Vocal music of
the Romantic
period
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• The parallelisms of music and
literature were clearly evident in
almost all forms of vocal music during
the Romantic period. Composers
interpret poems, mood, atmosphere
and imagery into music. Musical
compositions suc as the art song was
written for solo voice and piano. Like
all program music, art song has its
inspiration from poetry in this period.
Mood is often set at the beginning with
piano introduction and concluded with
• 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. Because
of this, Opera became an
important source of musical
expressions. The birth of the
opera houses came. It was the
place where all the arts
converged: not only music,
but poetry, painting,
OPERA
COMPOSERS OF
THE ROMANTIC
PERIOD
Franz Peter
Schubert
• The proper name for Franz
Schubert songs is actually
lieder, which is the German
word for songs. Schubert
developed lieder so that they
had a powerful dramatic
impact on the listeners. He
tapped the poetry of writers
like Johann Goethe. He is
considered the last of the
Classical composers and one
• 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”)
Schubert was born on the 31st of
January 1797 in Himmelpfortgrund,
Giuseppe Verdi
• A name associated with
Romantic opera is that of
Verdi. His characters are
ordinary people and not those
of the royal family like those
found in German operas. He
insisted on a good libretto and
wrote operas with political
overtones and for middle-
class audience
• Verdi was born in Parma, Italy
on October 9, 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. Almost all of his
works are serious love story
with unhappy ending.
• He completed 25 operas
throughout his career. His
final opera ends with “All the
world‟s a joke.”Some of his
famous operas are still being
produced and performed
worldwide. His much
acclaimed works are; La
Traviata, Rigoletto, Falstaff,
Otello and Aida were he wrote
for the opening of the Suez
Giacomo Puccini
• Giacomo Puccini was born in a
poor family on December 22,
1858 in 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”,
Richard Wagner
• Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born
in Leipzig, Germany on May 22,
1813. He attended Leipzig
University. He was very much
inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven.
Wagner introduced new ideas in
harmony and in form, including
extremes of chromaticism. He also
explored the limits of the
traditional tonal system that gave
keys and chords its own identity
• Wagner exerted a strong
influence on the operatic
medium. He was an advocate of a
new form of opera which he
called “music drama” where
musical and dramatic elements
were fused together. He
developed a compositional style
in which the orchestra has of
equal importance in dramatic
roles as the singers themselves.
The expressiveness is aided by
the use of “leitmotifs” or musical
• His famous works are; “Tristan
and Isolde”, “Die Walkyrie”,
“Die Meistersinger”,
“Tannhäuser”, 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
Georges Bizet
• Georges Bizet was registered
with the legal name
Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold
Bizet, but was baptized
Georges Bizet and was always
known by the latter name. He
was born October 25, 1838 in
Paris, France. He entered the
Paris Conservatory of music at
a very young age.
• Bizet became famous for his
operas. His most famous
opera is “Carmen”. However,
when “Carmen” first opened
in Paris, the reviews were
terrible. The shows were
criticized in horrible ways that
resulted in poor audience
attendance.
• During the first round of
“Carmen” performances, Bizet
died (June 3, 1875). He was
only 36. Four months later,
“Carmen” opened in Vienna,
Austria, and was a smash hit.
It is now one of the most
popular operas ever written.
Bizet never knew that
audiences would come to
consider it as his masterpiece.
Application
• Group Performance:
Create an
advertisement (any
product) using the
style of Wagner in
music. Leitmotif
• 2 minutes minimum.
