Introduction

to the
Nineteenth Century
Dr. Lara Housez
School of the Arts
McMaster University

Content

What changed in the 19th century

Music in the 19th century
The Industrial Revolution
Music as a political force
Nationalism
The Revolution in Transportation
Who to listen for

Into the Nineteenth Century

From balance, clarity, proportion, and
naturalness to imagination, individual
human emotion, and longing
Apprehension, horror, terror, awe, loneliness

Romanticism: a term borrowed from

literature
Stories about isolation, women and children,
nature, characters with sensitive or passionate
temperaments

Importance of dreams as windows to the soul

that stretch beyond the limitations of human
reason and the physical world

German painter Caspar

Friedrichs The
Wanderer (1818)
captures the Romantic
fascination with dream,
contemplation, and the
inQinite

Music in the Nineteenth Century

Composers are less bound by convention and
cultivate distinctive voices
The range of each musical element available to
composersmelody, rhythm, harmony,
dynamics, timbre, texture, formgrew
exponentially
Bigger and louder orchestras
Extreme contrasts in texture
Simple to Qiendishly difQicult, sometimes within the
same work
Program music, often exploring the dark side of the
human psyche - basic on- story, event, historical figure
- instrumental music

 The way audiences listened to instrumental

music in the 19th century changed
Unencumbered by words, instrumental music
engages the imagination
E. T. A. Hoffmanns 1810 review of Beethovens
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor captures this new way
of listening to music: Beethovens music sets in motion the
machinery of awe, fear, terror, pain it awakens that inQinite
yearning which is the essence of Romanticism

Elevated social status of composers

Seen less as artisans producing musical goods and
more as interpreters of the emotional and spiritual
Greater respect for giving voice to that which can
not be expressed in ordinary language

The Industrial Revolution

Mass-produced goods,
including pianos and
other instruments
Greater demand for
instruments, amateur
compositions, songs,
and chamber music for
music-making in the
home

Music as Political Force

Music proved an important vehicle for
expressing political sentiment
Throughout Europe citizens pushed to achieve
the goals set out by the French Revolution of
1789:
Freedom in the form of representative government
Equality through the abolition of hereditary class
privilege
Fraternity through rights of assembly and
association

Nationalism
= The use of melodies, rhythms, harmonies,
instruments, or musical styles that reQlect the musical
practices of a particular nation
In the 19th century, more and more people began to
perceive their social identities on the basis of a
shared language and cultural practices
The idea of the nation as the focal point of social
identity became a powerful social and political force
Music proved a powerful outlet for the expression of
nationalistic feelings (for example, Chopins
Mazurkas)

The Revolution in Transportation

Railroads and steamships increased mobility
The American transcontinental railroad (1869)
reduced the 6-month travel time from New York to
San Francisco to 1 week

Impact on music and musicians

Worldwide distribution of published sheet music
Musicians could gain further exposure by touring
both sides of the Atlantic

Other technological innovations of the times:

telegraph and telephone

Ludwig van
Beethoven
(1770-1827), as
depicted by his
friend, the painter
J. W. Mhler

Franz
Schubert
(1797-1828)

A Schubert Evening with

Joseph von Spaun, by Moritz
von Schwind

Felix Mendelssohn
(1809-1847)

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)

One contemporary compared Berliozs hair to a "forest growing on the
edge of a steep cliff."

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847), sketched by her future

husband Wilhelm Hensel and portrayed by Moritz Daniel
Oppenheim

Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)

Wife of composer Robert Schumann

Frdric Chopin
(1809-1848)

Giuseppe Verdi
(1813-1901)
La Traviata: The Russian-born soprano
Anna Netrebko as Violetta

The Valkyrie: Wotan puts Brnnhilde into a deep

sleep within a ring of magic Qire

Richard
Wagner
(1813-1883)

Johannes
Brahms
(1833-1897) (R)
and Johann
Strauss Jr. in
1894.

Brahms was 61 and Strauss
was 69.

Antonin Dvok (1841 1904)

For Wednesday
Read: pp. 240-247
Listen: CD 3, tracks 4, 5, 6, and 7
(Beethoven, Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, op.
67)