Romantic

Romantic Era Musical Examples

Franz Schubert

 An Die Musik (To Music)

Du holde Kunst, in Weiviel grauen Stunden Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt, Hast du mein Herz zu warmer Lieb entzunden, Hast mich in eine beßre Welt entrückt!	O blessed art, how often in dark hours, when the savage ring of life tightens round me. have you kindled warm love in my heart, have transported me to a better world!
Oft hat ein Seufzer, deiner harf’ entflossen, Ein süßer, heiliger Akkord von dir Den Himmel beßrer Zeiten mir erschlossen, Du holde Kunst, ich danke dir dafür!	Often a sigh has escaped from your harp, a sweet, sacred harmony of yours has opened up the heavens to better times for me. O blessed art, I thank you for that!

 Erlkonig

Narrator
Wer reitet so spat Nacht und Wind? Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind; Er hat den Knaben wohl in dem Arm, Er fasst ihn sicher, er halt ihn warm.	Who rides so late through the night and the wind? It is the father with his child; he folds the boy close in his arms, He clasps him securely, he holds him warmly.
Father
“Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?”	“My son, why do you hide your face so anxiously?”
Son
“Siehst, Vater, du den Erklonig nicht? Den Erlenkonig mit Kron’ und Schweif?”	“Father, don’t you see the Erlking? The Erlking with his crown and his train?”
Father
“Mein Sohn, es ist ein Nebelstreif”	“My son, it is a streak of mist.”
Erlking
“Du liebes Kind, komm, geh mit mir! Gar schöne Spiele spiel’ ich mit dir, Manch bunte Blumen sind an dem Strand, Meine Mutter hat manch Gölden Gewand.”	“Dear child, come, go with me! I’ll play the prettiest games with you. Many colored flowers grow along the shore; my mother has many golden garments.”
Son
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, und hörst du nicht, Was Erlenkönig mir leise verspricht?”	“My father, my father, and don’t you hear the Erlking whispering promises to me?”
Father
“Sei ruhig, bleibe ruhig, mein Kind: In dürren Blättern säuselt der Wind”	“Be quiet, stay quiet, my child; the wind is rustling in the dead leaves.”
Erlking
“Willst, feiner Knabe, du mit mir gehn? Meine Töchter sollen dich warten schön; Meine Töchter führen den nächtlichen Reihn Und wiegen und tanzen und singen dich ein.”	“My handsome boy, will you come with me? My daughters shall wait upon you; my daughters lead off in the dance every night, and cradle and dance and sing you to sleep.”
Son
“Mein Vater, mein vater und siegst du nicht dort Erlkönigs Töchter am düstern Ort?”	“My father, my father, and don’t you see there the Erlking’s daughters in the shadows?”
Father
“Mein Sohn, mein sohn, ich seh’ es genau: Es scheinen die alten Weiden so grau.”	“My son, my son, I see it clearly; the old willows look so gray.”
Erlking
“Ich liebe dich, mich reizt deine schöne Gestalt; Und bist du nicht willig, so brauch’ ich Gewalt.”	“I love you, your beautiful figure delights me! And if you are not willing, then I shall use force!”
Son
“Mein Vater, mein Vater, jetzt fasst er mich an! Erlkönig hat mir ein Leids getan!”	“My father, my father, now he is taking hold of me! The Erlking has hurt me!”
Narrator
Dem Vater grauset’s er reitet geschwind, Er hält in Armen das ächzende Kind Erreicht den Hof mit Mühe und Not; In seinem Armen das Kind war tot.	The father shudders, he rides swiftly on; he holds in his arms the groaning child, he reaches the courtyard weary and anxious: in his arms the child was dead.

