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Italy has a unique personality during the mid-and late Romantic period in that its compositional output is strongly associated with one particular genre: opera. Although other genres were present in Italy too, I associate Romantic-era Italy with Rossini, Verdi and Puccini. All of these composers are associated almost exclusively with opera, and they are responsible … Continue reading Italian Opera in the Romantic Period

Scandinavia has many great composers to talk about, and these Northern countries take particular national pride in their Romantic composers. These composers took their native Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Danish folk song to heart and developed a sound distinct from the rest of Europe. In countries where there previously were no national “schools,” or styles, … Continue reading Romantic Music in Scandinavia

Moving away from Germany/Austria, consistently a hotbed for classical-style composition, we will look today at a few examples of music from another musically fascinating part of Europe. In central Europe, Czech-speaking composers Bedřich Smetana, Antonin Dvořák and Leoš Janáček among others, capitalized on folk melodies in their compositions, as well as setting vocal compositions in their … Continue reading Slavic Music in the Romantic Era

All of the Listening Club entries so far have focused on vocal music, and there’s a reason: music that has words is usually more accessible to the untrained ear. Word painting is a powerful technique that anyone can appreciate if made aware of it. With no words to paint, instrumental music is easy to listen … Continue reading Baroque Instrumental Music: Trio Sonata and Concerto Grosso

A German composer of the mid-romantic period, Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) is known today for his humble, perfectionist personality and his straight-laced, crafted-yet-heartfelt music. He burned many of his works out of fear that anyone would discover what “awful” music he had composed, and there are stories of contemporaries and friends forcibly stopping him from destroying … Continue reading Absolute Music and Johannes Brahms

After our week in Russia, we’ve returned to Western Europe to resume our discussion of programmatic versus absolute music. Last time we talked about this topic we saw some highly programmatic examples, so this week we will look at the other side of the debate. As a reminder, absolute music adheres strictly to rules of … Continue reading Programmatic vs. Absolute Music: The Schumanns

Last entry focused on the Nationalism-charged, folk-inspired and Eastern-looking sounds of many Russian composers of the Romantic era. Meanwhile, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) grew up surrounded by multiculturalism, and this would color his identity as a Russian and a composer. His mother was of French descent, and he learned German and French from his governess … Continue reading Tchaikovsky: The Cosmopolitan of Russian Music

The Romantic era is so rich with variety that it is difficult to have a sense of chronological motion but also to cover the sheer number of key concepts that can help to inform one’s listening of music from this time. There were also composers from all over Europe exploring these concepts in different ways. … Continue reading Nationalism in Russia: Musical Orientalism