Introduction
“Nationalism” is defined as “A social and political outlook insisting that the state should embody a national community united by some or all of the following: history, ethnicity, religion, common culture, and language” . Essentially, nationalism is an intense pride for ones’ country caused by a push for national unity. Nationalism was stirred due to the sense of loss in national origin.
During the 1800’s, a ruling power, often imperialist, imposed their culture, language, and history onto their empire. An example of this is Austria’s rule over Bohemia, with the official language in Prague being German, not Czech . In order to regain identity and preserve their culture, countries under imperial rule promoted speaking in the native language and teaching history of the country in schools . Nationalism had a profound affect on the music of the Romantic period due to the revolutions, wars, and historical events that sparked national pride which lead to unity amongst those under imperial rule.
The Romantic Period
The Romantic period is chronologically defined by the 19th century. It was an era of great turmoil. With the French Revolution, the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Crimean War, the Spanish-American War and various revolutions across Europe, a great sense of upheaval was felt by the bourgeoisie and upper class struggling to maintain their affluent lifestyle during this time period. The revolutionaries who were fighting for their rights and independence felt a great sense of freedom, pride and other intense emotions. These intense emotions helped identify the Romantic period. Characteristics of the Romantic period help define it as a whole, and allow for the overall appreciation for the music ...
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For almost half a century, the musical world was defined by order and esteemed the form of music more highly than the emotion that lay behind it. However, at the turn of the 19th century, romantic music began to rise in popularity. Lasting nearly a century, romantic music rejected the ideas of the classical era and instead encouraged composers to embrace the idea of emotionally driven music. Music was centered around extreme emotions and fantastical stories that rejected the idea of reason. This was the world that Clara Wieck (who would later marry the famous composer, Robert Schumann) was born into. Most well known for being a famous concert pianist, and secondly for being a romantic composer, Clara intimately knew the workings of romantic music which would not only influence Clara but would later become influenced by her progressive compositions and performances, as asserted by Bertita Harding, author of Concerto: The Glowing Story of Clara Schumann (Harding, 14). Clara’s musical career is an excellent example of how romantic music changed from virtuosic pieces composed to inspire awe at a performer’s talent, to more serious and nuanced pieces of music that valued the emotion of the listener above all else.
In Germany, the ideas of nationalism were prevented from finding an outlet in the world of political ideology and instead found outlets in music. This started in a very subtle manor. Take for example the increasing use, by Beethoven, of the German language in his instructions in his music. In his Adieux Sonata (op. 81a), Beethoven's farewe...
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Nationalism is way of thinking both political and socially to create a community united by: history, ethnicity, religions, common culture, and language. Numerous effects occurred while establishing a Nationalist community, some effects were a long term impact on Nationalism, and other was short term impacts on Nationalism.
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The term romantic first appeared at sometime during the latter half of the 18th Century, meaning in quite literal English, "romance-like", usually referring to the character of mythical medieval romances. The first significant jump was in literature, where writing became far more reliant on imagination and the freedom of thought and expression, in around 1750. Subsequent movements then began to follow in Music and Art, where the same kind of imagination and expression began to appear. In this essay I shall be discussing the effect that this movement had on music, the way it developed, and the impact that it had on the future development of western music.
Other societal practice during romanticism is the Romantic Opera. In comparison to the classical and baroque opera, romantic opera has a continuous flow of music in each scene and soon, people pay less attention to tenors and pays equal attention to choruses. To name a few of many composers for romantic operas, Wagner and Bizet are known for their works for romantic opera during the romantic era. Romantic music is also influenced by folk music, tunes, rhythms and themes as many romantic composers wrote nationalist music, which is inspired from folk dances and songs, during the romantic period (http://absoluteastronomy.com). Another factor that contributed to romantic music in defining its traits is the instrumentation.
Romantic music was a different form of music that didn’t focus on religion, political or social tendencies. According to Lawrence Kramer the author of the book Why Classical Music Still Matters, “historically, the ideal of romantic love, tended to substitute for broader schemes of political, social, vocational, or religious meaning, as part of an increasing general tendency to rely on private rather that public schemes of fulfillment.” Meaning that romanticism had an impact on music in which religion, political and social meanings were substituted by a new form that rely on private situations instead of general public situations. This music form influenced the most in modern music because most of them are not based on