Romantic Composers and Pieces
Tristan und Isolde
An opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the 12th-century romance Tristan by Gottfried von Strassburg. Widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertoire, Tristan was notable for Wagner's unprecedented use of chromaticism, tonal ambiguity, orchestral colour and harmonic suspension.
Manon
An opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet. Manon is Massenet's most popular and enduring opera and, having "quickly conquered the world's stages", it has maintained an important place in the repertory since its creation. It is the quintessential example of the charm and vitality of the music and culture of the Parisian Belle Époque.
"Italian" Symphony
An orchestral symphony written by German composer Felix Mendelssohn. The work has its origins (as had the composer's Scottish 3rd Symphony and The Hebrides overture) in the tour of Europe which occupied Mendelssohn from 1829 to 1831. Its inspiration is the color and atmosphere of Italy, where Mendelssohn made sketches
Thus Spake Zarathustra
Tone Poem by Richard Strauss. Inspired by Friedrich Nietzche's philosophical novel of the same name. Is divided into nine sections, each name after selected chapters in the book, performed with only three definite breaks. Outlines Zarathustra's philosophical journey.
Don Quixote
Tone poem by Richard Strauss for cello, viola, and orchestra. The work is based on the novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It is 45 mins long and written in a theme and variations form with the cello representing Don Quixote, and the viola and some other instruments representing his squire Sancho Panza
Carnaval
Work for solo piano by Robert Schumann. It consists of 21 short pieces representing masked revelers at Carnival, a festival before Lent. Schumann gives musical expression to himself, his friends and colleagues, and characters from improvised Italian comedy.
La Traviata ("The Fallen Woman")
An opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La Dame aux Camélias (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas fils. Standard in the Opera repertoire.
A Life for the Tsar
A "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. The historical basis of the plot involves Ivan Susanin, a patriotic hero of the early 17th century who gave his life in the expulsion of the invading Polish army for the newly elected Tsar Mikhail, the first of the Romanov dynasty, elected in 1613. In keeping with Glinka's European training, much of A Life for the Tsar was structured according to conventional Italian and French models of the period. Nevertheless, several passages in the opera are based on Russian folk songs or folk melodic idioms that become a full part of the musical texture. Most importantly, this opera laid the foundation for a series of Russian nationalistic historical operas.
Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)
A Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He has been regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music. Internationally he is best known for his opera The Bartered Bride and for the symphonic cycle Má vlast ("My Homeland"), which portrays the history, legends and landscape of the composer's native land.
Hector Berlioz
A French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique, Harold en Italie, Roméo et Juliette, Grande messe des morts (Requiem), L'Enfance du Christ, Benvenuto Cellini, La Damnation de Faust, and Les Troyens. Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation where he discussed the technical aspects of all the instruments and their roles. He also wrote for very large orchestral forces. Was very important in the progression of Romanticism.
Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
A French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are Manon (1884) and Werther (1892). He also composed oratorios, ballets, orchestral works, incidental music, piano pieces, songs and other music.
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
A French composer of the romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, which has become one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertoire.
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
A French composer, best known for his Ave Maria, based on a work by Bach, as well as his opera Faust. Another opera by Gounod occasionally still performed is Roméo et Juliette.
Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921)
A French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Second Piano Concerto (1868), the First Cello Concerto (1872), Danse macabre (1874), the opera Samson and Delilah (1877), the Third Violin Concerto (1880), the Third ("Organ") Symphony (1886) and The Carnival of the Animals (1886). His compositions normally fit into the conventional classical tradition.
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
A German composer and influential music critic. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many Lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; one opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works.
Johannes Brahms
A German composer and pianist of the Romantic era. Brahms composed for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles, piano, organ, and voice and chorus. A virtuoso pianist, he premiered many of his own works. He worked with some of the leading performers of his time, including the pianist Clara Schumann and the violinist Joseph Joachim. Seen as both a traditionalist and innovator. His music is deeply rooted in classical structures and compositional technique, while creating deeply romantic motifs.
