Foreign composers of the era of romanticism. The Musical Culture of Romanticism: Aesthetics, Themes, Genres and Musical Language

Music has taken a special place in the aesthetics of romanticism. It was declared a model and norm for all areas of art, since, due to its specificity, it is able to most fully express the movements of the soul.“Music begins when words end” (G. Heine).

Musical romanticism as a direction developed at the beginningXIXcentury and developed in close connection with various trends in literature, painting and theater. First stage musical romanticism is represented by the works of F. Schubert, E. T. A. Hoffmann, K. M. Weber, N. Paganini, G. Rossini; the next stage (1830-50s) - the work of F. Chopin, R. Schumann, F. Mendelssohn, G. Berlioz, F. Liszt, R. Wagner, J. Verdi. The Late Stage of Romanticism Extends to the EndXIXcentury. Thus, if in literature and painting the romantic direction basically completes its development by the middleXIXcenturies, the life of musical romanticism in Europe is much longer.

In musical romanticism, as well as in other forms of art and literature, the opposition of the world of beautiful, unattainable ideals and everyday life permeated with the spirit of philistinism and philistinism gave rise, on the one hand, to dramatic conflict, the dominance of tragic motifs of loneliness, hopelessness, wandering, etc. ., on the other - the idealization and poeticization of the distant past, folk life, nature. In common with the state of mind of a person, nature in the works of romantics is usually colored with a sense of disharmony.

Like other romantics, the musicians were convinced that feelings are a deeper layer of the soul than the mind:"the mind is mistaken, feelings - never" (R. Schumann).

The inherent interest in romantic music human personality expressed in the predominance ofpersonal tone . The disclosure of personal drama often acquired a connotation among romantics.autobiography, who brought a special sincerity to the music. So, for example, many piano works Schumann are connected with the story of his love for Clara Wieck. Berlioz wrote the autobiographical "Fantastic" symphony. Autobiographical character Wagner emphasized his operas in every possible way.

Very often intertwined with the theme of "lyrical confession"nature theme .

The real discovery of romantic composers wasfantasy theme. Music for the first time learned to embody fabulous-fantastic images by purely musical means. In operasXVII - XVIIIcenturies "unearthly" characters (such as the Queen of the Night from Mozart's " magic flute”) spoke in the “generally accepted” musical language, standing out little from the background of real people. Romantic composers have learned to convey the fantasy world as something completely specific (with the help of unusual orchestral and harmonic colors). A striking example is the "Wolf Gulch Scene" in Weber's Magic Shooter.

If XVIIIcentury was the era of virtuoso improvisers of a universal type, equally skilled in singing, composing, playing various instruments, thenXIXthe century was a time of unprecedented enthusiasm for the art of virtuoso pianists (K. M. Weber, F. Mendelssohn, F. Chopin, F. Liszt, I. Brahms).

The era of romanticism completely changed " musical geography peace." Influenced by active awakening national consciousness of the peoples of Europe, young composer schools of Russia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Norway advanced to the international musical arena. The composers of these countries, embodying the images national literature, stories, native nature, relied on intonations and rhythms of native folklore.

IN the highest degree characteristic of musical romanticism is an interest infolk art . Like the romantic poets who, at the expense of folklore, enriched and updated literary language, musicians widely turned to national folklore - folk songs, ballads, epic (F. Schubert, R. Schumann, F. Chopin, I. Brahms, B. Smetana, E. Grieg, etc.). Embodying the images of national literature, history, native nature, they relied on the intonations and rhythms of national folklore, reviving the old diatonic modes.Under the influence of folklore, the content of European music has changed dramatically.

New themes and images required the development of romanticsnew means of musical language and the principles of shaping, individualization of melody and the introduction of speech intonations, expansion of the timbre and harmonic palette of music (natural frets, colorful juxtapositions of major and minor, etc.).

Since the focus of romantics is no longer humanity as a whole, but special person with its unique feeling, respectivelyand in the means of expression, the general is increasingly giving way to the individual, individually unique. The proportion of generalized intonations in melody, commonly used chord progressions in harmony, and typical patterns in texture are decreasing - all these means are being individualized. In orchestration, the principle of ensemble groups gave way to the soloing of almost all orchestral voices.

The most important pointaesthetics musical romanticism wasthe idea of ​​art synthesis , which finds its clearest expression in opera Wagner and inprogram music Berlioz, Schumann, Liszt.

Musical Genres in the Works of Romantic Composers

In romantic music, three genre groups clearly emerge:

• genres that occupied a subordinate place in the art of classicism (primarily song and piano miniature);
• genres perceived by the romantics from the previous era (opera, oratorio, sonata-symphony cycle, overture);
• free, poetic genres (ballads, fantasies, rhapsodies, symphonic poems). Interest in them is explained by the desire of romantic composers for free self-expression, the gradual transformation of images.

At the forefront in the musical culture of romanticism issong as a genre most suitable for expressing the innermost thoughts of an artist (whereas in the professional work of composersXVIIIcentury lyric song a modest role was assigned - it served mainly to fill leisure). Schubert, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Grieg and others worked in the field of song.

The typical romantic composer creates very directly, spontaneously, at the behest of his heart. Romantic comprehension of the world is not a consistent philosophical grasp of reality, but an instantaneous fixation of everything that touched the artist's soul. In this regard, in the era of romanticism, the genre flourishedminiatures (independent or combined with other miniatures in a cycle). This is not only a song and a romance, but also instrumental compositions -musical moments, impromptu, preludes, etudes, nocturnes, waltzes, mazurkas (in connection with the reliance on folk art) .

