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The Romantic Era: Trends

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The Romantic Era: Trends Chapter 24 – The Romantic Era: Trends Illustration 1: Camille Pissarro, "Boulevard des Italiens" (1897) THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION As we concluded from the earlier descriptions of how the role of music and the musician changed, there was a profound economic shift in the Romantic Era. If there is any truth to the tongue in cheek Golden Rule of the Arts and Sciences--”he who has the gold makes the rules”--the gold had changed hands once more. Corresponding closely to the beginning and ending dates of the Classical Era was the Industrial Revolution, an era that represents one of the most profound changes in the history of Western culture and the world. Some historians cite it as important to human history as the harnessing of fire. While not completely uniform across society, the standard of living in general—as well as the wages—of many people steadily increased at a rate more robust than any early economist dared to imagine. Increased efficiency in steam power and metal refining physically changed the infrastructure of society. Textile manufacturing became a driving force in the economy. And. corresponding nearly as closely to the Romantic Era was the Second Industrial Revolution which saw booms in railroads, factories, the beginnings of the internal combustion engine, and the harnessing of electricity and the first wireless radio transmissions; not to mention the ability to make a record of sound vibrations air and reproduce them in mass quantities. It is not just the technology and the inventions that drove the era, but the secondary effects caused by the economic machine that set the tone for the Romantic zeitgeist. All of that change—within a century and a half—created an upheaval in society unlike anything seen before. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that we see an upheaval in music and art unlike anything seen before. THE CELEBRATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL One way to understand how different the Romantic Era is from the Classical is to look at the biographical events in a composer's life. Many of the early pre-Romantic era composers had difficult, even tragic lives—but you will almost never hear that in their music. In Beethoven's music, you can hear his struggles. You can hear his declaration of victory. You can hear the personality of his music change with his progressing deafness. You can hear his excitement with the rejection of the monarchy and the liberation of the masses. His music is not about everyman, but about one man: Beethoven. A couple of centuries earlier we heard a profound change in music as the effects of religion on society dwindled and a powerful monarchy filled the vacuum. We hear a similar profound change in the 19th century. Two events that were at least indirectly responsible for this change would be the American and French revolutions that broke down a political and economic structure that had been in existence for thousands of years. The philosophy of a government by and for the people happening during this time? Not surprising that we would hear music by and for the people. THE ORCHESTRA The orchestra is perhaps the most unique musical invention in human history with its rich tradition of meticulously crafted musical instruments, meticulously detailed system of notation (made possible by increased general literacy and the ability to mass produce music), the social institutions and rituals that have grown up around public concerts (not to mention that they had to be available for public concerts in large halls could take place), and the economies that allowed musical instrument makers to refine their crafts to the highest degree (remember that musicians and instrument makers have always traditionally embraced the most modern technology available). The same economic changes allowed musicians to devote their careers to performance; that allowed composers and conductors to do the same, etc. We should not be surprised that the greatest change happened during the Industrial Revolutions with all of the ripple effects that went through society. At the beginning of the 19th century, the average number of members in an orchestra numbered in the mid-30s. By the end of the century, the average orchestra had over 100 regular musicians and had evolved into a powerful instrument capable of extremes in volume, a much wider array of timbres, and musical effects that would have been impossible earlier. Growth like this does not happen at random. One very important factor was the invention of valves for brass instruments. “Natural” (i.e. valveless) brass instruments are limited in the notes they can play. They can generally sound a few important notes in whatever key they happen to be in at the time. In much symphonic music, this meant that they were mostly used for punctuation at the end of sections or for emphasis and reinforcement of harmonies. While it may suggest that these instruments were nearly useless, that's not the case—many ingenious composers were able to work around the limitations of the instrumentsi. Following the invention of valves, brass instruments were now able to hit every chromatic note that the strings and woodwinds could. Composers made good use of this and discovered that brass instruments could be extremely loudii. So, the logical solution to keep them from drowning out other sections was to make the other sections larger to balance the sound. With these innovations, the orchestra was free to grow into a very large, complex, and prestigious musical organization. Many of those organizations are still in existence. By the end of the 19th century we see an autocratic international superstar conductor controlling every nuance of an orchestra's sound. The conductor as a stand-alone figure became common in the early 1800s. Composer Felix Mendelssohn and Louis Spohr, a pupil of Beethoven, are thought to be among the first to use a baton (stick) to conduct rather than a rolled up sheet of paper or a violin bow. Composers took advantage of this by creating music that needed a complex and nuanced guidance that only a stand-alone conductor could provide. Louis Spohr wrote, “I took my stand with the score in front of the orchestra, drew my conducting stick from my pocket, and gave the signal to begin. Some of the directors had been alarmed, but when I besought them to grant me at least one trial, they became pacified. The symphonies and overtures that were to be rehearsed were well known to me, and in Germany I had already directed their performance. I could therefore not only give the tempi in a very decisive manner, but also indicate to the wind instruments and horns all their entries, which ensured to them a confidence such as hitherto they had not known there. They played with a spirit and correctness such as till then they had never been heard to play with.” While not strictly a typical orchestral instrument, the piano, a favorite instrument of many Romantic composers, experienced a similar reinforcement with manufacturers creating models with a richer tone and increased dynamic range. THE RISE OF THE VIRTUOSO PERFORMER The concept of an artist as being celebrated for his instrumental ability is probably as old as music itself. J.S. Bach was certainly a good example of someone known for an astounding ability on the organ. A contemporary of his, Antonio Vivaldi was known for being an extraordinarily talented violinist. Mozart was a very gifted pianist as well. However something different began to happen in the early 1800s, specifically the virtuoso composer/performer. A virtuoso is a special label given to someone with technical ability beyond his peers, someone who can perform the most difficult music with ease and generally do it with at least a little showmanship. The first real example—and still one of the best—was Nicolo Paganini (1782 – 1840). Paganini showed impressive talent as a child and began playing publicly at a very early age. One account tells of how in his teens he borrowed a very fine Guarnerius violin for a concert. Paganini played so well that the owner refused to take it back afterward—and this was not the last time in his life that someone was so impressed with his playing that he was given an instrument. Paganini owned an impressive array of violins, including seven different ones made by Antonio Stradivari. He became quickly known throughout Europe for his musical ability. He was gifted with large hands that could easily run up and down the fretboard of the violin (possibly a result of Marfan's syndrome) and an an extremely acute sense of hearing. Paganini did a few tricks that mystified audiences (such as retuning the violin strings to achieve effects otherwise impossible), but he also practiced a great dealiii. At one point he began to lose audience members because the rumor began to spread that he had sold his soul to the Devil for his ability to play the violin. He was just that good (and audiences were that unsophisticated). Paganini had to take out newspaper ads saying that he had not sold his soul, but was just a very good violinistiv. Hungarian composer performer Franz Liszt (1811 – 1886) is another example of the virtuoso performer. In his early 20s he heard a concert by Paganini and resolved to become the Paganini of the piano. Liszt succeeded. Like his inspiration, Liszt was also gifted with innate musical ability and physical structure of his hands sufficient to achieve his goal. Acclaimed by his contemporaries as the greatest living pianist, Liszt was also not above a little showmanship and publicity. Contemporary accounts describe audience members scrambling to the stage for a handkerchief that he left behind and ripping it into pieces to come away with a souvenir—some episodes ending in fights over other “souvenirs” he deliberately planted.
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