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826)
A German composer, conductor, pianist, guitarist and critic, and was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. Weber's operas Der Freischütz, Euryanthe and Oberon greatly influenced the development of the Romantische Oper (Romantic opera) in Germany. Der Freischütz came to be regarded as the first German "nationalist" opera, Euryanthe developed the Leitmotif technique to an unprecedented degree, while Oberon may have influenced Mendelssohn's music for A Midsummer Night's Dream and, at the same time, revealed Weber's lifelong interest in the music of non-Western cultures. He has important compositions for clarinet, bassoon, and horn. His Catholic music was very popular in 19th century Germany and he wrote one of the first song cycles.
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
A German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early romantic period. Mendelssohn wrote symphonies, concertos, oratorios, piano music and chamber music. He is credited for reviving JS Bach's music after finding and conducting the St. Matthew Passion. He was more concerned to reinvigorate the musical legacy which he inherited, rather than to replace it with new forms and styles, or with the use of more exotic orchestration.
Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
A German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his later works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most composers, he also wrote the librettos for his operas. Wagner revolutionized opera through his concept of the Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art"), by which he sought to synthesise the poetic, visual, musical and dramatic arts, with music subsidiary to drama. His compositions, particularly those of his later period, are notable for their complex textures, rich harmonies and orchestration, and the elaborate use of leitmotifs—musical phrases associated with individual characters, places, ideas, or plot elements. His advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music.
Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
A German opera composer of Jewish birth who has been described as perhaps the most successful stage composer of the nineteenth century. With his 1831 opera Robert le diable and its successors, he gave the genre of grand opera 'decisive character'.Meyerbeer's grand opera style was achieved by his merging of German orchestra style with Italian vocal tradition.
Don Carlos
A five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French-language libretto by Joseph Méry and Camille du Locle, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien (Don Carlos, Infante of Spain) by Friedrich Schiller. It is Verdi's longest opera, containing close to 4 hours of music. It exists in many versions because various cuts and additions were made to it. He also turned it into a ballet.
Der Freischutz ("The Marksman")
A German opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Friedrich Kind. It is considered the first important German Romantic opera, especially in its national identity and stark emotionality. The plot is based on the German folk legend of the Freischütz and many of its tunes were thought to be inspired by German folk music, but this is a common misconception. Its unearthly portrayal of the supernatural in the famous Wolf's Glen scene has been described as "the most expressive rendering of the gruesome that is to be found in a musical score".
Elektra
A German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. Based on Greek mythology, but is highly modernist and expressionist. Some parts of the story are dwarfed in order to really focus in on the character of Elektra and her furious lust for revenge. The opera presents raw, brutal, violent, and bloodthirsty horror. Elektra is the second of Strauss's two highly modernist operas (the other being Salome), characterized by cacophonous sections and atonal leitmotifs. Contrasts with his earlier and later works. Musically, Elektra deploys dissonance, chromaticism and extremely fluid tonality in a way which recalls but moves beyond the same composer's Salome of 1905, and thus Elektra represents Strauss's furthest advances in modernism, from which he later retreated. The bitonal or extended Elektra chord is a well known dissonance from the opera while harmonic parallelism is also a prominent modernist technique
The Flying Dutchman
A German-language opera, with libretto and music by Richard Wagner. Central theme is redemption through love. This work shows some early attempts at some of the techniques he masters in his late dramas, including leitmotifs. Setting is on the coast of Norway.
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
A Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use and development of Norwegian folk music in his own compositions brought the music of Norway to international consciousness
Lohengrin
A Romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance. The most popular and recognizable part of the opera is the Bridal Chorus, better known as "Here Comes the Bride", often played as a processional at weddings in the West. In composing Lohengrin, Wagner created a new form of opera, the through-composed music drama. The composition is not divided into individual numbers, but is played from scene to scene without any interruption. He also uses extensive leitmotifs.
Piotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
A Russian composer of the romantic period, some of whose works are among the most popular music in the classical repertoire. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. His formal western-oriented training from the St. Petersburg conservatory set him apart from the contemporary Russian nationalistic movement that was present, causing him to have a mixed relationship with the composers in the "Five". Tchaikovsky displayed an unusually wide stylistic and emotional range, from salon works of innocuous charm to symphonies of tremendous depth, power, and grandeur. Some of his works, such as the Variations on a Rococo Theme, employ a poised "Classical" form reminiscent of 18th-century composers such as Mozart (his favorite composer). Other compositions, such as his Little Russian symphony and his opera Vakula the Smith, flirt with musical practices more akin to those of the Five, especially in their use of folk song. Other works, such as Tchaikovsky's last three symphonies, employ a personal musical idiom that facilitated intense emotional expression
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
A Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five. He was a master of orchestration. His best-known orchestral compositions—Capriccio Espagnol, the Russian Easter Festival Overture, and the symphonic suite Scheherazade—are staples of the classical music repertoire, along with suites and excerpts from some of his 15 operas. Scheherazade is an example of his frequent use of fairy tale and folk subjects. He wanted, along with the other in "the Five" to create a nationalistic Russian style of classical music. This style employed Russian folk song and lore along with exotic harmonic, melodic and rhythmic elements in a practice known as musical orientalism, and eschewed traditional Western compositional methods.
Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
A Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five". He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music. Many of his works are based on Russian history, folklore, and other national themes.
1812 Overture
A concert overture written by Tchaikovsky. Commemorates Russia's defense of its fatherland against Napoleon's invading Grande Armée in 1812. Starts with a simple Russian Eastern Orthodox hymn, perhaps representing prayers. The French national anthem is next, representing the French invasion. The anthem and Russian folk music compete, accessorized by canon shots. Eventually, the French anthem retreats and the Russian hymn is repeated. The grand finale is punctuated by 11 celebratory canon shots.
Ring Cycle Operas (Der Ring des Nibelungen)
A cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. Wrote the libretto and music in the span of 26 years. the four operas are entitled: Das Rheingold, Die Walkure, Siegfried, and Gotterdammerung. The scale and scope of the story is epic. It follows the struggles of gods, heroes, and several mythical creatures over the eponymous magic ring that grants domination over the entire world. The drama and intrigue continue through three generations of protagonists, until the final cataclysm at the end of Götterdämmerung.
Faust
A grand opera in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part One.
Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
A leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier, Elektra, Die Frau ohne Schatten and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; his tone poems, including Don Juan, Death and Transfiguration, Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, Also sprach Zarathustra, Ein Heldenleben, Symphonia Domestica, and An Alpine Symphony; and other instrumental works such as Metamorphosen and his Oboe Concerto. Represents the late flowering of German Romanticism after Richard Wagner, in which pioneering subtleties of orchestration are combined with an advanced harmonic style.
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
A music drama (or opera) in three acts, written and composed by Richard Wagner. The story is set in Nuremberg in the mid-16th century. At the time, Nuremberg was a free imperial city and one of the centers of the Renaissance in Northern Europe. The story revolves around the city's guild of Meistersinger (Master Singers), an association of amateur poets and musicians who were primarily master craftsmen of various trades. It is the only comedy among his mature operas (he had come to reject his early Das Liebesverbot), and is also unusual among his works in being set in a historically well-defined time and place rather than in a mythical or legendary setting. It is the only mature Wagner opera based on an entirely original story, devised by Wagner himself, and in which no supernatural or magical powers or events are in evidence.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
A prolific 19th-century Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor, music teacher, arranger, organist, philanthropist, author, nationalist and a Franciscan tertiary during the Romantic music. Liszt gained renown in Europe during the early nineteenth century for his prodigious virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was a friend, musical promoter and benefactor to many composers of his time. A prominent representative of the New German School. Some of his most notable musical contributions were the invention of the symphonic poem, developing the concept of thematic transformation as part of his experiments in musical form, and making radical departures in harmony.
A German Requiem
A requiem by Brahms, a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, a soprano and a baritone soloist. Not like a traditional requiem in that it is in German, is comprised of 7 mvts, focuses more on comforting the living rather than mourning the dead, and is sacred, but non-liturgical. He assembled the libretto himself.
