The Romantic Revolution

The Romantic Revolution Romanticism One artistic movement that grew out of the French Revolution was neoclassicism. Another movement that grew out of the French Revolution, that defined itself as the opposite of neoclassicism, was the Romantic movement. There was actually a pre-Romantic movement that started in the mid-1700s, in which a new appreciation developed for the medieval romance. This is where the Romantic movement got its name. The medieval romance was characterized by chivalric adventure, individual heroism, the exotic, and the mysterious, whereas the classical style focused on elegant formality and artificiality. The medieval romance was considered unsophisticated and overtly emotional—again, a defined contrast to the appeal of classicism. The pre-Romantic period grew into the first Romantic period of the late 1700s. William Wordsworth William Wordsworth was born in 1770 in the Lake District of northern England. He was seven when his mother died and thirteen when his father died. He was sent away to school by his uncles. At school, Wordsworth was educated in the classics, literature, and mathematics. Outside of school, Wordsworth explored the wooded, lake-rich landscape of the Lake District. Wordsworth’s attraction to nature surfaced when he was attending Cambridge. His summer vacation of 1790 was spent on a walking tour through revolutionary France. He identified with the passionate ideas of the Revolution. He had to return to England during the war between England and France, though, and spent several dark years in England longing to be in France. When Wordsworth had a chance to reunite with his sister Dorothy, they moved in together and Wordsworth had a new outlook on life. He met and instantly felt a kinship with poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Inspired by Coleridge, his sister, and the healing influences of nature near Bristol, England, Wordsworth started crafting short, lyrical poems, which were a departure from the long poems he penned during his Cambridge years. These are the poems most of us know today. This style was a dramatic change from the systematic neoclassical verse. The focus on nature and other elements of “Nature’s holy plan” was also a departure from the neoclassical subjects. While Wordsworth’s short dramatic poems are representative of his poetic style, he is equally remembered for writing the first long autobiographical poem. Many consider the poem, titled The Prelude, to be the finest manifestation of his art. Moreover, Wordsworth propelled poetry to the center of human existence; to him, poetry was “the first and last of all knowledge—it is as immortal as the heart of man.” John Constable John Constable was born in Suffolk, England, in 1776. He was raised in a comfortable farmhouse in the country, and this backdrop was the inspiration and model for the landscape paintings for which he is famous. When Constable first showed interest in art, he attended the Royal Academy schools. Here, art instruction focused entirely on history painting; however, Constable was drawn back to the natural elements of his childhood and dedicated himself to landscape painting. Every opportunity he had, he was studying nature directly in the English countryside. 1 He lived in London during his early adult years. During this period, he mastered the medium of oil, painting discrete studies or sketches befitting academic practice. He married a longtime sweetheart after receiving an inheritance from his father’s death, and they soon started a family. With this added pressure, Constable focused on trying to attain professional recognition. He painted a large-scale painting titled The White Horse, and he showed it at the 1819 Royal Academy exhibit. The acclaim that he received helped him get elected to the position of Associate of the Royal Academy. His wife’s health started to decline, and they moved to the north London suburb of Hampstead. Here, the fresh air and natural scenery again inspired Constable to focus on ways to represent natural appearances. He was at the height of his career throughout the 1820s as critics praised his work, and he sold his paintings. He received the recognition he was looking for, through awards and through the final election to become a Royal Academician in 1829. Toward the end of his life, landscape painting became the dominant genre in British art—a sign that Romanticism had succeeded neoclassicism in England as it had done in other parts of Europe. Of the many landscape artists, Constable stands out. He chose to paint places not well known to the masses, but that had significance to him. His oil techniques were far beyond any of his contemporaries. And he captured a moment in time in rural Britain’s history that no other artist was able to do. Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770. His grandfather was a singer in the choir of the archbishop in Cologne. His father was also a singer in the electoral choir. Music was in Beethoven’s blood. The family lived comfortably, thanks to his grandfather’s talents, but when his grandfather died, and his father turned to alcohol, Beethoven was left with the responsibilities as head of household when he was eighteen years old. Bonn, Germany, was a small provincial town during Beethoven’s youth. However, in 1780 it was transformed into a thriving, cultured city thanks to the aspirations of an adjutant under the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, Joseph II. A university was created, and everything associated with the German literary renaissance was welcome. This included installing a church organist. Beethoven capitalized on this new cultural infusion. He became assistant court organist, and it was during this time that he published his first extant composition. He then became a member of the Bonn opera. In 1787, according to multiple accounts, but not an official record, the archbishop-elect—who was responsible for the transformation of Bonn—sent Beethoven to Vienna to study with Mozart. It is said that Mozart was highly impressed by Beethoven. Beethoven continued to make a name for himself in Bonn. He played viola in the theater orchestra. He became a music teacher and acquired a number of wealthy pupils. He started composing music for important events, such as balls and funerals. He was influenced by the musical history of Mannheim, the popular music and folk music of his time, as well as by local Rhineland dance rhythms and Celtic style. He was also indirectly influenced by the French Revolution. Bonn citizens mainly sympathized with the revolutionaries. The sounds of French Revolutionary marches can be heard in many of his symphonic allegros. Beethoven eventually left Bonn and moved to Vienna. Although he had made a name for himself in northwest Germany, he continued to study and practice his skills in Vienna, making connections with music greats, such as Joseph Haydn. In 1795, he made his first public appearance in Vienna, as a 2 pianist. In the next three years, he performed concerts in Berlin and Prague. He fame spread even more when he put on a public concert in 1800, playing his own piano concerti along with works by Haydn and Mozart. He suspected before 1800 that he was losing his hearing, but it became apparent in 1802 that his hearing loss was progressive and permanent. It was a definite blow to the masterful musician. He considered taking his own life, but he felt that he still had more to do in life. “But only Art held back; for,ah, it seemed unthinkable for me to leave the world forever before I had produced all that I felt called upon to produce.” As his hearing loss progressed, Beethoven appeared in public less and less. Rather than perform, he turned to composing. He wrote compositions for the theater, including a score for a ballet and an opera. He composed a symphony in 1804 that he was going to dedicate to Napoleon Bonaparte, but he changed his mind after hearing that Napoleon had taken the title of emperor. In 1810, a German composer in Berlin produced an appreciation of the Fifth Symphony, which helped spread Beethoven’s popularity throughout the world, and ignited the interests of the Romantics. He continued to write additional symphonies following the Fifth. Performances of these were huge successes, and he soon became universally known. His rise occurred at the same time as the rise of Vienna, and he enjoyed his stardom at the same time Vienna enjoyed its hour of glory after years of war. Beethoven’s legacy is due in part to his promotion of instrumental music. Before his time, music was secondary to literature and painting. Its purpose was to accompany a text. The ascension of instrumental music was made possible by the influence of the Mannheim Orchestra, the works of Haydn and Mozart, and Beethoven’s desire to compose music based on feeling rather than pure rationalism. He is considered by many to be the greatest composer who ever lived and the predominant musical figure in the transition between the classical and Romantic eras. 3.

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