
The Romantic opera in Germany culminated in the works of Richard Wagner, who combined and integrated such diverse strands of Romanticism as fervent nationalism; the cult of the hero; exotic sets and costumes; expressive music; and the display of virtuosity in orchestral and vocal settings.
- -The melody was long and lyrical with irregular phrases; wide somewhat angular skips, and a variaty of melodic ideas wihtin one movement.
- -The harmony was expanded with more dissonance chords with more modulaity.
- -The rythem was frequent changes in the tempo and time signiture.
What was the Romantic era of opera music?
The Romantic Era Of Opera Music Essay. This was a comedic opera that was the first of its kind which was written in 1810. Many great composers followed Rossini including Vincenzo Bellini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Giuseppe Verdi. These composers continued to change the way operas were being written as well as preformed.
When did opera become popular?
The earliest opera in what came to be recognised as the Romantic style is Weber’s Der Freischutz. Like other forms of music, opera assumed epic proportions in the 19th century. It was, for Europeans and later for educated Americans, the predecessor of the Hollywood blockbuster.
What are the characteristics of an opera?
An opera is generally sung from start to finish, although some forms have set pieces (arias, duets and other ensembles) which are punctuated with recitative (which is sung dialog), or short dialog scenes. Opera was invented in Italy in 1600 by the gentlemen in a group wh
What is the meaning of opera music?
What is opera music? Opera is a music drama where music is written for actors and actresses who have to sign out their parts starting with an overture or a prelude and the music is split into accompaniment and melody known as arias and in oratory reading out form known as recitatives. What's the dark side of living in Slovenia?

What is opera in the Romantic period?
Romantische Oper (German for '"romantic opera"') was a genre of early nineteenth-century German opera, developed not from the German Singspiel of the eighteenth-century but from the opéras comiques of the French Revolution.
What are the features of romantic music?
Characteristics of the Romantic PeriodFreeform and design of the music.Longer melodies.The major use of chromatic harmonies and dissonances.More use of dynamics and articulations than ever before.Larger instrumentations.Intense energy and passion.Dramatic opera.Extensive symphonies.More items...•
What is the most important opera during the Romantic period?
Discover the greatest romantic Opera WorksCarmen. 842 Georges Bizet Opera 1874 Play.The Barber of Seville (Il barbiere di Siviglia) ... La traviata. ... Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), WWV 86. ... Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde), WWV 90. ... Tannhäuser, WWV 70. ... La bohème. ... Aida.More items...
What makes opera music of the Romantic period unique?
They used more extended melodies, broader ranges of tone, pitch, and tempo – more sophisticated harmonies. Some key innovations from the Romantic Era include: Chromatic harmonies were making greater use of semitones and unusual chord progressions.
Which of the following was one of the main features of the Romantic period *?
Among the characteristic attitudes of Romanticism were the following: a deepened appreciation of the beauties of nature; a general exaltation of emotion over reason and of the senses over intellect; a turning in upon the self and a heightened examination of human personality and its moods and mental potentialities; a ...
How do you explain the characteristics of opera?
Opera uses many of the elements of spoken theatre such as scenery, costumes, and acting. Generally, however, opera is distinguished from other dramatic forms by the importance of song. The singers are accompanied by a musical ensemble ranging from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.
What kind of story does romantic opera tell?
For the last 400 years, operas have been based around themes of real human emotion: life, death, joy, anger, and most predominantly, love. From two impoverished bohemians, to lovers who can only be together in death, we've chosen some of opera's greatest love stories.
How long were operas in the Romantic period?
Romantic. Romantic opera has dominated operatic stages for the better part of two centuries. Emerging around the turn of the 19th century, Romanticism was the predominant artistic and literary movement until the 1st World War.
When did Romantic era opera start?
Romanticism—part philosophical, part literary, and part aesthetic—made its first appearances in opera in three works composed between 1821 and 1826 by Carl Maria von Weber.
What musical idea was used during the Romantic era?
romantic music puts unprecedented emphasis on self-expression and individuality of style. the romantics explored a universe of feeling that included flamboyance and intimacy, unpredictability and melancholy, rapture and longing.
Why is nationalism reflected in most of the music of Romantic period?
Musical nationalism provided the “appearance of familiarity” so the composer could be original and artistic while the listener could identify with the music on a patriotic level.
What are the common themes of the music of the Romantic period?
Common themes during this period included intense emotions, nationalism, extreme perceptions of nature, exoticism (focus on faraway places such as Asia), and the supernatural or macabre. Symphonie Fantastique (1830), by Berlioz, is an example of many common Romantic themes.
What are the 8 characteristics of romantic music?
Terms in this set (8)Individuality of style. the music often was so idiosyncratic that listeners could identify the composer in seconds.Expressive aims and subjects. ... Nationalism and exoticism. ... program music. ... expressive tone color. ... colorful harmony. ... expanded range of dynamics, pitch and tempo. ... forms.
What is the form of romantic music?
Music Forms of the Romantic Period Romance, nocturne, etude, and polonaise are examples of 19th-century music styles. Romance refers to a short, lyrical piece for piano. It can also be played by another solo instrument, with piano accompaniment.
What tonal feature is typical of the Romantic era?
General characteristics of harmony and tonality in the Romantic period. Chromatic harmony was used more frequently than in earlier periods. Composers added more notes to their chords to form extended chords. Composers used dissonance to make their music more expressive.
What is the texture of romantic music?
TEXTURE: As in the Classical period, during the Romantic era, homophonic texture was primarily used (melody with accompaniment), and development sections sometimes used polyphonic texture.