Hungarian Rhapsodies
A set of 19 piano pieces based on Hungarian folk themes, composed by Franz Liszt during 1846-1853, and later in 1882 and 1885. Liszt also arranged versions for orchestra, piano duet and piano trio. Liszt incorporated many themes he had heard in his native western Hungary and which he believed to be folk music, though many were in fact tunes written by members of the Hungarian upper middle class, or by composers such as József Kossovits, often played by Roma (Gypsy) bands.
Pictures at an Exhibition
A suite of ten pieces (plus a recurring, varied Promenade) composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists. It has become further known through various orchestrations and arrangements produced by other musicians and composers, with Maurice Ravel's arrangement being by far the most recorded and performed.
Romeo and Juliet (Berlioz)
A symphonie dramatique, a large-scale choral symphony by French composer Hector Berlioz. Structurally and musically, Roméo et Juliette is most indebted to Beethoven's 9th symphony - not just due to the use of soloists and choir, but in factors such as the weight of the vocal contribution being in the finale, and also in aspects of the orchestration, such as the theme of the trombone recitative at the Introduction.
Harold in Italy
A symphony with soloistic viola by Hector Berlioz. Encouraged by Paganini to write it, but then was disappointed by amount of rests in the solo part. In form it is more like a symphony with four movements and the solo viola is never very virtuosic. Chronicles the journeys of the melancholic character, Harold, which the viola represents.
Norma
A tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after the play Norma, ou L'infanticide (Norma, or The Infanticide) by Alexandre Soumet. The opera is regarded as a leading example of the bel canto genre, and the soprano prayer Casta diva in Act I is a famous piece.
Barber of Seville
Also known as the Useless Precaution. An opera Buffa by Rossini in two acts. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's French comedy Le Barbier de Séville (1775). Renown for being the greatest opera buffa masterpiece. Revolves around the clever main character, Figaro, a barber. Proceeds the Marriage of Figaro.
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
An Austrian composer of Slovene origin, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, somewhat related to that of the Second Viennese School in concision but diverging greatly in technique.
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
An Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast oeuvre, including more than 600 secular vocal works (mainly Lieder), seven complete symphonies, sacred music, operas, incidental music and a large body of piano and chamber music. Although Schubert was clearly influenced by the Classical sonata forms of Beethoven and Mozart, his formal structures and his developments tend to give the impression more of melodic development than of harmonic drama. This combination of Classical form and long-breathed Romantic melody sometimes lends them a discursive style. Influenced the genre of the Song of Lied the most, experimenting and expanding the possibilities.
Anton Bruckner
An Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, strongly polyphonic character, and considerable length. Bruckner's compositions helped to define contemporary musical radicalism, owing to their dissonances, unprepared modulations, and roving harmonies.
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
An Austro-Bohemian late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. Was very distinguished as a conductor throughout his life.
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
An English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. most of his musical influences were not from England but from continental Europe. One of the first composers to seriously utilize the gramophone. He made new recordings of his major orchestral works.
Giochino Rossini (1792-1868)
An Italian composer who wrote 39 operas as well as some sacred music, songs, chamber music, and piano pieces. A tendency for inspired, song-like melodies is evident throughout his scores, which earned him the nickname "the Italian Mozart." He was a rapid and prolific composer, quoted as joking, "Give me the laundress' bill and I will even set that to music." He also earned the nickname "Signor Crescendo" for his use of an exciting buildup of orchestral sound over a repeated phrase, which is now commonly known as a "Rossini crescendo".
Leoncavallo Ruggero
An Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera Pagliacci (1892) that remained his lasting contribution, despite attempts to escape the shadow of his greatest success.
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
An Italian opera composer who has been called "the greatest composer of Italian opera after Verdi". Puccini's early work was rooted in traditional late-19th-century romantic Italian opera. Later, he successfully developed his work in the realistic verismo style, of which he became one of the leading exponents. Verismo opera has plots that focus on the common man/woman and their problems. They are seamlessly through-composed, all lines incorporated into a completely sung text. Some of his most renown works include La boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot.
Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
An Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Quintessential composer of the Italian bel canto era.
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
An Italian opera composer. First one to use the chorus as another character, expressing the thoughts and feelings of the people. got rid of unnecessary, excessive vocal fireworks. His big three opera successes include Rigoletto, La Traviata, Ill Trovatore
Pagliacci ("Clowns")
An Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It is the only Leoncavallo opera that is still widely performed. Was the first opera to be recorded in its entirety.
Ernani
An opera drama lirico by Verdi based on the play Hermani by Victor Hugo. Was his most popular opera until he wrote Ill Travatore.
Aida
An opera in four acts by Verdi, set in Egypt. Was first performed in Cairo's Opera House in 1871. It was well received and is now one of the most popular operas. Aida is the main character, an Ethiopian Princess.
Madama Butterfly
An opera in three acts (originally two) by Giacomo Puccini. It is based on the short story "Madame Butterfly" (1898) by John Luther Long, which in turn was based on stories told to Long by his sister Jennie Correll, who went to Japan with her Methodist missionary husband, and on the semi-autobiographical 1887 French novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti.
Parsifal
An opera in three acts by German composer Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a 13th-century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival (Percival) and his quest for the Holy Grail (12th century). Wagner first conceived the work in April 1857, but did not finish it until twenty-five years later. It was his last completed opera, and in composing it he took advantage of the particular acoustics of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Lots of Leitmotifs, chromaticism, etc.
Romeo and Juliet (Tchaikovsky)
An orchestral work composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It is styled an Overture-Fantasy, and is based on Shakespeare's play of the same name. Although styled an 'Overture-Fantasy' by the composer, the overall design is a symphonic poem in sonata form with an introduction and an epilogue. Based on three strains of the story. Intro is Friar Laurence, the agitated middle is the fight between the Capulets and Montagues, and the final theme is the love theme.
A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture
An overture written by Mendelssohn for Shakespeare's play Midsummer's Night Dream. While a romantic piece in atmosphere, the Overture incorporates many classical elements, being cast in sonata form and shaped by regular phrasings and harmonic transitions.
"Reformation" Symphony
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn in 1830 in honor of the 300th anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession. The Confession is a key document of Lutheranism and its Presentation to Emperor Charles V in June 1530 was a momentous event of the Protestant Reformation. Wasn't published until 21 yrs after his death.
Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)
Czech composer from the Romantic era. Dvořák's own style has been described as "the fullest recreation of a national idiom with that of the symphonic tradition, absorbing folk influences and finding effective ways of using them"
Quintet in C Maj. D956
Franz Schubert's final chamber work, the String Quintet in C major (D. 956, Op. posth. 163) is sometimes called the "Cello Quintet" because it is scored for a standard string quartet plus an extra cello instead of the extra viola which is more usual in conventional string quintets. Schubert's only full-fledged string quintet, it has been praised as "sublime" and as possessing "bottomless pathos," and is generally regarded as Schubert's finest chamber work as well as one of the greatest compositions in all chamber music.
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Italian composer, leading in the bel canto style. Likely influenced Verdi. Wrote almost 70 operas of varying success.
Der Erlkonig (The Elf King)
Lied by Schubert. Particularly striking in its dramatic content, use of forward-looking harmony, and the pictorial keyboard configurations (horse galloping, etc.) It depicts the death of a child assailed by a supernatural being, the Erlkönig. The text was written by Goethe.
The Moldau
One symphonic poem in a set of six, "The Homeland", by Smetana. Combines the genre of symphonic poem with nationalistic music. Each one depicts some aspect of the countryside. The Moldau is the most popular. Uses tone painting to evoke the sounds of one of the greatest rivers in Bohemia, the Moldau.
Ill Travatore ("The Troubadour")
Opera in 4 acts by Verdi, based on the play El Travador by Antonio Garcia Guttierrez. The music provides consistent dramatic impetus, doesn't really stick to conventional operatic forms.
