Romanticism - Part 2 (1830–1850) - Session 9.2

Romanticism (1830–1850) - Chopin

After Beethoven, composers turned their attention to the expression of intense feelings in their music. This expression of emotion was the focus of all the arts of the self-described "Romantic" movement. The depiction in art of love, death, religion, nature, politics and supernatural were the ruling ideology of the period.

Delacroix - La Mort de Sardanapale (1827)

In music, the nineteenth century saw the creation and evolution of new genres such as the program symphony, pioneered by Beethoven and then developed by Hector Berlioz; Symphonic poem that was developed by Franz Liszt; the concert overture, great examples of which were composed by Felix Mendelssohn; and short, expressive piano pieces written for the bourgeois salons of Europe by Robert Schumann and Frédéric Chopin. Italian operas were composed in the Bel canto traditions, and these led directly to the masterworks of Giuseppe Verdi. For inspiration, many Romantic composers turned to the visual arts, to poetry, drama and literature, and to nature itself. Using the classical forms of sonata and symphony as a starting point, composers began focusing more on new melodic styles, richer harmonies, and ever more dissonance, in the pursuit of moving their audiences, rather than concerning themselves with the structural discipline of Classical forms. The harmony was exploited to its limits and beyond, with the momentary use of nonfunctional harmonic progression, use of simple harmonic phrasings that passes through a lot of chromatic harmonies along the way. Another characteristic of the Romanticism is the exploitation of the forms in music, they climax is delayed as much as possible, use of rhythmic rubatos, dramatic shaping of phrasings, cyclicity of moments, never ending thematic developments and transfigurations. All of these changes were made towards allowing the composer’s natural inspiration free to rein, often pacing their compositions more in terms of their emotional content and dramatic continuity rather than organic structural growth. The rise of the new middle classes created a new audience seeking fresh sensations. It was also an audience, which was powerfully drawn to emotion in the arts, and music more than any of the other arts has the capacity to elicit powerful emotions that made all this possible. Another factor that influenced this movement was the fall of the patronage system, musicians and composers had more freedom to express their selves rather than please their patron.

Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand 

Today I chose to write about one of my favorite composers: Frédéric Chopin (Polish-French, 1810-1849). He was born in Poland to a French family, was strongly attached to the land of his birth though he lived most of his short life in exile, producing many polonaisesand mazurkas (both traditional polish dances). In this respect he illustrates another important trait of many Romantic composers: their interest in the varied national music of Europe and elsewhere. But unlike Berlioz and others, Chopin was not interested in trying to portray literary texts in music. He wrote "pure" or "absolute" music, almost entirely for the piano. His delicate fingering and the challenging exercises he set in his famous sets of etudes ("studies") revolutionized composition for the piano. Chopin was able to combine both the lyricism and virtuosity; he developed a lyrical style paralleling the operatic writing of Bellini, but with much more harmony freedom. He was a master of harmonic overloading, which suggested the intensity of the expression of feelings that supersedes the needs of musical logic.

Chopin was considered a conservative composer of the Romantic Era. He borrowed concepts from the Neo-Classical Era, such as the dominant and tonic chords that were present throughout the piece.  In addition, he utilized the secondary leading tones from the Romantic Era to weaken the tonal center.  It is through these concepts that Chopin was a conservative composer, while still being able to compose pieces with new concepts or twists that had not yet been seen.  One of my favorite pieces by him translates all of what I just wrote, the Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op 27, No. 2:



In his Nocturne in D flat Major, Chopin creates a complex work that consists of complicated harmonies and rhythmic motives. These two components are interwoven to build elaborate themes, which lead to a melodic design that Chopin is known for. The piece has multiple key elements that combine to form this expressive work for piano, such as thematic growth. Various themes are introduced in the work and as Chopin develops them, they are barely recognizable. Other important elements in the creation of the nocturne are register and pitch. Register provides support for the harmonies, which in turn serve as the foundation on which the piece is built. The form of Chopin’s Nocturne is a rondo, which is when an A section returns. The reoccurring theme or theme A returns three times. The theme initially appears in measures one through nine, reoccurs in measures 26 through 32, and measures 46 through 50.  

For more details, here is a video analysis of the piece: