A long repeated pedal note is used to represent the vast wastes of the desert
Opera about a storm off the coast of Brazil Opera set in India
Giuseppe Verdi
(1813-1901)
Became a member of the Chamber of Deputies (the newly formed Italian parliament) in 1862
His fellow revolutionary, Count Camilo Benso di Cavour, dies in June of 1861
The pain of his friends death is too much to bear and he resigns from office in 1865 Cavours death makes Verdi turn back to music and change his focus away from Italy
Influential Works
Nabucodonsor (1841) Aida (1871)
First example of Verdi having non-Italian inspiration Fascinated by the chorus of the Hebrew exiles
Written for the first season of Khedvial Opera House in Cairo Makes aspects of old Egyptian images into major spectacles Adapts Egyptian characters to an old Italian love story
Uses the pyramids, temple of Isis, gate of Thebes, and the Nile river as settings NOT for the opening of the Suez canal as commonly thought
Georges Bizet
(1838-1875)
Influential Works
Chants de Pyrnes Carmen (1875)
About the Pyrenees mountains First sign of interest in Spanish culture
Opera about a gypsy named Carmen that seduces a soldier Bizet refused to visit Spain
Exotic aspects of the score were put in only for dramatic effect
Uses the harmonic, rhythmic, and instrumental procedures of flamenco music as well as old Spanish folk songs for musical inspiration as a substitution to visiting
Adapted these foreign stimuli to their own classic European operatic style
Nationalism in Music
Frdric Chopin
(1810-1849)
Tchaikovskys Homosexuality
Source of Tchaikovskys insecurity
Was afraid anyone would find out
The piece follows a story, starting with the battle and ending with the return of the troops Tchaikovsky scored parts of the piece for a cannon to simulate the feeling of being on the battlefield
Painful personal lives made their music have even more passion
Chopins lung condition and Tchaikovskys insecurity about his homosexuality
Wrote a will-like manuscript thinking that he was going to die Along with his naturally belligerent personality, going deaf made him focus more on his music
Sketchbook Method
Wrote all his music in sketchbooks where he would constantly cross out work, making him work into the wee hours of the night and lengthening the composition process by a significant amount
Beethoven felt hurt and betrayed when Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France in 1804
Beethovens work output dramatically decreased with the exile and eventual death of Napoleon
This act dissolved all of Napoleons positive qualities that Beethoven admired
Shows his frustration and disappointment with his once beloved Napoleon
Richard Wagner
(1813-1883)
Wrote it under a pseudonym Talks about the excessive control Jews had over the music scene during that time
Hitler would play some of Wagners music during his speeches to his Nazi followers
Wagners anti-Semitism as well as his connection to Nietzsches superman theory would later be used by Hitler and the Nazis
Lohengrin (1850)
Opera based on an old medieval story of a knight of the holy grail named Lohengrin and his conquests
Famous for its Bridal Chorus (Here comes the bride)
Contradictory idea of individual power mixed with an assimilation with a mob Personal opinion more present
Wagners integration with the process of German unification Beethovens Sinfonia Eroica and Wagners Judenthum in der Musik (Judaism in Music)
The End