Die Forelle

In einem Bächlein helle, Da schoß in froher Eil’ Die launische Forelle Vorüber wie ein Pfeil. Ich stand an dem Gestade Und sah in süßer Ruh’ Des muntern Fischleins Bade im klaren Bächlein zu.	In a bright brooklet briskly and gaily sped the wily trout like an arrow past me I stood on the bank, and in sweet calm watched the cheerful fish bathing in the clear brooklet.
Ein fischer mit der Rute Wohl an dim Ufer stand Und sah’s mit kaltem Blute, Wie sich das Fischlein wand. Solang dem Wasser Helle, So dacht ich , nicht gebricht, So fängt er die Forelle Mit seiner Angel nicht.	A fisherman with his rod stood there on the brink and cold-bloodedly watched how the fish turned round. As long as the bright water is undisturbed, I thought, he won’t catch the trout with his angle.
Doch endlich ward dem Diebe Die Zeit zu lang. Er macht Das Bächlein tückisch trübe, Und eh’ ich es gedacht, So zuckte seine Rute, Das Fischlein zappelt dran, Und ich mit gegem Blute Sah die Betrog’ne an.	But at last the robber found that time too long. He made the brooklet muddy, by a trick, and before I realized it, his rod quivered, the fish dangled on it, and I with blood boiling beheld the cheated catch.

Frederic Chopin

 

Franz Liszt

 

Les Preludes

THE PROGRAM

“What else is life but a series of preludes to that unknown song whose first solemn note is intoned by death. Love is the enchanted dawn of all existence; but what destiny is there whose first delights of love are not interupted by some storm?… And what cruelly wounded soul, after such a storm, does not try to soothe its memories in the gentle calm of country life? But man does not allow himself to enjoy at length the restoring warmth which first attracted him to the bosom of nature, and when ‘the trumpet sounds the alarm’ (a quotation from Lamartine) he rushes to the dangerous post…to find in combat the full awareness of himself and the complete possession of his powers.”

THE MUSIC

Section 1.

1. Pizzicato strings, f, Andante.
2. Basic motive, p, bowed strings in unison. High woodwinds, p.
3. Pizzicato strings, p.
4. Basic motive, p, repeated a step higher, bowed strings in unison. High woodwinds, p.
5. Basic motive developed in strings, p, crescendo, harp, high woodwind chords and brasses in background. Strings, f, introduce…

Section 2.

1. Full orchestra, ff, majestic staccato theme in brasses, strings accompany. Descend to…
2. First love theme, violins and cellos, p, basic motive in background. Solo horn, p, joins violins, first love theme continued in violins and cellos, crescendo. Decrescendo to…
3. Horns, p, second love theme. High violins lead to woodwinds, p, second love theme repeated, violins. Crescendo to ff, tempo quickens.
4. High woodwinds, p, tempo slows, oboe trill, strings ff, high woodwinds, p, oboe trill, p, high violins.
5. Solo horn, p, first love theme, flutes, p, beginning of first love theme; pause.

Section 3.

1. Cellos, p, storm theme, Allegro. Strings and woodwinds, crescendo, tempo quickens.
2. Full orchestra, f, brasses, basic motive, faster tempo, rising violin melody leads to full orchestra, ff, detached chords, downward rushing scale in strings leads to…
3. Brass fanfares, f, violins, ff, repeat fanfares; strings, decrescendo, tempo slows.
4. Solo oboe, p, first love theme slightly varied, clarinet accompanies, a little more moderate tempo; violins, p, repeat first love theme more slowly, harp accompanies.

Section 4.

1. Solo horn, p, pastoral motive, Allegretto, harp; solo oboe, clarinet, and flute develop pastoral motive.
2. Strings, p, answered by woodwinds in graceful exchange; legato melody in violins, p, flute answered by pizzicato strings, p, solo woodwinds lead downward, violins introduce…
3. Second love theme, violins, p, pastoral motive accompanies in lower strings. Second love theme repeated by flutes and violins, pastoral motive accompanies in harp and woodwinds. Second love theme repeated by horns and cellos, crescendo, tempo quickens. Full orchestra, ff, second love theme, trumpet fanfares. Running notes in violins, ff, introduce…

Section 5.

1. Trumpets, f, martial transformation of first love theme, Allegro. Suddenly softer, trumpet fanfares, crescendo.
2. Full orchestra, ff, martial transformation of second love theme, cymbal crashes, side drum.
3. Full orchestra, ff, martial transformation of first love theme, cymbal crashes, side drum, violins, woodwinds, trumpet calls, crescendo, cymbal crashes, tempo slows.

Section 6.

1. Full orchestra, ff, majestic staccato theme in brasses, strings accompany, cymbal crashes. Powerful orchestral chords at end.

