“When one does a thing, it appears good, otherwise one
Frédéric Chopin
would not write it. Only later comes reflection, and one
discards or accepts the thing. Time is the best censor, and
patience a most excellent teacher.”
Early Romantic Era: 1828-1849
Background of Early Romanticism
The Proto-Romantic period was a time of somewhat limited experimentation within an otherwise strictly classical community. However, the deaths of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert would mark the beginning of the Early Romantic period. The loss of such great and revolutionary composers aroused an even greater interest in their unique style. Thus, Romanticism quickly became popular within the very first few years of this period. Beethoven would be considered by all Germans as the forefather of Romanticism, which is essentially one of the only things the conservative (Mendelssohnian) school and the Neudeutsche Schule (Lisztian) of the High Romantic era would both agree on. Pioneering works of the late Proto-Romantic era that carried its legacy over into the Early Romantic period include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 “Chorale” and Schubert’s Winterreise and Fantasia.
The key defining work that stands directly on the borderline between the Proto-Romantic and the Early Romantic epochs is Daniel Auber‘s La Muette di Portici, considered the first grand opera and thus the first greatest Romantic opera. Rossini, the most outstanding opera composer who lived both in the Classical and Romantic ages, would continue to write his very popular works in Italy for a short time, eventually retiring at the very young age of 37 in 1829. He had made plenty of cash from his work in the previous two decades and decided to live a life of sweet indulgence. However, his most significant influence during this particular period came not from his own works, but rather from two men who had looked up to the great Rossini: Gaetano Donizetti and Vincenzo Bellini, whose works will be discussed in the next section.
The piano world also had high hopes. In a short span of time, around 1810, many of the greatest pianists of all time were born: Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, Felix Mendelssohn, and the famed pedagogue Friedrich Burgmüller. All of these men also composed their masterworks in the 1830s and 1840s, making those two decades of significant importance. The piano had undergone enormous technological changes since Cristofori’s invention in 1700. At this point, the harpsichord (including its predecessor, the clavichord) and virginal fell out of popularity due to their limited sonority, range, and Baroque tone. Luckily, the pipe organ, invented all the way back in Hellenistic Greece in the 3rd century BCE, maintained its high popularity (and relative inaccessibility). The piano would undoubtedly be the most critical instrument during the Early Romantic period. Especially in its later stages, it could nearly replicate the complicated harmonies and textures of a symphony.
The Heart of Early Romanticism
A pattern of the Early Romantic era that would continue throughout the century is the idea of “artist over audience.” In the Classical era, musicians were strictly lower-class servants of their aristocratic patrons and audience. The first hints of contempt appear in Joseph Haydn‘s Farewell Symphony. In this now-legendary story, Haydn and the private orchestra of the Hungarian noble Esterházy family were resentful of family head Nikolaus I Esterházy due to a forced, long-overdue stay at his private palace. The musicians, homesick and unable to obtain permission to leave, asked Haydn for help, who was Nikolaus’s own patron. Thus, he composed this symphony, in which the musicians, one by one, blow out their candles and leave the stage slowly over the 25-minute work. Nikolaus, watching this premiere, understood the subtle message and let the orchestra depart. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart also defied classical authority by ignoring order and living a life of borderline hedonism. This attitude ultimately produced masterpieces like Don Giovanni. The aristocratic hold over the musicians and the musical world in general slowly loosened throughout the Proto-Romantic period, and soon musicians and composers could gain a status and prestige equal to that of aristocrats.
The “artist over audience” ethos arose primarily during the French Revolution and the Enlightenment. The toppling of the ancien régime, the rise of meritocratic systems, and a general decline in the influence of wealthy and noble families in France enabled people like Franz Liszt to gain the recognition they deserved. It’s also another reason why France became the center of Romanticism for the next few decades: the “equality” and social reforms attracted artists from all over Europe to France. Secondly, the Enlightenment rewrote what it meant to be a “successful” person. Genius, logic, and intellectual reasoning grew in value while rank, monetary wealth, and class became less significant. Some royals that embodied these new principles include Frederick the Great and, perhaps most notably, Catherine the Great. By the turn of the century, these merits changed slightly. Society shifted its gaze from those who were rational and “enlightened” to those with emotional and artistic ingenuity. Thus, the “artist over audience” idea technically originated in the 18th century (before Romanticism), but it flourished in the 19th century.