Many romantic genres owe their origin to poetry, its poetic forms. Such are sonnets, songs without words, short stories, ballads.

One of the leading ideas of romantic aesthetics - the idea of ​​a synthesis of the arts - naturally placed the problem of opera in the center of attention. Almost all romantic composers turned to the operatic genre with rare exceptions (Brahms).

The personal, confidential tone of expression inherent in romanticism completely transforms the classical genres of the symphony, sonata, and quartet. They receivepsychological and lyrical-dramatic interpretation. Many content romantic works associated withprogramming (piano cycles Schumann, Liszt's Years of Wanderings, Berlioz's symphonies, Mendelssohn's overture).

With his cult of reason. Its occurrence was due to various reasons. The most important of them - disappointment in the outcome of the Great french revolution that did not justify the hopes placed on it.

For a romantic worldview characterized by a sharp conflict between reality and dream. Reality is low and unspiritual, it is permeated with the spirit of philistinism, philistinism and is worthy only of denial. A dream is something beautiful, perfect, but unattainable and incomprehensible to the mind.

Romanticism contrasted the prose of life with the beautiful realm of the spirit, "the life of the heart." Romantics believed that feelings constitute a deeper layer of the soul than the mind. According to Wagner, "The artist turns to feeling, not to reason." Schumann said: "The mind errs, the senses never." It is no coincidence that music was declared the ideal form of art, which, due to its specificity, most fully expresses the movements of the soul. Exactly music in the era of romanticism took a leading place in the system of arts.

If in literature and painting the romantic direction basically completes its development to mid-nineteenth centuries, the life of musical romanticism in Europe is much longer. Musical romanticism as a trend developed in early XIX century and developed in close connection with various trends in literature, painting and theater. The initial stage of musical romanticism is represented by the work of E. T. A. Hoffmann, N. Paganini,; the next stage (1830-50s) - creativity,. The late stage of romanticism extends to late XIX century.

As the main problem of romantic music put forward personality problem, and in a new light - in its conflict with the outside world. romantic hero forever alone. The theme of loneliness is perhaps the most popular in all romantic art. Often associated with it is the thought of creative personality: a person is lonely when he is precisely an outstanding, gifted person. The artist, poet, musician are the favorite characters in the works of romantics ("The Poet's Love" by Schumann, with its subtitle "An Episode from the Life of an Artist", Liszt's symphonic poem "Tasso").

The deep interest in the human personality inherent in romantic music was expressed in the predominance of personal tone. The disclosure of personal drama often acquired from romantics hint of autobiography who brought a special sincerity to the music. So, for example, many are connected with the story of his love for Clara Wieck. The autobiographical nature of his operas was strongly emphasized by Wagner.

Attention to feelings leads to a change in genres - the dominant position acquires lyrics in which images of love predominate.

Very often intertwined with the theme of "lyrical confession" nature theme. Resonating with the state of mind of a person, it is usually colored by a sense of disharmony. The development of genre and lyrical-epic symphonism is closely connected with the images of nature (one of the first works is Schubert's "great" symphony in C-dur).

The real discovery of romantic composers was fantasy theme. Music for the first time learned to embody fabulous-fantastic images by purely musical means. In operas of the 17th - 18th centuries, "unearthly" characters (such as, for example, the Queen of the Night from) spoke the "generally accepted" musical language, standing out little from real people. Romantic composers have learned to convey the fantasy world as something completely specific (with the help of unusual orchestral and harmonic colors). A notable example is the "Wolf Gulch Scene" in The Magic Shooter.

Highly characteristic of musical romanticism is the interest in folk art. Like the romantic poets, who enriched and updated the literary language at the expense of folklore, musicians widely turned to national folklore - folk songs, ballads, epics (F. Schubert, R. Schumann, F. Chopin, and others). Embodying the images of national literature, history, native nature, they relied on the intonations and rhythms of national folklore, reviving the old diatonic modes. Under the influence of folklore, the content of European music has changed dramatically.

New themes and images required the development of romantics new means of musical language and the principles of shaping, individualization of melody and the introduction of speech intonations, expansion of the timbre and harmonic palette of music ( natural frets, colorful juxtapositions of major and minor, etc.).

Since the focus of romantics is no longer humanity as a whole, but a specific person with his unique feeling, respectively and in the means of expression, the general is increasingly giving way to the individual, individually unique. The proportion of generalized intonations in melody, commonly used chord progressions in harmony, and typical patterns in texture are decreasing - all these means are being individualized. In orchestration, the principle of ensemble groups gave way to the soloing of almost all orchestral voices.

The most important point aesthetics musical romanticism was the idea of ​​art synthesis, which found its most vivid expression in and in program music Berlioz, Schumann, Liszt.

Skryabina Svetlana Anatolievna

MBOU DOD DSHI Uvarovo, Tambov region

Teacher

Essay

"Piano Works by Romantic Composers"

Introduction.

2. Romanticism in music.

4. The influence of the romantic style on piano creativity F. List.

5. Conclusion.

6. List of references.

Introduction.

Romanticism, as an artistic movement, was formed at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries, first in literature (in Germany, Great Britain and other countries of Europe and America), then in music and other forms of art. Romantic style is original, fantastic and sublime.

The era of romanticism played a huge role in the development of musical culture. Romanticism covered all spheres of culture: philosophy, aesthetics, theater, literature, music and others. humanitarian sciences. In connection with various national traditions and historical aspects, romanticism, developing in different countries, acquired peculiar national traits: among the Germans - in mysticism, among the British - in a person who will oppose rational behavior, among the French - in unusual stories. The romantic style is characterized by an appeal to the inner world of a person, the desire for emotionality, this determined the primacy of literature and music in romanticism.

