The Romantic period is a complete change from the Classical. Romantic art style emphasize three elements: strangeness, ecstasy, and experimentation. The piano during this period, because of the industrial revolution, was made stronger and better, leading to great virtuosos of the century such as Chopin and Liszt.
During the Romantic period, the industrial revolution improved many of the traditional instruments, mostly the wind instruments. The piano was given metal frames and thicker strings. As more musical conservatories were established, musicians began to be better trained. This period saw the rise of virtuoso performers alone, instead of the composer-performers of previous decades. Increasing dynamics helped make the music more dramatic. Musical terms began to become more popular in an effort to communicate with the performer and listener. Folklore and nationalism in composing enriched music. Romantic melodies were long tuneful phrases with emotional appeal. Romantic harmony was expressive, more dissonant, and more chromatic. Many forms of previous century were expanded, but there was also an increase of use of shorter forms and free form.
In piano music, there was an increased use of short forms, equivalent to the art song, which also flourished during this period. Some examples of short forms are the ballade, capriccio, impromptu, march, mazurka, nocturne, polonaise, prelude, song without words, and waltz. The piano cycle also came into being, which is a group of short pieces related in story or character combined to be played in a series, e.g. Schumann's Carnaval. Composers began to give more descriptive names to pieces instead of just opus numbers, like in the Classical Period.
There were many significant composers of this period: Schubert, Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Robert and Clara Schumann, Mussorgsky, Dvorak, Verdi, Tchaikovsky, and Mendelssohn. Many have written piano works. However the most significant piano composers of this century were Chopin and Liszt.
Chopin (1810-1849)
was born near Warsaw, Poland. He began formal music lessons
at 6 and started composing at 7. Between the ages of 12 and
19 he studied at Warsaw Conservatory. He later went to
Vienna, Stuttgart, finally arriving at Paris where he taught
and performed for a living. He also met the novelist George
Sand (madame Aurore Dudevant) and developed a deep friendship
with her that unfortunately ended in bitterness. He retired
in 1835 because of health problems. He died in 1849, when he
was buried in Paris but his heart was returned to Poland.
Chopin centered all of his artistic efforts on the piano. He created his own style based on the folk music of Poland. His music overcame the piano's inability to sustain tones by the use of the pedal, chords spaced apart in the bass, and ornaments. His contribution includes 2 piano concertos, 4 ballades, Fantasy in F minor, Berceuse, Barcarolle, 3 sonatas, preludes, etudes, mazurkas, nocturnes, waltzes, polonaises, impromptus, scherzos, rondos, marches, and variations. Chopin's highly individual style involves very tuneful melodies, beautiful flowing harmony, and tempo rubato. His music represents the true Romantic spirit.
Liszt (1811-1886)
was born in Hungary and was another very gifted child prodigy
at the piano. He was a very successful concert pianist and
was considered to be the greatest pianist of all time. He was
the idol of his time among aristocrats. In 1842 he moved to
Weimar where he became a musical director, conductor,
teacher, and composer. In 1865 he became an abbe and devoted
the rest of his life to the church. He gave a final concert
in London in 1886 and died soon after.
Liszt's specialty in piano music is etudes - he transformed the dry, repetitive studies into highly lyrical pieces, such as Transcedental Etudes. He also wrote a sonata, Hungarian Rhapsodies, nocturne, waltzes, ballades, polonaises, and transcriptions of orchestral and opera works for piano. His works are best characterized by technical brilliance, involving large chords, florid passages, and the lyricism of Romanticism. Playing his works involves a lot of practice and patience, and understanding of the style of this era.
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