Nineteenth Century II
Mid-to late- Romantic Music
Romanticism
 Romanticism had become established: Music should represent human
emotions to the utmost, and it must tell a story or express an idea that
is profound, resonant, or uplifting
 Most important genres were solo piano works, symphonic program
music and opera
 Symphonic Program music followed two paths: programmatic
symphony – full length symphony, with each of its three to five
movements depicting an episode in the narrative and symphonic
poem - single-movement self-contained work, also for orchestra and
also programmatic
 Opera, different types: grand opera – Lofty subjects, grand
productions; opera comique (comic opera) – Humorous or happy
subjects, simple productions. The dialogue is also spoken as opposed
to a recitative; lyric opera – Stories of tragic love, full productions
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
 Born in Hungary; his father was an administrator and court
musician at the Esterhazy palace.
 Liszt first learned to play the piano with his father, but after a
move to Vienna, he studied composition with Antonio Salieri
 At age eleven, Liszt gave his first concert.
 When he was thirteen, his family moved to Paris, and he
began to tour Europe as a piano virtuoso. He had striking
looks, a flamboyant manner and a reputation as a womanizer;
all of which furthered his career.
 At twenty, he heard Paganini for the first time. Like
everyone else, he vowed to reach the same virtuosity on the
piano. He did and was known as the “Paganini of the piano”
Develops new relationships
 Gained friends Berlioz and Chopin
 Began living with the Countess Marie d’Agoult, a novelist who published
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under the name Daniel Stern.
The Countess left her husband to live with Liszt; they had three children
together (one of whom, Cosima, later left her husband to live with Wagner)
In 1842, Liszt settled in Weimar, Germany and was appointed music
director. He wanted to devote more time to conducting and composing.
His relationship with the Countess ended and he began an affair with a
Russian princess. While with her, he completes the works in which he is
best remembered.
In 1861, Liszt resigned from Weimar and went to Rome to begin religious
studies. During this time, he composed psalm settings, Masses and an
oratorio.
Liszt died in 1886 while visiting the new opera house at Bayreuth.
Liszt’s Music
 Experimented with unusual harmonies and chords and seemed to
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ignore the rules of traditional harmony altogether.
Liszt’s piano music is extremely difficult. Schumann said, only “ten
or twelve people in the world” had the technical ability to play
Liszt’s music.
His Piano Sonata in B minor includes a technique known as
thematic transformation – multiple themes are presented at
the outset and then reappear in different forms throughout the
piece.
Many of his pieces are in dance form: waltzes, mazurkas,
polonaises, and Hungarian dances
He also composed many transcriptions – a “translation” of a piece of
music from one medium to another. He took many orchestral
pieces and reworked them to be played on the piano.
LISTEN
 Transcendental Étude No. 10 in F Minor
 Composed in 1839 for solo piano
 Liszt was fifteen years old when he composed this
piece in 1826. He revised and reissued it in 1839.
 Liszt explores every possibility of demanding
piano technique including: doubled octave
passages, rapid skips, intricate bass tracery, fast
runs, massive chords and widely separated hands,
unusual harmonies
Giuseppe Verdi 1813-1901
 Born in northern Italy, where his father ran an inn.
 As young man, Verdi played organ at the village church
and conducted the town band in Busseto. One of
Busseto’s wealthy merchants later sent Verdi to Milan to
study music.
 Milan was the center of Italian opera and home of the
famous opera house, La Scala.
 Verdi was determined to become an opera composer.
After marrying his sixteen year old bride, he moved to
Milan permanently.
Tragedy
 Within the first two years of his marriage, the couple’s two babies
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died. And soon after his wife also died.
Verdi was overcome with depression and decided to compose no
more.
Verdi got out of his slump when the manager at La Scala made him
take home a new libretto called Nabucco.
Verdi said upon reading the libretto, “I was much moved because the
verses were almost a paraphrase from the Bible, the reading of which
had always delighted me.”
By the next day he was already working on his new opera. Nabucco
was produced at La Scala in 1842 with great success.
During the next eleven years, he composed 15 operas and became a
wealthy man. He continued composing operas throughout the
remainder of his life.
He died at the age of 88. A day in which Italy declared a national day
of mourning.
Verdi’s Music
 He wrote in other musical genres besides opera, though this
was his most well-known genre
 He composed choral works that include a requiem
 Songs
 String quartet
 He composed 28 full-length operas, among which are some
of the best-loved operas in the world
 What makes his operas so successful? His gift for vocal
writing (listeners love his soaring melodies), rhythm
(composes stirring rhythms), human drama (sought out
dramatic situations)
LISTEN
 Otello (Excerpt)
 Composed in 1887
 Otello was the last of Verdi’s tragic operas.
 Inspired by Shakespeare’s play Othello
 Story = The story revolves around the evil deception of Iago, a
member of the Venetian army. He is jealous of the promotion of his
friend Cassio to a high post. Iago is determined to destroy Cassio’s
career by deceiving Otello into thinking that Cassio is having an
affair with Desdemona, Otello’s new wife.
 This excerpt is taken from the end of Act II, where Iago cleverly
tries to convince his commander (Otello) that his rival (Cassio) has
romantic interests on Desdemona. The scene builds from the
lightly accompanied opening and the representation of sleep-talk to
a huge orchestral climax of sworn revenge.