Relevance This topic lies in the fact that Romanticism was a support for many composers, and played a huge role in the development of musical culture, and also prompted the development of the piano work of romantic composers.

The purpose of this work– to determine the main features of romanticism and study their reflection in the piano work of romantic composers by solving the following tasks:

1. Consider the main features of romanticism;
2. Identify manifestations of romanticism in music;
3. To study the stylistic features of romanticism in piano work;
4. To characterize the piano work of F. Liszt.

To bring their ideas to life, romantic composers turned to new forms: piano miniatures, ballads, nocturnes, polonaises, impromptu, lyric songs, software products have played an important role. There was a freer use of sonata-symphony and variation forms, the creation of new large single-part forms - a sonata, a concerto, a symphonic poem, the use of special development techniques - leitmotifs, monothematism, vocal recitation, coloring.

1. The origins of romanticism and its features.

In connection with the bourgeois revolution in France, the views and ideas of the people changed. Historical events left their imprint in the soul of everyone who witnessed revolutionary upheavals. For artists, writers and musicians, the ideas of equality, fraternity, and freedom became close. Thus ended the Age of Enlightenment. But the new social order did not live up to the expectations of that society, and disappointment set in and the emergence of a new worldview system, Romanticism, became irreversible.

Romanticism is an ideological and artistic direction in European and American spiritual culture of the late 18th - first half of the 19th century, which replaced classicism. In the content of art, in the movement of aesthetic thought, in the character artistic images profound changes are taking place.

At the center of the world of romanticism is the personality of a person, striving for complete inner freedom, for perfection and renewal. He expresses his attitude to life, the world around him through lyrics emotional experiences and feelings. The lyricism of artistic images was affected by the turn of art, which directed its development, connections with the past, movement into the future.

The basis of romanticism was the concept of duality (the world of dreams and the real world). The discord between the ideal and reality, which was also characteristic of previous trends, acquires extraordinary sharpness and tension in romanticism.

The main task of romanticism was the image of the inner world, mental life. It is with romanticism that real psychologism begins to appear. Restraint and humility were rejected, they were replaced by powerful emotions often going to extremes. Among the romantics, human psychology was clothed with mysticism, it was dominated by moments of the irrational, obscure, mysterious.

Romantics turned to the mysterious, mysterious, even terrible, folk beliefs, fairy tales. Rejecting everyday life modern civilized society as colorless and prosaic, romantics strove for everything unusual. They were attracted by fantasy, folk legends and folk art in general.

The hero of romanticism is, first of all, an individualistic superman. A person for romantics is a small universe, a microcosm. An intense interest in strong and vivid feelings, all-consuming passions, in the secret movements of the soul, in its "night" side, a craving for the intuitive and the unconscious are the essential features of romantic art.

2. Romanticism in music.

In the second decade of the 19th century, musical romanticism appeared, which arose under the influence of literary art. It was a historically new phenomenon, although deep connections with musical "classics" were found. Studying and performing the works of romantic composers, one can feel the upliftment of the spiritual structure and the loftiness of feelings, dramatic contrast, deep pathos, sincere lyricism.

The founders of the era of romanticism are such composers as: Liszt, Chopin, Schumann, Grieg. In more late period the musical "impressionism" of Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin was born.

Schubert's piano miniatures, Mendelssohn's "Songs Without Words", piano cycles, nocturnes, Schumann's preludes, Chopin's ballads - all this richness has transformed old genres and forms, it has entered the musical treasury of the world and acquired significance in classical music.

The dominant place is occupied by the theme of love, this is what state of mind most versatile and fully reflects all the depths and nuances of the human psyche. A person's love for his home, for his fatherland, for his people runs like a thread through the work of all romantic composers.

Romantics have an image of nature that is closely and inextricably intertwined with the theme of a lyrical confession. Like the images of love, the image of nature personifies the state of mind of the hero, so often colored by a sense of disharmony with reality.

The theme of science fiction often competes with the images of nature, and this is generated by the desire to escape from captivity. real life. Composers romantic school fabulous, fantastic images acquire a national unique coloring. Chopin's ballads are inspired by the Ballads of Mickiewicz, Schumann, Mendelssohn, create works of a fantastic grotesque plan, symbolizing, as it were, the wrong side of faith, striving to reverse the ideas of fear of the forces of evil.

The late period of the life and work of the last great classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven coincided with the heyday of the work of the first great romantic composer Franz Schubert. This significant coincidence testifies to the close connection between classical and romantic musical art. Despite the continuity between these two heritages, there are important differences that are typical of the relationship between the work of classical and romantic composers. The main difference is the special emphasis in romantic music on the embodiment of dreamy lyrical and agitated lyric-pathetic images and moods.

Romantic composers began to show great interest in the national identity of domestic music, as well as the music of other peoples. In this regard, a careful study of folk musical creativity began - musical folklore. At the same time, interest in the national historical past, in ancient legends, tales, and traditions increased, which became the basis for the emergence of fascinating fantastic images. Mastering new themes and images, romantic music increased interaction with romantic poetry and romantic theatre. This determined the high flourishing in the 19th century romantic opera- a genre in which there is a synthesis of all types of art. One of the brightest romantic operas - " magic shooter by the German composer Carl Maria von Weber.

Romantic musical art brought forward many outstanding composers, who were often also remarkable concert performers.

