Ways in Which the Orchestra Was Enlarged during the Romantic Period - Case Study Example

Ways in which the orchestra was enlarged during the Romantic period & Compare the classical symphony with the symphonic works of the romantic composers. Lecturer’s name Student Name Student number Unit of study Code and Unit of study name Assignment Number/Name. Introduction The term Romanticism was initially employed to explain the development and use of new perspectives and ideas in literature and painting near the end of the eighteenth century. The term was later adopted to illustrate the transformation in musical style that happened immediately after the turn of nineteenth century1. Compared to the composers during the Classical period, those in the Romantic sought to put more influential expression of emotion in their works to reveal their deepest feelings and thoughts. An orchestra as an assembly of musical instruments made up of a set of bowed-string instruments, such as violins, strengthened by brass, percussion, and woodwind instruments2. This essay argues that the Romantic music marked an evolution from musical ideas, genres, and formats created in the Classical Period. It examines how orchestra was enlarged during the Romantic Era. It also compares the classical symphony with the symphonic works of the romantic composers. How orchestra was enlarged during the Romantic Era The first enlargement was in terms of the venue of the concert. The Romantic Era ranged from 1820 to 1900. During this period, music moved to the middle-class in the public halls from the aristocrats in the palaces. Figure 1: Baroque orchestra showing smaller ensemble3 Figure 2: Classical style orchestra performed in palaces4 Since the public had to pay some fee to attend a musical concert in public halls, it made it easy to create larger and more superior orchestras. The paying public also made it possible for the composers to create more complex pieces for a larger music ensemble and to experiment with varied sounds from additional instruments. This intensified interest in orchestration and the need to train more composers and musicians. Three key types of orchestral music resulted5. Figure 3: Romantic orchestra showing larger ensemble6 Figure 4: Romantic orchestra performed in public7 These included the Romantic symphony, which consisted of concert overture and tone poem. Next, Romantic symphony that comprised a more expansive version of the classical symphony characterised by excessive emotion. This kind of symphony led to the materialisation of tone poem, which was a prolonged one-movement piece of work that narrated a story. Third was the concert overture8. In the Classical Period, overture comprised of briefer pieces of work that were mostly used to introduce symphonic work or operas. During this period, composers started composing overtures without appearing to link them to other works, leading to construction of concert overtures9. The most influential composers of the Romantic Period include Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Richard Strauss, Giuseppe Verdi, Cesar Franck, Giocomo Puccini, Hector Berlioz, and Gustav Mahler. The size of the location musical styles were drawn, also enlarged. In the Romantic Period, composers mostly copied musical styles from Italy, France and Germany. A new wave of thinking emerged in the Romantic Era called nationalism, where the composers used native styles and songs to promote their national values. For instance, Russian composers, such as Rimsky-Korsakov and Modeste Mussorgsky spearhead the nationalistic movements in orchestra. The number of musical instruments also enlarged. During the Romantic period, composers extended the variety of musical materials, to more passionate harmonies and melodies. At the same time, the size of the orchestra also increased. An addition to the brass section was the tuba. This followed the invention of valves that made the brass more flexible. The composers composed for woodwind instruments in fours, although sometimes in threes. Also added to the ensemble included bass clarinet, cor anglais, double bassoon and piccolo. During the period, composers created a larger string section to allow for extra sound. Additional percussions, such as bongos also became integrated to the ensemble. These additional enabled a broader range of volume and pitch into the orchestra. The new integration of instruments promoted a richer variety of compositions, which ranged from piano songs to piano pieces. Indeed, unlike the Classical orchestra, the incorporation of the first and second violas, violins, doubles basses and cellos developed into the standards of the strings. Additionally, two oboes became integrated into the assembly, in addition to bassoon. At the same time, harpsichord and clarinet were also added. In imitating the Turkish military instrument, the Romantic composers added bass, cymbals, and drums. They also added the tuba in the nineteenth century due to the process of trialling with the brass instruments. All added to enlarge the group included a coiled hunting horn as a means to bring up impression of the hunt, as well as to provide additional richness and volume. Timpani and Trumpets were initially the privilege of the nobility who used them whenever an opera symbolised royalty. Later, the trumpets were integrated to add to the brilliance of the ensemble. Also added to enlarge the orchestra’s ensemble included trombones, which had earlier been used in municipal bands and churches. While the basso was added, it was left out towards the late eighteenth century. The keyboard instrument was also dropped. The Romantic orchestras had greater use of piano and brass. The Romantic Period experienced an expansion in terms of sections. The classical composers used individual colours and tones of the instruments. The composers during this era also failed to treat instruments in interchangeable manner. A classical music piece had a greater range, as well as experienced more rapid variations in tone colour. Additionally, each section of the orchestra in the Classical Period was assigned a special role. The strings were highly regarded as the significant section where the first violins took the melody predominantly while the lower strings served as accompaniment. The special role of the woodwinds was to add contrasting colours of tone, and was mostly assigned melodic solos. On the other hand, trumpets and horns strengthened loud passages. They also filled out harmoniously although they were not supposed to play the key melody. The composers integrated timpani to emphasise rhythmic bite. In