Clara Wieck Schumann

Allegretto, duple meter, A B A’ form
Violin, piano
(2:45)

Description

A section (minor)

1. Main violin melody, p, minor, syncopated upward octave leap. Melody descends from high tone.
2. Main melody repeated, syncopatedleaps in violin, tempo slows slightly.
3. Long trills in violin, melody in piano; two-note figure, repeated in ever-quicker rhythms, introduces…

B section (major)

1. New soaring phrase in major, beginning with short trill, p.
2. Playful phrase with trill; staccato “chirping” idea tossed from violin to piano.
3. Violin trill, soaring phrase returns, shift from major to minor, melody in low register in violin and piano, mf. Staccato “chirping” idea and trill bring return to major.
4. Violin trill, soaring phrase, p, playful phrase with trills.
5. Two-note figure repeated in ever-quicker rhythms introduces…

A’ section (minor)

1. Main violin melody, minor; paino immediately imitates violin. Melody descends from high note.
2. Main melody repeated, syncopated leaps in violin, tempo slows slightly.
3. Long trills in violin; melody in piano leads to soaring phrase, now in minor; ascent from low register to high; pizzicato major ending, p.

Hector Berlioz

 

Symphonie fantastique

The Program

A young musician of extraordinary sensibility and abundant imagination, in the depths of despair because of hopeless love, has poisoned himself with opium. The drug is too feeble to kill him but plunges him into heavy sleep accompanied by weird visions. His sensations, emotions, and memories, as they pass through his affected mind, are transformed into musical images and ideas. The beloved one herself becomes to him a melody, a recurrent theme (idee fixe) which haunts him continually.

Berlioz’ Symphony fantastique is a program symphony in five movements.

1. Reveries, Passions
2. A Ball
3. Scene in the Country
4. March to the Scaffold – Allegro non troppo:
   

   “He dreams that he has murdered his beloved, that he has been condemned to death and is being led to the scaffold. The procession moves forward to the sounds of a march that is now somber and fierce, now brilliant and solemn, in which the muffled sounds of heavy steps give way without transition to the noisiest outbursts. At the end the idee fixe returns for a moment, like a last thought of love interrupted by the death blow.”

5. Dream of Witches’ Sabbath -Larghetto; Allegro:
   

   “He sees himself at a witches’ sabbath in the midst of a hideous crowd of ghouls, sorcerers, and monsters of every description, united for his funeral. Strange noises, groans, shrieks of laughter, distant cries, with other cries seem to answer. The melody of the beloved one is heard, but it has lost its character of nobleness and timidity; it is no more than a dance tune, ignoble, trivial, and grotesque. It is she who comes to the sabbath!… A howl of joy greets her arrival… She participates in the diabolical orgy… The funeral knell, burlesque of the Dies irae. Witches’ dance. The dance and the Dies irae are combined.”

Johannes Brahms

Giuseppe Verdi

La donna è mobile from Rigoletto

 

UPDATED:

 

(link: http://youtu.be/oMhB_jticKE)

La donna è mobile, the Duke's aria from Rigoletto

La donna è mobile, qual piùma al vento,
	Woman is fickle (movable), like a feather in the wind,
muta d'accento, e di pensiero.
	she changes the tone of her voice (i.e., her accents), and her thoughts
Sempre un amabile, leggiadro viso,
	Always a sweet, pretty face,
in pianto o in riso, è menzognero.
	in tears or in laughter, (she) is (always) lying
La donna è mobile, qual piùma al vento,
	Woman is fickle, like a feather in the wind,
muta d'accento, e di pensier
	she changes her accents, and her thoughts
e di pensier, e di pensier
	and her thoughts, and her thoughts

È sempre misero, chi a lei s'affida,
	It is always miserable, he that trusts in her
	(He is always miserable who trusts in her)
chi le confida, mal cauto il core!
	who to her confides, his unwary heart! 
Pur mai non sentesi  felice appieno
	Yet nobody feels happy fully
chi su quel seno non liba amore!
	who on that bosom doesn't drink love,
La donna è mobil, qual piùma al vento,
	Woman is fickle, like a feather in the wind,
muta d'accento e di pensier,
	she changes the tone of her voice and her thoughts
e di pensier, e e di pensier!
	and her thoughts, and her thoughts!

Giacomo Puccini

Richard Wagner