3. Stylistic features of the era of romanticism in piano work.

In the style of music of the era of romanticism, modal and harmonic means acquire a very important role. The first of these processes - dynamics - is the saturation of chords in pieces with alterations and dissonances, which exacerbated their instability, increased the tension that required resolution in further playing. Such properties of the performance of the works of romantic composers were expressed by the “languor” typical of this style, the stream of “infinitely” developing feelings, which was embodied with particular completeness in the works of Chopin, Schumann, Grieg. A variety of colors and colorful sounds were extracted from natural modes, with the help of which the folk or archaic nature of the music was emphasized. When depicting fantastic, fabulous or bizarre images, a huge role was assigned to whole-tone and chromatic scales.

The following trends acted in romantic melodics: the desire for breadth and the continuity of the development of phrasing. Many composers of the Romantic era have "endless melody" with huge multi-bar leagues in their works. This is especially evident in the works of Chopin, Tchaikovsky, the early period of the 80s - 90s of Rachmaninov ("Elegy", "Melody", "Romance", "Serenade" and his other works).

Of great importance when getting acquainted with the music of romantic composers is sound production, a sense of "style", here it is very important to note that in working on phrasing in a particular piece, it is necessary that the phrases pick up one another, cling to each other, forming garlands, but together with that they did not overlap each other.

Talking about style features piano performances of musical works by romantic composers, professor of the Leningrad Conservatory V.Kh.

Required in execution lyrical works feel the breath, it can be felt through touch: full of air background, breathing bass, accurate pedal.

About the stylistic features of F. Chopin's music, Liszt said the following: "His music resembles a bindweed flower, which shakes its corollas on an unusually thin stem. These corollas of extraordinary beauty are made of such a fragrant and delicate fabric that it breaks at the slightest touch."Chopin is the "top" performing arts era of romanticism.

When performing musical works of the era of romanticism, one must remember that in order to achieve the desired "sound" - velvety and unearthly, one needs a special gift and diligence, and a sense of style. As Neuhaus said: “Sound is a sacred thing, take care of sound like gold, like a jewel, it is born in a presonic atmosphere, its birth is a sacrament, it is very important to find the necessary “measure of sound”.

Coming to the fore melos. The melody is updated intonationally and compositionally. Two appear different sources intonation renewal: folklore and speech intonations. What deviates from the classical norm, first of all, attracts attention. The classicists had recitation (oratory), but the romantics had it more intimate, lyrical, open, emotional.

5. The influence of the romantic style on the piano work of F. Liszt.

Liszt, like a virtuoso, is a phenomenon from among those

that appear once in several centuries,

Serov wrote

In the work of F. Liszt, piano works constitute the best part of his creative heritage.

Liszt's artistic personalities as a pianist and composer combined to open up new paths in the art of music.

He entrusted all his thoughts, dreams, sufferings and joys to the piano. And that is why Liszt first of all found new methods of composition and means of expression in the field of piano music.

F. Liszt was brilliant pianist and his performance could convince and captivate thousands of listeners. In the same way, in composing practice, he achieved a relief and intelligible presentation of musical thoughts. On the other hand, as an incessantly searching artist, gifted with a brilliant creative flair, he updated the entire structure and character of the piano sound, making it, as Stasov aptly put it, "an unknown and unheard of thing - a whole orchestra."

The composer brought the Symphonic interpretation of the piano into modern performance and creativity. In his developments, he achieved a powerful orchestral sound of the instrument and enriched it with coloristic possibilities. In one of the letters, Liszt indicated that his goal was “... to attach the spirit of the pianist-performer to orchestral effects and, within the limited limits of the piano, to make sensitive various instrumental sound effects and shades. Liszt accomplished this by saturating the piano works with timbres and melodic warehouse. In Liszt's piano pieces, author's indications are often found - quasi tromba (like a trumpet), quasi flauto (like a flute), etc., imitation of the cello (for example, in Oberman's Valley), horns (the etude "Hunt"), bells ("Geneva bells"), organ, etc. Liszt expanded the expressive resources of pianism to the fore, bringing to the fore the power, brilliance and brilliance of sound.

F. Liszt discovered new methods of piano technique. He tried to use all registers of the piano: he used basses that sounded juicy and deep, he transferred the melody to the middle, “cello” register, and in the upper register he revealed a transparent, crystal-clear sound. When comparing registers, the composer used passages, he saturated them with chord complexes in a wide arrangement. Liszt made extensive use of orchestral tremolo effects, chordal trills or martellato octaves, to more prominently and catchily convey dramatic or dynamic moments. He paid special attention to the distribution of sound material between the two hands, their transfer and transfer to different registers of the piano. Among other favorite techniques of Liszt are passages in octaves, double notes, masterfully used rehearsal technique. These techniques influenced the development of the multi-layered texture of Liszt's works. Their development is given in several dynamic and color plans, as in orchestral compositions.

Liszt, as a great reformer of the piano playing, taught pianists to “get used to making accents and grouping motifs, putting forward what is more important and subordinating the less important to it, in a word, setting themselves the standard of the orchestra.”

The features of Liszt's piano style were not formed immediately, they can be divided into four stages. The first stage (20s - mid 30s) is associated with the study of the possibilities of the piano, with the imitation of the bravura manner of modern virtuosos, in the second (late 30s - 40s), Liszt develops an individual style, enriching his technique and musical language the latest achievements of romantic composers (Paganini, Berlioz, Chopin). The third stage (late 40s - 60s) - the pinnacle of Liszt's skill - is characterized by the justification of all technical methods by the requirements of expressiveness and content, the absence of virtuoso "excesses", the fourth stage (70s-80s) is marked by new quests: the rejection of monumental ideas, the search for chamber sound, subtle coloring.

The tradition of "Listov" concert pianism was developed in the art of A.G. Rubinstein, A. Siloti and especially S. Rachmaninov.