Otello
Opera in four acts by Verdi. His penultimate opera. He had to be convinced to write it as he was about to retire after the success of his opera Aida. Based on Shakespeare's Othello. The main characters has some of the most demanding parts, vocally and dramatically, that Verdi ever wrote.
Rigoletto
Opera in three acts by Verdi. Its tragic story revolves around the licentious Duke of Mantua, his hunch-backed court jester Rigoletto, and Rigoletto's beautiful daughter Gilda. It was considered revolutionary because it broke down the barriers between formal melody and recitative. Has only one aria and no act finales.
Enigma Variations
Orchestral work by Elgar, consisting of 14 variations on an original theme. Each variation is a musical sketch of one of his acquaintances. The original theme was entitled "Enigma" by Elgar, although no one quite understands what the mystery is.
Frederic Chopin (1810-1849)
Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic era who wrote mostly for solo piano. His piano writing was technically demanding and expanded the limits of the instrument: his own performances were noted for their nuance and sensitivity. His innovations in style, harmony, and musical form, and his association of music with nationalism, were influential throughout and after the late Romantic period
"Rhenish" Symphony
Schumann's third symphony and last one he composed, although not the last one published. Comprised of five movements. He was inspired to write the symphony after a trip to the Rhineland with his wife Clara. This journey was a happy and peaceful trip, which felt to them as if they were on a pilgrimage. He incorporated elements of the journey and portrayed other experiences from his life in the music.
Les Preludes
The 3rd of Liszt's 13 symphonic poems. It is one of the earliest examples of an orchestral work entitled symphonic poem. A lot of the music is derived from Liszt's earlier choral cycle, "The Four Elements".
Mikhail Glinka (1804-1857)
The first Russian composer to gain wide recognition within his own country, and is often regarded as the fountainhead of Russian classical music. Glinka's compositions were an important influence on future Russian composers, notably the members of The Five, who took Glinka's lead and produced a distinctive Russian style of music.
Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks
Tone poem by Richard Strauss. It chronicles the misadventures and pranks of the German peasant folk hero Till Eulenspiegel, who is represented by two themes. The first, played by the horn, is a lilting melody that reaches a peak, falls downward, and ends in three long, loud notes, each progressively lower. The second, for E-flat clarinet, is crafty and wheedling, suggesting a trickster doing what he does best.
Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life)
Tone poem by Richard Strauss. It was his eighth work in the genre, and exceeded any of its predecessors in its orchestral demands. Generally agreed to be autobiographical in nature, despite contradictory statements on the matter by the composer, the work contains more than thirty quotations from Strauss's earlier works, including Also sprach Zarathustra, Till Eulenspiegel, Don Quixote, and Death and Transfiguration.50 mins long, through-composed, with 6 "movements", performed with no breaks. Employs the technique of leitmotif that Richard Wagner used, but almost always as elements of its enlarged sonata-rondo symphonic structure.
Death and Transfiguration
Tone poem for large orchestra by Richard Strauss. Dedicated to his friend Friedrich Rosch. Depicts the death of an artist and transfiguration into the reaches of heaven. There are four parts within the through-composed work going through the different stages of the artist's journey.
Don Juan
Tone poem in E major written by Richard Strauss. Based on Don Juans Ende, a play derived from an unfinished 1844 retelling of the tale by poet Nikolaus Lenau. Strauss reprinted three excerpts from the play in his score. In Lenau's rendering, Don Juan's promiscuity springs from his determination to find the ideal woman. Despairing of ever finding her, he ultimately surrenders to melancholy and wills his own death.
Lucia di Lammermoor
Tragic historical opera by Donizetti in three acts. The story concerns the emotionally fragile Lucy Ashton (Lucia) who is caught in a feud between her own family and that of the Ravenswoods. The setting is the Lammermuir Hills of Scotland (Lammermoor) in the 17th century. The success was possible because of Rossini's recent retirement and Bellini's death, along with Europeans new interest in the history and culture of Scotland.
