Vocal music is one of the best tools for

expressing one’s feelings.

This form of expression became more evident
during the Romantic period.
⮚ Composers interpret poems, mood, atmosphere and
imagery into music.
⮚ Romantic artists found inspiration in landscapes.
⮚ Their subjects were traditional myths, legends and
folklore usually dealing with the supernatural,
grotesque, and less ordinary.
⮚ Vocal music in this period require singers to perform a
greater range of tone color, dynamics and pitch.
⮚ Opera became an important source of musical
expressions.
⮚ The birth of the opera houses came.
 COMPOSERS OF
VOCAL MUSIC
ROMANTIC PERIOD
 ⮚ Schubert was born on the 31st of January
Franz Peter 1797 in Himmelpfortgrund, Austria

Schubert ⮚ The proper name for Franz Schubert songs is

lieder, which is the German word for song.
⮚ He is considered the last of the classical
composers and one of the first romantic
ones.
⮚ His famous vocal music works/ Lieder were:
“Gretchen am Spinnrade”, “Erlkonig”, “Ellens
Gesang III” (“Ave Maria”) and “Schwanenge
sang” (“Swan Song”).
⮚ He also wrote piano pieces, string quartets,
operetta and the Symphony No.8 in B minor
(“Unfinished Symphony”)
⮚ He died in 1828 in Vienna, Austria at 31.
 ⮚ Verdi was born in Parma, Italy on October 9,
Giuseppe Verdi 1813.
⮚ He studied in Busseto and later went to
Milan where his first opera “Oberto” was
performed in La Scala, the most important
opera house at the time.
⮚ His final opera ends with “All the world’s a
joke.”
⮚ His famous works are La Traviata,
Rigoletto, Falstaff, Otello and Aida were
he wrote for the opening of the Suez
Canal.
⮚ Expressive vocal melody is the soul of a
Verdi opera.
⮚ He died in Milan, Italy on January
 ⮚ Giacomo Puccini was born in a poor
family on December 22, 1858 in
Giacomo Puccini Lucca, Italy.
⮚ He studied at the Milan
Conservatory.
⮚ He belonged to a group of
composers who stressed realism,
therefore, he drew material from
everyday life, rejecting heroic
themes from mythology and history.
⮚ Puccini’s famous operas were: “La
Boheme”, “Tosca”, “Madame
Butterfly”, and “Turandot”.
 ⮚ Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born in
Wilhelm Richard Leipzig, Germany on May 22, 1813.
Wagner ⮚ He was very much inspired by
Ludwig van Beethoven.
⮚ Wagner introduced new ideas in
harmony and in form, including
extremes of chromaticism.
⮚ He was an advocate of a new form of
opera which he called “music drama”
where musical and dramatic elements
were fused together.
⮚ The expressiveness is aided by the
use of “leitmotifs” or musical
sequences standing for a particular
 ⮚ His famous works are; Tristan
Wilhelm Richard and Isolde, Die Walkure, Die
Wagner Meistersinger, Tannhauser and
Parsifal.
⮚ His work would later influence
modern film scores, including
those of the Harry Potter and
Lord of the Rings film series.
⮚ Wagner died of a heart attack on
February 13,1883 at age of 69.
 ⮚ registered with the legal
Georges Bizet name Alexandre-Cesar-
Leopold Bizet, but was
baptized Georges Bizet
⮚ He was born October 25, 1838
in Paris, France.
⮚ Bizet became famous for his
operas.
⮚ His most famous opera is
“Carmen”.
ROMANTIC
OPERA
ROMANTIC PERIOD
OPERA
■ became increasingly popular during the Romantic
period.
■ It is a story (libretto) told by the composers through music
while using the words of the librettist. They work closely
together to tell the story.
COMPONENTS of
OPERA
 Components:

Libretto
⮚the texts of an
opera.
⮚Librettist and the
composer work
closely together to
tell the story.
 Components:
Score
⮚ the book that the composer
and librettist put together.
⮚ has all the musical notes,
words and ideas to help the
performers tell the story.
⮚ Often, there are operas with
overtures, preludes,
prologues, several acts,
finales and postludes.
 ⮚ Declamatory singing, used
Components: in the prose parts and
dialogue of opera.
⮚ Different roles in operas
are created taking into
account different types of
voices.
Recitative ⮚ Each role requires a
different type of singer, not
only able to sing a given
vocal range but also with
certain voice
characteristics, color and
power.
 ⮚an air or solo singing
Components: part that the public will
Aria remember best when
leaving the opera house.
⮚Properly and well sung, a
beautiful aria can bring
an audience to its feet
and decide the fate of an
entire opera.
Components:

Acts ⮚Main division

of an opera
Components:

Scene ⮚ Setting or place

 Other Components:
■Duet, trio, and other small
ensemble
■ Chorus
■ Orchestra
 VOICE
CLASSIFICATIONS
For MALE

Tenor ⮚ highest male voice

⮚Middle male voice, lies

Baritone between Bass and Tenor
voices. It is the
common male voice.
Bass ⮚ lowest male voice
For FEMALE
Soprano ⮚ highest female voice

⮚ most common female voice;

Mezzo strong middle voice, tone is
darker or deeper than the
soprano
Soprano
⮚ lowest female voice and
Contralto most unique among female