Conclusion.

Romanticism as a method and direction in art was a complex and controversial phenomenon. In every country he had a bright national expression. It is not easy to find features in literature, music, painting and theater that unite Chateaubriand and Delacroix, Mickiewicz and Chopin, Lermontov and Kiprensky.

TO critical areas works of romantic composers include: lyrics, fantasy, originality in the performance of characteristic national motifs (example E. Grieg). Beginning with Schubert and Weber, the composers involved in the common European musical language the intonational turns of the ancient, predominantly peasant folklore of their countries.

The new content of music required new means of expression. This is, first of all, a huge melodic richness, as well as the melodic richness of a developed textural presentation, the increased complexity and colorfulness of the harmonic language.

Bibliography.

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2. Aliev, Yu.B. Handbook of a school teacher-musician / Yu.B. Aliev. - M.: VLADOS, 2000. - 336 p.
3. Bryantseva, V.N. Musical literature foreign countries. Second year of study. - M.: Music, 2004.
4. Druskin, M.S. Story foreign music. Issue 4: The second half of the 19th century / M.S. Druskin. - St. Petersburg: COMPOSITOR-ST. PETERSBURG, 2007. - 632 p.
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At the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century, such an artistic movement as romanticism appeared. During this era, people dreamed of ideal world and "flee" in fantasy. This style found its most vivid and figurative embodiment in music. Among the representatives of romanticism, such composers of the 19th century as Carl Weber,

Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner.

Franz Liszt

The future was born in the family of a cellist. His father taught him music early years. As a child, he sang in a choir and learned to play the organ. When Franz was 12 years old, his family moved to Paris so that the boy could study music. He was not admitted to the conservatory, however, since the age of 14 he has been composing sketches. Such 19th century as Berlioz, Paganini, had a great influence on him.

Paganini became Liszt's real idol, and he decided to hone his own piano skills. The concert activity of 1839-1847 was accompanied by a brilliant triumph. During these years, Ferenc created the famous collection of plays "Years of Wanderings". A virtuoso of piano playing and a favorite of the public has become a true embodiment of the era.

Franz Liszt composed music, wrote several books, taught, led open lessons. Composers of the 19th century from all over Europe came to him. We can say that almost all his life he was engaged in music, because he worked for 60 years. And to this day it musical talent and craftsmanship are a role model for contemporary pianists.

Richard Wagner

The genius created music that could not leave anyone indifferent. She had both admirers and fierce opponents. Wagner was fascinated by the theater since childhood, and at the age of 15 he decided to create a tragedy with music. At the age of 16, he brought his compositions to Paris.

For 3 years he tried in vain to stage an opera, but no one wanted to deal with an unknown musician. Such popular composers 19th century, like Franz Liszt and Berlioz, whom he met in Paris, do not bring him luck. He is in poverty, and no one wants to support his musical ideas.

Having failed in France, the composer returns to Dresden, where he begins working as a conductor in the court theater. In 1848, he emigrated to Switzerland, because after participating in the uprising he was declared a criminal. Wagner was aware of the imperfection of bourgeois society and the dependent position of the artist.

In 1859, he sang love in the opera Tristan und Isolde. In Parsifal, universal brotherhood is presented in a utopian way. Evil is defeated, and justice and wisdom win. All the great composers of the 19th century were influenced by Wagner's music and learned from his work.

In the 19th century, a national composing and performing school was formed in Russia. There are two periods in Russian music: early romanticism and classical. The first includes such Russian composers of the 19th century as A. Varlamov, A. Verstovsky, A. Gurilev.

Mikhail Glinka

Mikhail Glinka founded composer school in our country. The Russian spirit is present in all of his famous operas such as "Ruslan and Lyudmila", "Life for the Tsar" are imbued with patriotism. Glinka summarized the characteristic features in folk music, using old tunes and rhythms of folk music. The composer was also an innovator in musical dramaturgy. His work is the rise of national culture.

Russian composers gave the world many brilliant works that still win the hearts of people today. Among the brilliant Russians composers of the XIX century immortalized such names as M. Balakirev, A. Glazunov, M. Mussorgsky, N. Rimsky-Korsakov, P. Tchaikovsky.

Classical music vividly and sensually reflects inner world person. Strict rationalism was replaced by the romance of the 19th century.

Romanticism in music

Main article: Music of the Romantic period

In music, the direction of romanticism developed in 1820 years, its development took the whole XIX century. Romantic composers tried with the help of musical means express the depth and richness of the inner world of man. Music becomes more embossed, individual. Song genres are developing, including ballad.

Representatives of romanticism in music are: in Austria - Franz Schubert; V Germany - Ernest Theodor Hoffmann, Carl Maria Weber,Richard Wagner, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Ludwig Spohr; V Italy - Niccolo Paganini, Vincenzo Bellini, early Giuseppe Verdi; in France - G. Berlioz, D. F. Ober, J. Meyerbeer; V Poland - Frederic Chopin; V Hungary - Franz Liszt.

In Russia, in line with romanticism, they worked A. A. Alyabiev, M. I. Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Balakirev, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, Mussorgsky,Borodin, Cui, P. I. Tchaikovsky.

The idea of ​​art synthesis found expression in the ideology and practice of romanticism. Romanticism in music took shape in the 20s of the 19th century under the influence of the literature of romanticism and developed in close connection with it, with literature in general (turning to synthetic genres, primarily opera, song, instrumental miniatures and musical programming). The appeal to the inner world of a person, characteristic of romanticism, was expressed in the cult of the subjective, the craving for the emotionally intense, which determined the primacy of music and lyrics in romanticism.