sum, while the classical orchestra was intended to be flexible and colourful, the Romantic orchestra added expression to flexibility and colour to make the orchestra more dramatic and passionate. The size of the players also enlarged. The Romantic Period had 100 and more players. This was different from that of the classical orchestras, which strictly used between 30 and 60 players in 4 sections: percussions, woodwinds, brass, and strings. The prior technology of the Classical Period included the serpent, or a wooden horn with an S-shape and a bugle with keys. In the early years of the Romantic Period, the orchestras had between 20 and 30 members, which increased to between 30 and 40 players. The number however, further increased to 100 players towards the end of the Romantic Period. Orchestra in the period witnessed expanded formal structures that were created in the outlines of the Classical Period. This made the pieces to be more expressive and passionate into the nineteenth century. Because of the expanded form, in terms of the elements of instrumentation, key and form within an archetypical composition and the growth of expressiveness and idiosyncrasies of the new class of composers from the new century made it easy to identify the composers of the period10. Comparison between classical and romantic symphony The term symphony denotes the capacity of musical instruments to sound together. Symphonies are musical compositions designed for orchestra or concert. The Classical symphony and Romantic symphonies differ in many ways11. The first difference between Classical and Romantic symphony is in terms of instrumentation. Romantic symphonies use a more extensive range of instruments compared to Classical symphonies. The specific sections with more instruments include woodwind, brass, and percussion. Indeed, a comparison between Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 of the Romantic Period and Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 94 called "Surprise” of the Classical Period shows the former has more instruments. In classical symphony, the strings are designed for playing main motif. The other sections are intended to accompany the strings to make the texture and the expressions to vary12. While the woodwinds are also designed to play the main motif, this is greatly inconsequential in the Classical symphonies. For instance, in Joseph Haydn's Symphony No. 45, the strings play the melody while the rest of the instruments serve as the accompaniments. In symphonies created by Romantic composers however, strings are not usually the ones intended to play the main motif. This means that the brass and woodwind also play the main motif. For instance, in "New World" Symphony 4th by Antonin Dvorak, the brass instruments serve the role of playing the main melody. The form of the symphonies in the Classical and Romantic Period are different. The first movement in the Classical symphony is often in sonata-form. However, the second movement is in ternary-form where the theme varies. Figure 5: The shapes (movements) established in the Classical period The last movement is in rondo-form or a mix of rondo-form and sonata-form. On the other hand, the Romantic composers, such as Franz Liszt however, considered writing symphonic poems, rather than follow the norm. Despite the fact that some part of Liszt’s music were in sonata-form, they were largely different, as they were in a single-movement work. For instance, in comparing the works of Liszt’s symphonic poem called “Dante” and Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 of the Classical era illustrates the point13. Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 has four movements, where the first is in Sonata form, the second is a theme and variations. The third is a scherzo while the fourth is in Sonata form. On the other hand, Liszt divided his works, the "Dante" into only two poetic sections, both of which are in ternary form14. Additionally, symphonies created by the Romantic composers tend to have a greater number of lyrical melodies compared to the classical symphonies. In addition, the motifs of the period are longer, and how greater the degree of freedom. On the other hand, the melodies in the Classical Period are relatively flat. Next, symphonies by Romantic composers tend to be more expressive. They also have a more extensive range of dynamics compared to Classical Symphonies. In fact, even as the symphonic works, the Classical composers have more extensive range of dynamics, except for Beethoven’s works. A majority of the symphonies have gradual dynamics15. This implies that the dynamics by the Classical composers cannot be described as being sudden. Rather, they oscillate through crescendos and decrescendos16. Romantic composers created symphonies with more rapid and sudden dynamics. For instance, Mozart's Symphony No. 40 has dynamics, which are generally gradual. For instance, the song begins softly before showing inner grief and penning up frustration17. Slowly by slowly, the melody’s volume increases before ending up in a strong forte. On the other hand, Brahm's Symphony No. 3 of the Romantic Period has melody that is haunting and rather grief-stricken18. Brahm uses rubato in the piece combined with a steady crescendos and decrescendos in the works, which makes it possible to reason that that Brahm’s works represents regret. Still, the daunting melody shifts its expression into a mood, which is rather playful19. Conclusion The Romantic music marked an evolution from musical ideas, genres, and formats created in the Classical Period. The size of the location musical styles were drawn, also enlarged. The number of musical instruments also enlarged. During the Romantic period, composers extended the variety of musical materials to more passionate harmonies and melodies. The Romantic Period also experienced an expansion in terms of sections. The size of the players also enlarged. The Romantic Period had 100 more players compared to classical orchestras, which strictly used between 30 and 60 players. The Classical symphony and Romantic symphonies differ in many ways. The first difference between Classical and Romantic symphony is in terms of instrumentation. Romantic symphonies use a more extensive range of instruments compared to Classical symphonies. The forms of the symphonies are also different. Symphonies by Romantic composers tend to be more expressive. Lastly, symphonies created by the Romantic composers tend to have a greater number of lyrical melodies compared to the classical symphonies. 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