The breakdown of strict social structures (widespread revolutions and dethronings) introduced a new middle class to Europe. This stratum of society particularly encouraged the widespread “artist over audience” concept and permitted Romantic art to thrive. Musicians (especially Liszt) no longer needed to rely solely on aristocratic or royal patronage, as most of their income would come from the numerous modest contributions from the middle class for concert tickets.
Many other trends arose as Romanticism prospered: musical forms and structures became less stringent, bowing to musicality and expression. Composers also stopped composing the same sheer numerical amount of music (as with Scarlatti’s 555 sonatas, Haydn’s 104 symphonies, Mozart’s 22 operas, and Bach’s ~200 sacred cantatas), opting instead to perfect each individual work. This caution and hesitation are likely attributable to cultural pressure and expectations, as well as the influence of previous composers. For example, Johannes Brahms didn’t publish his first symphony until two decades after Schumann proclaimed him the next musical “messiah” and Beethoven’s successor. Schumann, by attributing Brahms to the Romantic forefather, solidified great expectations in the young composer, instilling doubt and fear of meeting them. Brahms also premiered his Piano Concerto No. 2 over 22 years after the immense failure of his first concerto, due to the burden of legacy. The public, growing more musically knowledgeable for the aforementioned reasons, played a part in this musical timidity by serving as the judge and jury of a composer’s fame, success, and income.
The Early Romantic period saw a large number of piano virtuosos who were soon forgotten due to mediocre compositional ability. Our Composer Guide page actually covers most of the notable “lost” virtuosos, including Friedrich Kalkbrenner, Sigismond Thalberg, and Johann Pixis. Their status can be described as “one-hit-wonders,” as their true musical genius and legacy fell short of their sharp yet numbing showmanship and mere technical bravura.
Generally, Romanticism led to greater diversity in composers and music. In particular, musicians Chopin, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and Mikhail Glinka (whose opera A Life for the Tsar is considered the first of Russia) grew in popularity for their Polish, Creole, and Russian styles, respectively. Liszt, of course, brought his own Hungarian gypsy flair. In the symphonic world, music turned quite radical, as seen in Hector Berlioz‘s Symphonie fantastique and Harold en Italie. Auber and Giacomo Meyerbeer (composer of the popular Les Huguenots, Le prophète, and Robert le diable) led the operatic world. Italian opera, as during the Classical era, remained popular under Donizetti and Bellini, though the High Romantic Giuseppe Verdi would soon replace them. German opera also saw some growth under Heinrich Marschner, who made up the historical gap between Carl Maria von Weber of the Proto-Romantic era and the soon-to-rise Richard Wagner. The latter, in particular, would soon dominate the German operatic world, though at this point he had composed only a few significant works: Rienzi, Tannhäuser, and Lohengrin. For piano, some of the important compositions of this period include Schumann’s Fantasie, Toccata, and Kinderszenen, Chopin’s Piano Sonatas, Études, Ballades, Scherzos, Nocturnes, Polonaises, and Preludes (basically all of his compositions), and a plethora of Liszt pieces that our Archive page so expansively discusses.
The End of Early Romanticism
Early Romanticism ended around 1849 for a plethora of reasons. For one, Mendelssohn and Chopin, pioneers of Early Romantic musical values, had died. Schumann would soon stop composing as well, being forcibly moved into a psychiatric hospital in 1854. A new generation of musicians slowly emerges (primarily Camille Saint-Saëns, Anton Rubinstein, and Brahms) while established musicians like Liszt leave a hectic virtuoso life to settle down. In the next era, Liszt would live through his “Weimar” years, a period when he composed his most famous works (such as the Sonata in B minor and the Faust Symphony). Liszt’s most outstanding orchestral contribution from this era was also a new genre: the symphonic poem.
Exoticism would become even more popular in the following years, especially “Oriental” music (such as Mily Balakirev‘s Islamey). Gottschalk’s The Banjo would continue the legacy that Bamboula brought to him in the 1840s. Widespread revolutions, especially, led to a rise in nationalist music and in interest in music discernible as “folk.” Piano solo music remains an extensive genre in the Early Romantic period, mainly because major piano manufacturers Steinway & Sons, Bechstein, and Blüthner were all founded in 1853, with other major ones like Steingraeber & Söhne founded around the same time.
The age of piano virtuosos came to an end with the close of Early Romanticism. The glory and romanticization of touring pianists quickly waned, and the operatic fantasy (the primary type of piano composition used to showcase bravura) declined in popularity as musical tastes favored subjective musicality over the objectively brilliant technical displays of the 1830s and 1840s.