Music 1st half of XIX V. evolved rapidly. A new musical language emerged; in instrumental and chamber-vocal music, the miniature received a special place; the orchestra sounded with a diverse spectrum of colors; the possibilities of the piano and violin were revealed in a new way; the music of the romantics was very virtuoso.

Musical romanticism manifested itself in many different branches associated with different national cultures and with various social movements. So, for example, the intimate, lyrical style of the German romantics and the "oratorical" civil pathos, characteristic of the work of French composers, differ significantly. In turn, representatives of new national schools that arose on the basis of a broad national liberation movement (Chopin, Moniuszko, Dvorak, Smetana, Grieg), as well as representatives of the Italian opera school, closely associated with the Risorgimento movement (Verdi, Bellini), in many ways differ from contemporaries in Germany, Austria or France, in particular, the tendency to preserve the classical traditions.

Nevertheless, all of them are marked by some general artistic principles that allow us to speak of a single romantic structure of thought.

Due to the special ability of music to deeply and penetratingly reveal the rich world of human experiences, it was put in the first place among other arts by romantic aesthetics. Many romantics emphasized an intuitive beginning to music, attributed to it the property of expressing the “unknowable”. The work of outstanding romantic composers had a strong realistic basis. interest in life ordinary people, the fullness of life and the truth of feelings, reliance on the music of everyday life determined the realism of the work of the best representatives of musical romanticism. Reactionary tendencies (mysticism, flight from reality) are inherent in only a relatively small number of works of romantics. They appeared in part in the opera Euryanta by Weber (1823), in some musical dramas by Wagner, oratorio Christ by Liszt (1862), etc.

By the beginning of the 19th century, fundamental studies of folklore, history, ancient literature appeared, medieval legends, gothic art, and the culture of the Renaissance that had been forgotten were resurrected. It was at this time that many national schools of a special type developed in the composer's work of Europe, which were destined to significantly expand the boundaries of common European culture. Russian, which soon took, if not the first, then one of the first places in world cultural creativity (Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, "Kuchkists", Tchaikovsky), Polish (Chopin, Moniuszko), Czech (Sour Cream, Dvorak), Hungarian (List), then Norwegian (Grieg), Spanish (Pedrel), Finnish (Sibelius), English (Elgar) - all of them, merging into the general mainstream of the composer's work in Europe, in no way opposed themselves to the established ancient traditions. A new circle of images emerged, expressing the unique national features of the national culture to which the composer belonged. The intonation structure of the work allows you to instantly recognize by ear belonging to a particular national school.

Composers involve in the common European musical language the intonational turns of the old, mainly peasant folklore of their countries. They, as it were, cleansed the Russian folk song from the lacquered opera, they introduced into the cosmopolitan intonation system of the 18th century song turns of folk-everyday genres. The most striking phenomenon in the music of romanticism, which is especially vividly perceived when compared with the figurative sphere of classicism, is the dominance of the lyrical-psychological principle. Of course, a distinctive feature of musical art in general is the refraction of any phenomenon through the sphere of feelings. Music of all eras is subject to this pattern. But the romantics surpassed all their predecessors in the value of the lyrical beginning in their music, in strength and perfection in conveying the depths of the inner world of a person, the subtlest shades of mood.

The theme of love occupies a dominant place in it, because it is this state of mind that most comprehensively and fully reflects all the depths and nuances of the human psyche. But it is highly characteristic that this theme is not limited to the motives of love in the literal sense of the word, but is identified with the widest range of phenomena. The purely lyrical experiences of the characters are revealed against the backdrop of a broad historical panorama. A person's love for his home, for his fatherland, for his people runs like a thread through the work of all romantic composers.

A huge place is given in musical works of small and large forms to the image of nature, closely and inextricably intertwined with the theme of lyrical confession. Like the images of love, the image of nature personifies the state of mind of the hero, so often colored by a sense of disharmony with reality.

The theme of fantasy often competes with images of nature, which is probably generated by the desire to escape from the captivity of real life. Typical for romantics was the search for a wonderful, sparkling with the richness of colors of the world, opposed to gray everyday life. It was during these years that literature was enriched with fairy tales, ballads of Russian writers. Among the composers of the romantic school, fabulous, fantastic images acquire a national unique coloring. The ballads are inspired by Russian writers, and thanks to this, works of a fantastic grotesque plan are created, symbolizing, as it were, the wrong side of faith, striving to reverse the ideas of fear of the forces of evil.

Many romantic composers also acted as music writers and critics (Weber, Berlioz, Wagner, Liszt, etc.). The theoretical work of representatives of progressive romanticism made a very significant contribution to the development of the most important issues of musical art. Romanticism also found expression in the performing arts (the violinist Paganini, the singer A. Nurri, and others).

The progressive meaning of Romanticism in this period lies mainly in the activity Franz Liszt. Liszt's work, despite the contradictory worldview, was basically progressive, realistic. One of the founders and classics of Hungarian music, an outstanding national artist.

Hungarian national themes are widely reflected in many of Liszt's works. Liszt's romantic, virtuoso compositions expanded the technical and expressive possibilities of piano playing (concertos, sonatas). Significant were Liszt's connections with representatives of Russian music, whose works he actively promoted.

At the same time, Liszt played a big role in the development of world musical art. After Liszt, “everything became possible for the pianoforte.” Character traits his music - improvisation, romantic elation of feelings, expressive melody. Liszt is valued as a composer, performer, musical figure. Major works of the composer: opera “ Don Sancho or the castle of love”(1825), 13 symphonic poems “Tasso”, ” Prometheus”, “Hamlet” and others, works for orchestra, 2 concertos for piano and orchestra, 75 romances, choirs and other equally well-known works.

