Chapter 18:
The Late
Romantics
Nationalism
Key Terms
Nationalism
Exoticism
Kuchka
Nationalism (1)
Many struggles for national independence
• Romanticism’s passion for freedom
• Greeks struggled against Turks, Poles against
Russia, Czechs against Austria, & Norway
against Sweden
Consciousness of national character grew
• People now prized their own artistic heritages
Gave rise to nationalism in music
• Incorporation of national folk music into
concert pieces, songs, & operas
• Romantic individuality now a national ideal!
Nationalism (2)
How do you evoke national character?
• Quote folk songs, patriotic songs, & national
hymns, anthems, or dances
• Use folk tales, legends, or stories from your
nation’s history – e.g., Borodin’s Prince Igor
• Draw on national literary traditions
• Draw on national landmarks or geographical
features – e.g., Smetana’s Vltava (The Moldau)
Opera, songs, & program music favored
• Works that require words or a story
Nationalism (3)
Nationalist music stirred strong emotions
at home –
• And made an effective ambassador abroad
Many nationalists declared independence
from European mainstream
• Germans, French, & Italians not considered
nationalists – they were the dominant culture
• To develop a new, truly local style, nationalists
often broke rules of harmony, form, etc.
Exoticism
Audiences came to enjoy folk music
• Whether their own or someone else’s
Composers often evoked sounds of other
cultures
• Verdi (Italian) – Egyptian music for Aida
• Bizet (French) – Spanish music for Carmen
• Dvorák (Czech) – American music for his New
World Symphony
Sounds used for their exotic atmosphere
• Not for nationalistic self-definition
The Russian Kuchka
Close group of five Russian nationalists
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Nicknamed moguchaya kuchka by critic friend
Kuchka = group or clique
Often called “Mighty Five” or “Mighty Handful”
Included Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Musorgsky, &
Rimsky-Korsakov
All determined to make Russian music
truly “Russian”
• Deep interest in collecting folk song
• Committed to self-improvement as composers
Modest Musorgsky
(1839-1881)
Held military & clerical positions
• Came to composition late in life
Joined the kuchka in his 20s
• Relied on Rimsky-Korsakov for guidance
• Intense vision of a truly Russian music
• He became the most radical of the “Five”
Wrote operas, songs, & program works
• Boris Godunov was his masterpiece
Unstable personality, filled with doubts
• Died at 42 of alcoholism & epilepsy
Musorgsky,
Pictures at an Exhibition
A set of character pieces for solo piano
• Scored for orchestra by Ravel in 1922
Title refers to a memorial art exhibit
• Works by Victor Hartmann, Russian nationalist
painter who had recently died
Each character piece depicts a painting
• Promenades provide music for walking from
one painting to the next
• Promenades also provide some overall unity
Promenade [1]
Promenade theme recalls a Russian folk
song (breaks with European norms)
• Changing, irregular meters – 5/4 and 6/4
• Angular melodic contours
• Mostly based on a simple pentatonic scale
Forceful theme orchestrated for brass
instruments at first
• Later for woodwinds & strings
“Gnomus” (1)
Drawing of a Russian folk-art nutcracker
• The gnome’s jaws crack the nut when the legs
(handles) are pulled together
Macabre music for this grotesque figure
• Lurching rhythms depict gnome’s clumsy gait
• Striking dissonant harmonies & odd leaps
• Eerie tone colors – pizzicato, glissando, mutes,
harmonics, trills, & stopped horn
Form alternates between three ideas
• A B A C A C A C A C B A’
“Gnomus” (2) & Promenade [2]
Many features of “Gnomus” break with
European norms
• Rhythms, dissonant harmonies, form, etc.
Promenade [2]
Same basic tune as before
• But now quieter, more musing
“The Great Gate at Kiev” (1)
Hartmann’s fanciful architectural design
• Not a real gate in Kiev
A magnificent solemn processional
• Clashing cymbals, clanging bells, & chanting
Russian priests
A truly grandiose, bone-rattling ending
• Orchestra pulls out all the stops with timpani,
triangle, cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam, and
bells (see Hartmann’s painting!)
• Theme slows to half-speed at the end
“The Great Gate at Kiev” (2)
Overall form – A B A B C A
A & B are real Russian melodies
• A – Majestic processional theme
• B – Quiet Russian hymn with rich harmonies
• C – Promenade theme woven in one last time
Other Nationalists
Many nationalist composers in countries
outside of Russia
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Bohemia (Czech Republic) – Smetana, Dvorák
Norway – Grieg
Finland – Sibelius
Denmark – Nielsen
Spain – Granados, Turina, Falla
Great Britain – Elgar, Vaughan Williams
United States – Gottschalk, MacDowell