Romantic Era Music

Paper Summary:

The paper relates that, with the rise of the Romantic era, the shape of music began to change. The paper explains that some composers began to address the symphony in terms of program music, expressing ideas that could be stated verbally in music. The paper looks at "Harold en Italie," a composition of Hector Berlioz who is one of the Romantic era composers. The paper analyzes this work and concludes that the program element gives shape to the movements and can be discerned by the careful listener, but it does not dominate and is subservient to the musical requirements of the piece itself.

From the Paper:

"Harold en Italie is classified as a four-movement orchestral composition with the addition of a solo viola. The work is also cited as having "the hint of a program" as its titles align "with the nineteenth-century genre of the picturesque symphony" (Bloom, 2000, p. 49), aligning it as well with the Italian Symphony of Mendelssohn, written about the same time. Bloom writes of the work,
""Here Berlioz is clearly playing generic games; in the context of a work of vivid melodic and rhythmic life, and of only covert autobiographical significance, the relatively low intensity and high entertainment value are persuasive (Bloom, 2000, p. 49).""

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bloom, P. (2000). The Cambridge companion to Berlioz. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Cuddon, J.A. (1991). The Penguin dictionary of literary terms and literary theory. New York: Penguin.
• Harman, A., Mellers, W., & Milner, A. (1962). Man and His Music: The Story of Musical Experience in the West. New York: Oxford University Press.
• Hector Berlioz: The French storyteller 1803-1869 (2006). Retrieved August 29, 2006 from http://www.azstarnet.com/public/packages/reelbook/153-3994.htm.
• Hector Berlioz - Great Orchestral Works (2006). good-music-guide.com. Retrieved August 29, 2006 from http://www.good-music-guide.com/reviews/110-berlioz.htm.

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