One of the first manifestations of romanticism in music was creativity Franz Schubert(1797-1828). Schubert entered the history of music as the largest of the founders of musical romanticism and the creator of a number of new genres: romantic symphony, piano miniature, lyric-romantic song (romance). Most important in his work is song, in which he showed especially many innovative tendencies. In Schubert's songs, the inner world of a person is most deeply revealed, his characteristic connection with folk music is most noticeable, one of the most essential features of his talent is most evident - the amazing variety, beauty, charm of melodies. The best songs of the early period are “ Margarita at the spinning wheel”(1814) , “forest king". Both songs are written to the words of Goethe. In the first of them, the abandoned girl remembers her beloved. She is lonely and deeply suffering, her song is sad. A simple and sincere melody is echoed only by the monotonous hum of the breeze. "The Forest King" is a complex work. This is not a song, but rather a dramatic scene where three actors: a father riding a horse through the forest, a sick child whom he carries with him, and a formidable forest king who appears to a boy in a feverish delirium. Each of them has its own melodic language. Schubert's songs "Trout", "Barcarolle", "Morning Serenade" are no less famous and beloved. Written in later years, these songs are remarkable for their surprisingly simple and expressive melody and fresh colors.

Schubert also wrote two cycles of songs - “ beautiful miller"(1823), and" winter path"(1872) - to words German poet Wilhelm Müller. In each of them, the songs are united by one plot. The songs of the cycle “The Beautiful Miller’s Woman” tells about a young boy. Following the course of the stream, he sets off on a journey to seek his happiness. Most of the songs in this cycle have a light character. The mood of the cycle “Winter Way” is completely different. A poor young man is rejected by a rich bride. In despair he leaves hometown and leaves to roam the world. His companions are the wind, a blizzard, an ominously cawing crow.

The few examples given here allow us to talk about the features of Schubert's songwriting.

Schubert loved to write piano music. For this instrument, he wrote a huge number of works. Like songs, his piano works were close to everyday music and just as simple and understandable. The favorite genres of his compositions were dances, marches, and in last years life - impromptu.

Waltzes and other dances usually appeared at Schubert's balls, in country walks. There he improvised them, and recorded them at home.

If we compare Schubert's piano pieces with his songs, we can find many similarities. First of all, it is a great melodic expressiveness, grace, colorful juxtaposition of major and minor.

One of the largest French composers of the second half of the 19th century Georges Bizet, the creator of an immortal creation for musical theater - operas “Carmen”and wonderful music for the drama by Alphonse Daudet“ Arlesian”.

Bizet's work is characterized by accuracy and clarity of thought, novelty and freshness of expressive means, completeness and elegance of form. Bizet is characterized by the sharpness of psychological analysis in comprehending human feelings and actions, which is characteristic of the work of the great compatriots of the composer - the writers Balzac, Flaubert, Maupassant. The central place in the work of Bizet, diverse in genres, belongs to the opera. The composer's operatic art arose on national soil and was nurtured by the traditions of the French opera house. Bizet considered the first task in his work to be the overcoming of existing French opera genre restrictions hindering its development. The “big” opera seems to him a dead genre, the lyrical opera irritates with its tearfulness and petty-bourgeois narrow-mindedness, the comic deserves attention more than others. For the first time in Bizet's opera, juicy and lively domestic and mass scenes appear, anticipating life and vivid scenes.

Bizet's music for Alphonse Daudet's drama “Arlesian” is known mainly for two concert suites made up of her best numbers. Bizet used some authentic Provençal melodies : “March of the Three Kings” And "Dance of frisky horses".

Bizet's opera Carmen”- a musical drama that unfolds before the audience with convincing truthfulness and with captivating artistic power the story of love and death of its heroes: the soldier Jose and the gypsy Carmen. Opera Carmen was created on the basis of the traditions of French musical theater, but at the same time it also introduced a lot of new things. Based on the best achievements of the national opera and reforming its most important elements, Bizet created a new genre - a realistic musical drama.

In the history of the opera house of the 19th century, the opera Carmen occupies one of the first places. Since 1876, her triumphal procession through the stages begins. opera houses Vienna, Brussels, London.

The manifestation of a personal relationship to the environment was expressed by poets and musicians, first of all, in immediacy, emotional “openness” and passion of expression, in an effort to convince the listener with the help of the incessant intensity of the tone of recognition or confession.

These new trends in art had a decisive influence on the emergence lyric opera. It arose as an antithesis of “big” and comic opera, but she could not pass by their conquests and achievements in the field of operatic dramaturgy and means of musical expression.

A distinctive feature of the new opera genre was the lyrical interpretation of any literary plot - historical, philosophical or modern theme. The heroes of the lyrical opera are endowed with the features of ordinary people, devoid of exclusivity and some hyperbolization, characteristic of a romantic opera. The most significant artist in the field of lyric opera was Charles Gounod.

Among the rather numerous operatic heritage of Gounod, the opera “ Faust" occupies a special and, one might say, exceptional place. Her worldwide fame and popularity are unmatched by Gounod's other operas. The historical significance of the opera Faust is especially great because it was not only the best, but in essence the first among the operas of the new direction, about which Tchaikovsky wrote: “It is impossible to deny that Faust was written, if not with genius, then with extraordinary skill and without significant identity.” In the image of Faust, the sharp inconsistency and “bifurcation” of his consciousness, the eternal dissatisfaction caused by the desire to know the world, are smoothed out. Gounod could not convey all the versatility and complexity of the image of Goethe's Mephistopheles, who embodied the spirit of militant criticism of that era.

