Romantic Era Terms
defined as instrumental music that seeks to re-create in sound the events or emotions portrayed in some extra musical source: a story, legend, play, novel, or historical event.
Program Music
This composer made extensive contributions to the genre of opera. He is most well-known for writing some of the most beloved Italian operas such as Rigoletto, La Traviata, and Il Trovatore. His music became a symbol of Italian Nationalism, and his career was launched after the premier of his opera Nabucco.
Giuseppe Verdi
a style of art that attempted to capture raw, elemental energy in a Modernist context.
Primitivism
An icon of American music, this composer is known as the first composer to write classical music that could be described as quintessentially American.
Aaron Copland
Composed by Caroline Shaw, this piece earned her her first Pulitzer Prize in Music
Partita for 8 Voices
is defined as musical compositions that incorporated indigenous folk songs, native scales, dance rhythms, and local instrumental sounds.
Musical Nationalism
This German-born composer was one of the most influential composers of the Romantic era. He is most known for his operas, all of which featured a libretto that he wrote himself. The collection of operas that he is most well-known for is the epic 4-opera cycle called The Ring Cycle.
Richard Wagner
Music where the musical events are not carefully predetermined by the composer, but occur in an unpredictable sequence.
Chance Music
A French composer who remained relatively unknown until they composed their famous string quartet and the orchestral work Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.
Claude Debussy
Composed by John Adams, this piece of music creates the illusion of getting faster without actually getting faster.
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
operas where the attention was focused exclusively on the solo voice
This composer was born in France and is known as one of the first composers to make significant contributions to music in the Romantic Era. One of his biggest sources of inspiration was the writings of William Shakespeare.
Hector Berlioz
A style of music that takes small musical units and repeats them over and over to form a composition.
Minimalism
This German-born composer was a pioneer of 20th century music. They are credited with pioneering the techniques known as Atonal music and the 12-tone system.
Arnold Schoenberg
One of three operas composed by Igor Stravinsky. It was booed and initiated a riot when it was premiered
Rite of Spring
A musical work for the stage in which all the parts - poetry, music, drama, dance, and scenic design - are of equal importance.
Music Drama
A German-born composer known for his contributions to the genre of the symphony in the Romantic Era. Often regarded as the last great symphony composer.
Gustav Mahler
Art that was born out of a refusal to conform to what some believed was the way that painters should paint. Artists tried to depict the way light and color interacts with objects and landscapes.
Impressionism
An award-winning American composer who is most well-known for his blending of classical and popular music, as well as his contributions to minimalist music.
John Adams
Written by Aaron Copland, this piece depicts a young couple living on a farm in the mountains of Pennsylvania.
Appalachian Spring
A brief, distinctive unit of music designed to represent a character, object, or idea.
Leitmotif
This composer is a German-born composer whose career was launched when Robert Schumann wrote an article declaring him as the next great composer in line with Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven.
Johannes Brahms
A style of art where the goal was to express strong emotions instead of depicting objects as the eye sees it.
Expressionism
A Russian composer who wrote three famous ballets including Firebird and Petruska.
Igor Stravinsky
1812 Overture and Romeo and Juliet are examples of what genre of music?
Tone Poems