Iconic Music Pieces: Romanticism & 20th Century
Romanticism
1. NAME: Symphony No. 5 (first movement)
2. COMPOSER: Beethoven (1770-1827)
3. ERA: Romanticism
4. GENRES: Instrumental
5. TEXTURES: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS: Symphony orchestra (big orchestra with instruments of all families: string, woodwind, brass, and percussion)
This is perhaps the most famous work for the symphony orchestra repertoire. It is a very special piece, and it is unlikely that you have not heard it before. Beethoven was a prodigy child and was famous for his unfortunate deafness, which started when he was about 27, even though he continued composing.
1. NAME: Hungarian Dance No. 5
2. COMPOSER: Brahms (1833-1897)
3. ERA: Romanticism
4. GENRES: Instrumental
5. TEXTURES: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS: Orchestra
Brahms met a Hungarian Gypsy violinist who taught him the secrets of gypsy music. He used the rhythms and melodies of this music as inspiration for his 21 Hungarian Dances.
1. NAME: “Toast” from the opera “La Traviata” (“El brindis” de la ópera “La Traviata”)
2. COMPOSER: Verdi (1813-1901)
3. ERA: Romanticism
4. GENRES: Vocal and theatrical
5. TEXTURES: Polyphonic (melody with accompaniment)
6. VOICES / INSTRUMENTS: Tenor, soprano, choir, and orchestra
“La Traviata” is an opera in three acts based on “La Dame aux camélias” (“The lady with the camellias”) by Alexandre Dumas.
1. NAME: Nocturne (Opus 9 No. 2 in E flat)
2. COMPOSER: Chopin (1810-1849)
3. ERA: Romanticism
4. GENRES: Instrumental
5. TEXTURES: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS: Piano
7. COMMENT: In the beginning, a nocturne was a short composition, usually for piano, to be played at night in the open air.
1. NAME: “Ride of the Valkyries”
2. COMPOSER: Wagner (1813-1883)
3. ERA: Romanticism
4. GENRES: Vocal and theatrical
5. TEXTURES: Polyphonic
6. VOICES / INSTRUMENTS: Women’s voices and orchestra
7. COMMENT: “The Valkyrie” is the second of the four operas that constitute the cycle “The Ring of the Nibelung”.
20th Century
1. NAME: “Triana” from the suite “Iberia” (1860-1909)
2. COMPOSER: Isaac Albéniz (1860-1909)
3. ERA / STYLE: 20th century / Spanish nationalism (this nationalism is a second one, different from the one in the 19th century) and impressionism
4. GENRES: Instrumental
5. TEXTURES: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS: Piano
This work is composed of 12 pieces, divided into four books, and the connection is the musical evocation of Spain. Some of the titles are: Fandango, Jota, Zapateado, Almería, Triana, Lavapiés…)
1. NAME: “The Rite of Spring” (opening)
2. COMPOSER: Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971)
3. ERA / STYLE: 20th century / Stravinsky’s Russian period
4. GENRES: Instrumental and theatrical
5. TEXTURE: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS: Symphony orchestra
“The Rite of Spring” (La consagración de la primavera) is a ballet and orchestral work written for the 1913 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes company; the original choreography was by Vaslav Nijinsky (a ballet dancer and choreographer cited as the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century)
1. NAME: “Afternoon of a Faun” (Preludio a la siesta de un fauno)
2. COMPOSER: Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
3. ERA / STYLE: 20th century (even if it was premiered in 1894) / impressionism
4. GENRES: Instrumental (also theatrical when it is played as the music background of the ballet)
5. TEXTURE: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS: Symphony orchestra
“Afternoon of a Faun” is a symphonic poem, approximately 10 minutes in duration, inspired by the poem “L’après-midi d’un faune” by the French poet Stéphane Mallarmé.
1. NAME: “Ritual Fire Dance” (Danza ritual del fuego) from “El Amor brujo”
2. COMPOSER: Manuel de Falla (1876-1946)
3. ERA / STYLE: 20th century / Spanish nationalism
4. GENRES: Instrumental
5. TEXTURE: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS: Orchestra
“El amor brujo “was commissioned in 1914 as a gitanería (gypsy piece) by Pastora Imperio, a renowned flamenco gypsy dancer. It was scored for cantaora voice, actors, and chamber orchestra and performed at the Teatro Lara, Madrid, on 15 April 1915, unsuccessfully.
1. NAME: “Nacht” (Night), from “Pierrot Lunaire”
2. COMPOSER: Arnold Schoenberg
3. ERA / STYLE: 20th century / free atonality / expressionism
4. GENRES: Vocal
5. TEXTURE: Polyphonic
6. INSTRUMENTS / VOICE: Female voice, piano, violin, viola, violoncello, flute.
Pierrot lunaire is a chamber cantata for singing-speaking voice (sprechgesang in German) and five instruments.