One of the main reasons for the popularity of "Faust" was that it concentrated the best and fundamentally new features of the young genre of lyrical opera: an emotionally direct and vividly individual transfer of the inner world of the opera characters. The deep philosophical meaning of Goethe's Faust, which sought to reveal the historical and social destinies of all mankind on the example of the conflict of the main characters, was embodied by Gounod in the form of a humane lyrical drama of Marguerite and Faust.

French composer, conductor, music critic Hector Berlioz entered the history of music as the largest romantic composer, creator of the program symphony, innovator in the field of musical form, harmony and especially instrumentation. In his work, they found a vivid embodiment of the features of revolutionary pathos and heroics. Berlioz was familiar with M. Glinka, whose music he highly appreciated. He was on friendly terms with the leaders of the "Mighty Handful", who enthusiastically accepted his writings and creative principles.

He created 5 musical stage works, including the opera “ Benvenuto Cillini”(1838), “ Trojans”,”Beatrice and Benedict(based on Shakespeare's comedy Much Ado About Nothing, 1862); 23 vocal and symphonic works, 31 romances, choirs, he wrote the books “Great Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and Orchestration” (1844), “Evenings in the Orchestra” (1853), “Through Songs” (1862), “Musical Curiosities” ( 1859), “Memoirs” (1870), articles, reviews.

German composer, conductor, playwright, publicist Richard Wagner entered the history of world musical culture as one of the greatest musical creators and major reformers of operatic art. The goal of his reforms was to create a monumental programmatic vocal-symphonic work in dramatic form, designed to replace all types of opera and symphonic music. Such a work was a musical drama, in which music flows in a continuous stream, merging together all the dramatic links. Rejecting the finished singing, Wagner replaced them with a kind of emotionally rich recitative. A large place in Wagner's operas is occupied by independent orchestral episodes, which are a valuable contribution to world symphonic music.

Wagner's hand belongs to 13 operas:“ The Flying Dutchman”(1843),”Tannhäuser”(1845),“Tristan and Isolde”(1865), “Gold of the Rhine”(1869) and etc.; choirs, piano pieces, romances.

Another outstanding German composer, conductor, pianist, teacher, and musical figure was Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. From the age of 9 he began to perform as a pianist, at the age of 17 he created one of the masterpieces - an overture to a comedy " A Midsummer Night's Dream” Shakespeare. In 1843 he founded the first conservatory in Germany in Leipzig. In the work of Mendelssohn, "a classic among the romantics", are combined romantic traits with a classical mindset. His music is characterized by bright melody, democratism of expression, moderation of feelings, calmness of thought, the predominance of bright emotions, lyrical moods, not without a slight touch of sentimentality, impeccable forms, brilliant craftsmanship. R. Schumann called him "Mozart of the 19th century", G. Heine - "a musical miracle".

Author of landscape romantic symphonies (“Scottish”, “Italian”), program concert overtures, a popular violin concerto, cycles of pieces for pianoforte “Song without Words”; the operas Camacho's Marriage. He wrote music for the dramatic play Antigone (1841), Oedipus in Colon (1845) by Sophocles, Atalia by Racine (1845), Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (1843) and others; oratorios "Paul" (1836), "Elijah" (1846); 2 concertos for piano and 2 for violin.

INItalian musical culture a special place belongs to GiuseppeVerdi- an outstanding composer, conductor, organist. The main area of ​​Verdi's work is opera. He acted mainly as a spokesman for the heroic-patriotic feelings and national liberation ideas of the Italian people. In subsequent years, he paid attention to dramatic conflicts generated by social inequality, violence, oppression, and denounced evil in his operas. Characteristic features of Verdi's work: folk music, dramatic temperament, melodic brightness, understanding of the laws of the scene.

He wrote 26 operas: “ Nabucco”, “Macbeth”, “Troubadour”, “La Traviata”, “Othello”, “Aida" and etc . , 20 romances, vocal ensembles .

Young Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) aspired to the development of national music. This was expressed not only in his work, but also in the promotion of Norwegian music.

During his years in Copenhagen, Grieg wrote a lot of music: “ Poetic Pictures” And "Humoresque", sonata for piano and first violin sonata, songs. With each new work, the image of Grieg as a Norwegian composer emerges more clearly. In the subtle lyrical "Poetic Pictures" (1863), national features still timidly break through. The rhythmic figure is often found in Norwegian folk music; it became characteristic of many of Grieg's melodies.

Grieg's work is vast and multifaceted. Grieg wrote works of various genres. Piano Concerto and Ballades, three sonatas for violin and piano and a sonata for cello and piano, the quartet testifies to Grieg's constant craving for large form. At the same time, the composer's interest in instrumental miniatures remained unchanged. To the same extent as the pianoforte, the composer was attracted by the chamber vocal miniature - a romance, a song. Do not be the main one with Grieg, the field of symphonic creativity is marked by such masterpieces as the suites “ Per Gounod”, “From the days of Holberg". One of characteristic species Creativity Grieg-processing folk songs and dances: in the form of simple piano pieces, a suite cycle for piano four hands.

Grieg's musical language is brightly original. The individuality of the composer's style is most of all determined by his deep connection with Norwegian folk music. Grieg widely uses genre features, intonation structure, rhythmic formulas of folk song and dance melodies.

Grieg's remarkable mastery of variational and variant development of a melody is rooted in folk traditions of repeated repetition of a melody with its changes. “I recorded the folk music of my country.” Behind these words lies Grieg's reverent attitude towards folk art and recognition of his defining role for his own creativity.

romanticism, and finally a powerful realistic ... followed. II. Romanticism in Russian painting Romanticism different in Russia...