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Romanticism in music

the stylistic profile is so obvious (1983, p. 196).

In its purest form, romanticism concentrates on the spiritual, to allow humankind to transcend the limitations of the physical world and body and find the ideal truth. The romantics focused on emotionality, rather than rationality. They drew their examples from a study of the real world, rather than the ideal, and glorified the idea of the artist as a mad genius unfettered by rules. Peyre observes, "The romantic movement . . . stirred our emotions, enlarged the horizons of our imagination, gave free rein to individualism, and made modern man eternally dissatisfied with his destiny" (1977, p. vii).

Critics argue over the exact date at which romanticism took hold in the music world, some hearing its beginnings as early as the end of the 18th century. The New Oxford History of Music (1990) defines the full-blown romantic period as beginning in 1830, when Goethe noted how ubiquitous the term was and Hector Berlioz (1803-69) was composing his Symphonie fantastique. Nonetheless, setting its beginning so late excludes Ludwig van Beethoven, who died in 1827 and who many consider to have formed the bridge between classicism and romanticism. To include this remarkable composer requires accepting 1820 as the approximate start of the period, when Beethoven was already profoundly deaf yet beginning to experiment with the kinds of ideas that make it clear that serious music was undergoing a fundamental revolution. Even before 1820, Beethoven was starting some of the kinds of experiments that typified romanticism. His "Moonlight" Sonata, composed in 1801, is written in a key rarely used by the classicists and dispenses with the usual first movement of the sonata form, while using suggestive harmonies to create a mystical, atmospheric mood.

Romantic music is distinguishable from the classic in at least three ways. First, romanticism uses melody in ways that are more vocal than ins...

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Romanticism in music. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 06:42, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1692541.html