I have found this section of the course to be both
interesting and somewhat challenging in many respects. My own personal opinions of certain musical
styles, e.g. Opera and Chamber works, made it difficult to find the energy and
passion for research at times! However, as I researched further into these
genres, I must admit to discovering a new found respect for the impact they had
on music culture.
The Industrial Revolution clearly played a major role in
the development of musical audiences and instruments during the 19th
century, and the change in composers philosophical thinking created, what would
amount to be the first semblance of modern day music, with the introduction of
the ‘celebrity’, and the widespread availability of sheet music. The thematic changes in music, i.e. the
switch to more ‘psychological’ pieces, based around literature, stories,
feelings and other Romantic notations, clearly bears a resemblance to modern
day songwriters.
As an amateur pianist, I found my research into the
development of the piano and piano virtuoso composers such as Liszt and Chopin
very interesting and informative. Listening
to these pieces gave me a much clear picture of not only the musical change of
the period, but also the social and cultural changes that were apparent during
that era.
Despite my personal distaste for elements of Opera, my
research in Nationalism in music, touching on Wagner’s political viewpoints,
once again allowed me to gain a greater understanding of how music was changing
around the world. Wagner’s inclinations
toward anti-Semitism, whilst not directly referencing such issues, lead me to
wonder further about the message behind the music, and whether perhaps the emerging
musical audiences had also provided an opportunity to spread political messages
during the period.
Whilst the Romantic period could be considered as an
experimentation that strayed away from Classical techniques, I would argue that
it clearly resembles the first form of ‘pop’ music. Whilst researching this notion, I found
numerous references to the ‘rock star status’ of the virtuoso and the
ever-growing popularity of commercial elements such as music publishing. It seems possible that the greatest change
to music during the 19th century was actually the audience. The societal changes had increased the
‘middle class’, thereby providing these composers, and commercial agents, with
a means to ‘show-off’ their skills and abilities.
Within my listening log, I naturally found particular
interest in the pieces heavily involving the piano. Listening to both Beethoven’s Symphony No 5, followed by Liszt’s
transcription for solo piano, was a great exercise in understanding how Liszt
was a pioneer of using the piano’s range to represent a range of instruments
found in large ensembles, thus capturing the ‘essence’ of the original
piece. Whilst the piano will always
‘fall short’ when trying to match a fifty-piece ensemble, it was nonetheless
interesting to see how the composers had interpreted these popular works for
solo instruments.
Berlioz’s Symphonie
Fantastique provided an excellent means of understanding the power of the
Romantic Movement and a composer’s ability to create intense colours and moods
through their pieces. It was particularly
interesting that, when listening to the Symphony initially, the vivid changes
in mood gave me the impression of something ‘passing’ through life. When reading the programme notes, I
discovered that actually, this piece was about a man moving through different eras
of his life. To me, this only served to
demonstrate the power of the Romantic composers in painting vivid scenery and
manipulating the music for narrative purposes.
Whilst initially I had some reservations about the
Romantic period, I was pleasantly surprised that I was not only able to draw
comparisons to modern musical culture, but also develop a much deeper knowledge
of the ideals and changing society of the era.
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