Composers

of the
Romantic
Period
presented by Ayessa Kim Italia
 Romantic Period
The incorporation of drama, visual arts,
and music completes the Romantic
expression of music in theatrical form.
Opera, sonata, symphony, lieder, and
concerto were the ideal art form for
the people of this era.
 Romantic Period
The Romantic composers wrote a
wide variety of serious and comic
opera styles.
To be a composer in this era was to
be a composer of opera.
Richard Wagner
(1813-1883)
a German poet-musician
born in Leipzig and came
from a theatrical family. He
had a dream to become a
poet and playwright, but
then later decided to
become a composer.
Wagner is considered a master of
orchestration. He's know for his musical
signature called leitmotifs(designed to
represent a character or theme in an opera).
The operas during his time were on large
scale and are usually very long, sometimes
it took 4 or 5 hours to perform. One of his
famous works is
Tristan and Isolde
a romantic tragedy
of love and death,
told through sublime
music.

https://youtu.be/xNt5UvH4Aq0
Giuseppe Verdi
(1813-1901)
Verdi was a master of
theater techniques and the
finest Italian composer
born near Busseto in
Parma, in northern Italy.
He was not a musical prodigy. He was even
rejected for admission to the Conservatory
of Music in Milan due to his poor piano-
playing technique. Despite this, he stayed in
Milan to study composition.

He returned to Busseto as the town's band-

master and went back to Milan after four
years to earn his livelihood as a composer.
Majority of Verdi's works are serious love stories
with unhappy endings . These characteristics are
seen in some of his famous opera compositions:
Rigoletto (1851), La Forza del Destino (1861), La
Traviata (1853), Otello (1887), and Aida (1871).

Otello is based on Shakespeare's tragedy. Aida

was Verdi's grand opera, written for the
inauguration of the Suez Canal.
Triumphal March from Aida

https://youtu.be/l3w4I-KElxQ
Giacomo
Puccini (1858-
1924)
was born in Lucca, Italy.
He came from a long line
of musicians, mostly
composers and church
organists.
Some of his works are La Bohème (pronounced
as "La Bo-aim"), and Madama Butterfly . He died
before finishing his last opera, Turandot , which
was completed by a colleague.

One of Puccini's musical characteristics was the

use of short melodies but memorable phrases
with intense emotions. The use of timbre was
very significant for him. He used the orchestra to
give emphasis to vocal melody to suggest mood.
His La Bohème (Bohemian
Life) was written in Paris in
1830. It is about the love story
of the poor poet Rodolfo and
the equally impoverished
seamstress Mimi.
https://youtu.be/PI6sbmYaozA
Franz Schubert
(1797-1828)
Born in Himmelpfortgrund,
Austria. He was the fourth
surviving son of Franz
Theodor and Elisabeth
Vietz.
He and his siblings played string
instruments and formed a string quartet
where he played as violist .

He got the foundations of music

education from his father and his brother
Ignaz and was able to received music
education under the famous composer
Antonio Salieri.
Aside from playing viola and organ
instruments, he was also a member of a
church choir and was able to play the
piano and violin.

He continued enhancing his musical gift

and wrote his earliest work,Fantasia for
Piano Duet , The Great and the Unfinished
Symphony.
Syphony no.8 (Unfinished
Symphony)
This has been one of music’s great
unanswered questions for more than a
hundred years, and despite some
intelligent speculation, we still come up
empty-handed today.
https://youtu.be/PI6sbmYaozA
 Quiz time!
Please get ¼ sheet of paper
Matching Type
a. Schubert
1. Aida b. Puccini
2. La Bohème c. Verdi
3. Turandot d. Wagner
4. Tristan and Isolde
5. Unfinished
Symphony
Identification
1.) To be a composer in this period was to
be a composer of opera.
2.) Puccini died before finishing this last
opera
3.) an unfinished symphony
4.) He was rejected for admission to the
Conservatory of Music in Milan due to his
poor piano-playing technique.
5.) Verdi's grand opera
Answers

1. C 1. Romantic period
2. B 2. Turandot
3. B 3. Symphony no.8
4. D 4. Verdi
5. A 5. Aida