Analysis of Romantic Music Style

Analysis of Romantic Music Style
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Analysis of Romantic Music Style
Exoticism was a common concept during the Romantic period since it was expressed in musical works. It is important to note that exoticism was expressed through structural and melodic features of Eastern-influenced folk music. Exoticism had the ability to take listeners to different worlds and make them fantasize about the beautiful unknown. An example of music that was composed during the Romantic era and has this feature is Der Erlkönig by Schubert, a poem based on German folk tales. First, the use of piano in the song brings the concept of instrumental music during the romantic era. Secondly, the combination of voice and instrument is an expression of emotions. Third, the colorful harmony depicting differences in characters is another feature of romantic music. For example, the composer used clashing dissonance to portray child terrors. Therefore, all the features present in this song clearly indicate the styles composers used during the romantic era.[Chang, Liu. "A Comparative Statistical Analysis of Music Styles (Seventeenth–Nineteenth Centuries)". (Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 45)- 590] [Djahwasi, Herry Rizal, and Zaharul Lailiddin Saidon. "An Analysis of Artistic Form and Musical Perspective of Romantic Era Music". (International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences 11)- 777] [Wu, Di. "Analysis On the Evolution of Piano Performance Techniques". (International Workshop on Arts, Culture, Literature, And Education) - 25] [Herget, Ann-Kristin. "Well-known and unknown music as an emotionalizing carrier of meaning in film." (Media Psychology 24)- 402]
One of the common things about romantic music is that it expressed people's feelings. The term 'romantic music' applies to classical music that has the ability to evoke a dreamy atmosphere. However, not all music from this era fit the romantic description because some pieces produced harsh sounds for distressing emotions. In most cases, people still believe that musicians compose music through feelings even to date. However, the difference between this kind of music and romantic music is the strength of feelings musicians express when singing. It is important to note that during the romantic period, musicians only intended to express their feelings and nothing else. In 1818, a German novelist, Jean-Paul, commented that Romanticism is beauty without bounds. The emotional subjectivity of this music has the ability to evoke a sense of drama followed by dramatic landscapes.[Kelly, Benjamin O., Cameron J. Anderson, and Michael Schutz. "Exploring changes in the emotional classification of music between eras." (Auditory Perception & Cognition 4)-130] [Kirby, Philip. "Geography and film music: Musicology, gender, and the spatiality of instrumental music." (Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 46)-580]
One of the common expressions during the Romantic era was rubato. This term was developed to denote all the music elements. Rubato, to be specific, entailed all texture elements. This technique was commonly used by music composers like Chopin and Schumann. However, it is important to note that this was something that was not commonly used during classical music era. Rubato is a give and take in the timing of music. It simply gave am expressive element. Since romantic music was mainly concerned with expressing emotions and feelings, rubato enabled music composers to change rhythms to express emotions. During romantic era, music composers used complex rhythms. At the same time, they changed the tempo frequently to give excitement and substance to their compositions. Consequently, it is imperative to note that melodies were made up of irregular phrases. Additionally, articulations were used to increase the power of good melody. Some of the melodies people can hear today are from music of the romantic period.[Kirby, 578] [Kelly, 129]
Der Erlkönig is a music that was composed by Frank Schubert. The music incorporated a range of music devices like piano. First the tone plays a vital role in establishing the mood of the music while also signposting minor adjustments of mood experienced by conflicting characters of the narrator. The mood that is established at the beginning of the song is dark and gloomy. The contract in tonality is experienced during Erlkönig dialogue, which is a primary key. Further, the composer used melodic contour and shape throughout the song. For instance, melody can be found on the vocal line which appears hen the narrator is giving the setting of the narrative. At the same time Schubert shaped the melody just like an arc and encouraged clarity in the phrasing. Rhythm is also an important tool in this music. The beginning of the music depends on the use of rhythm. For instance, ostinato in the form of repeated triplet to create suspense. Thus all the features Schubert used in this music piece are features of romantic music styles.[Chang Liu, 589]
Romantic music used metaphors, allusion, symbolism, and ambiguity to communicate its message to the audience. Notably, the early church rejected this instrumental music because of its unprecedented power of mystery and suggestion. It is important to note that during the Romantic era, musicians had established a tonality concept, which they inherited from the Classical and Baroque periods. Consequently, these musicians also used structural harmonic planning demonstrated by Schubert with chromaticism innovations. Their main aim was to attain greater fluidity and contrast. Due to this, chromaticism, dissonance, and consonance become more varied. Further, musicians started using the pivot note instead of the pivot chord. Lastly, composers like Schubert improved the harmonic language with innovative chord progressions.[Lieck, Robert, Fabian C. Moss, and Martin Rohrmeier. "The tonal diffusion models." (Transactions of the International Society for Music Information Retrieval 3)- 160] [Liu, Jiayuan. "Analysis of Romantic Factors in Classical Music." In 2nd International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange (ICLACE 2021)- 340.]
The development of new technology influenced romantic music composers. During this era, there was increased use of piano, improved chromatic abilities, and better projection of instruments of the symphony orchestra. It is important to note that before the Romantic period, musical features like the use of literary aspirations and longer melodies were present. Consequently, during the second dace of the 19th century, there was a shift towards new sources of musical aspirations and increased chromaticism in melody and expressive harmony. The forces that resulted in this change were not only musical but also social, political, and economic. As a result, new music composers like Schubert and Beethoven emerged. Notably, Schubert was very influential and was among the first composers to work as a freelancer rather than an employee of the ecclesiastic patron. Lastly, during the last Romantic era, various music composers created styles linked to their national folk culture.[Moskvichova, Yuliia, Nataliia Mozgalova, Olga Shcholokova, and I...