Gioacchino Rossini- Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville)
Opera was the only important form of music being made in Italy in the 19th Century.
Carmen Cont..
A soldier, Don José, falls in a very hot and cold love with a provocative and unruly gypsy girl, Carmen. When Carmen wants Don José, he does not want her and vice-versa.
Works Cited
Charlton, Katherine, and Robert Hickok. "Romantic Opera in France and Italy." Experience music!. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2007. 224-235. Print.
What was the significance of opera during the Romantic era?
In line with the developments in instrumental music Opera as a musical form gathered significant momentum during the Romantic Era. Opera, like the symphony orchestra, expanded in the Romantic Era. The scale of the opera grew and the search for stories that were steeped in national significance (in the case of Wagner), or love.
What did the romantic era mean?
The Romantic Era was that of the virtuoso who became a celebrity along similar lines to the pop stars we see today topping the charts.
Why was the soloist important in the romantic concertos?
The soloist in the Romantic concertos was of paramount importance and focus, there to dazzle and thrill the audience . Listen, for example to the last three Beethoven Piano Concertos, of later the works of Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky. This also highlights the important fact that music was being composed far further afield than the Austria, Germany and Italy. The Romantic Era encompasses emerging composers from Russia, England, France, Denmark, Finland, Hungary as well as those who feature in this period of music. This eventually leads to an artistic slant towards Nationalism in the later part of the 19 th century.
What is Beethoven's most important contribution to the Romantic era?
His development of the symphonic form alone made an enormously important stride forward into the Romantic era, particularly in his third symphony, the Eroica . The notion of heroic struggle and the eventual triumph of the spirit of man increasingly become central wells of inspiration for successive generations of Romantic composers. Mahler (1860-1911) could never have conceived of his second symphony, the Resurrection, without Beethoven’s symphonic output.
How long was Haydn's last symphony?
Haydn’s last symphony (104 th ), was only thirty minutes long and in four movements. As we move further into the Romantic Era the symphonic form extends dramatically; not only in duration but also in terms of formal structure.
What is the popularity of the tone poem?
The popularity of the ‘tone-poem’ is a good example of this which treads its way through the entire symphony transforming and developing along with the hero and the narrative. Liszt used similar techniques to construct many of his compositions to great, if at times overly dramatic effect at the expense of aesthetic credibility.
How many players were in the orchestra during the Romantic era?
By the time we arrive at the end of the Romantic Era, it was not uncommon to see an orchestra of a hundred players, often with a chorus and organ.
What is Romanticism in opera?
Romanticism —part philosophical, part literary, and part aesthetic —made its first appearances in opera in three works composed between 1821 and 1826 by Carl Maria von Weber. Beginning with his masterpiece, Der Freischütz (1821; “The Magic Marksman,” libretto by Friedrich Kind), Weber successfully challenged the outdated hegemony of Gaspare Spontini in Berlin. Der Freischütz illustrates the German Romantic writers’ love for dark forests, the echoes of hunters’ horns, the threatening presence of supernatural forces, and the frustrations of pure young love. Its popularity in Germany and elsewhere was enormous. Weber’s other operas— Euryanthe (1823) and Oberon, or The Elf King’s Oath, (1826)—did not meet with such success, in part because of the fantastic nature of their librettos and in part because Romantic critics looked down on singspiel. ( Oberon exhibits the distinctive feature of singspiel: spoken dialogue interspersed with singing.) The overtures to all three of these operas, however, remained in the symphonic repertoire.
What are some of the most famous operas of the first group?
Many of the operas in the first group relate stories of personal tragedy, such as Nabucodonoser (1842; “Nebuchadnezzar,” commonly called Nabucco ), Giovanna d’Arco (1845; “Joan of Arc”), Macbeth (1847), and Luisa Miller (1849).
How old was Verdi when he wrote his first opera?
When—at age 26—Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi premiered his first opera, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio (1839) in Milan, Rossini had not offered a new opera for 10 years, bel canto composer Vincenzo Bellini was dead, and Donizetti was composing for Parisian audiences. Welcome as the debut of a new talent was, no one could predict that Verdi’s 26 operas—the last written in 1893, when he was 80 years old—would completely dominate Italian music in the last half of the 19th century. Loyal to the traditions of Italian opera and to the cause of Italian political unification, Verdi was revered by a faithful public and became a national hero. Even today his operas remain among the most frequently performed works, not only in Italy but also on the international stage.
What period did Verdi write opera?
Except for his Requiem Mass (1874) and a few other sacred works, opera accounts for Verdi’s entire creative output, which has been divided into three periods: Oberto (1839) to La traviata (1853); Les vêpres siciliennes (1855; “The Sicilian Vespers”) to Aida (1871); and Otello (1887) to Falstaff (1893).
Why did Weber's operas not meet with such success?
Weber’s other operas— Euryanthe (1823) and Oberon, or The Elf King’s Oath, (1826)—did not meet with such success, in part because of the fantastic nature of their librettos and in part because Romantic critics looked down on singspiel. ( Oberon exhibits the distinctive feature of singspiel: spoken dialogue interspersed with singing.)
How many operas did Verdi write?
Welcome as the debut of a new talent was, no one could predict that Verdi’s 26 operas—the last written in 1893, when he was 80 years old—would completely dominate Italian music in the last half of the 19th century.
What is the highest level of musical achievement in Johann Strauss's operas?
It culminated in operetta on the highest level of musical accomplishment in the masterworks of Johann Strauss the Younger. Many of Strauss’s operettas are known now only by their overtures and waltzes, but one of them, Die Fledermaus (1874; “The Bat”), has never left the stage for long.
