Romantic Era 1810-1920

For the past month I've been listening to the Romantic Era symphonies. The Romantic time period seems to range from 1810-1920 (depending on your source). This time period has nothing to do with "romance", but a period that different "trends" appear in classical music: emotion, longer melodies, complex harmonies, bigger orchestras, pianos, fascination with nature and the Gothic/supernatural.

Some composers land in this era----and there's another part of this era I will talk about next week: the nationalists. So the following lists are what I have researched and decided for the Romantic Era----but some of these overlap into the nationalists.

Early Romantic Composers

  • Schubert
  • Mendelssohn
  • Schumann
  • Berlioz
  • Liszt
Late Romantic Composers
  • Brahms
  • Bruckner
  • Dvorak
  • Elgar
  • Mahler

I look forward to listening to specific nationalist composers --- and then on to the 20th century.

Paula M.....

Fifty down, fifty more symphonies to go!

Whew! After slowing down a bit this past weekend, I have picked it up again and have listened to 50 symphonies!
Some highlights:

  • Schubert's Unfinished and Great C Major: After listening to these two symphonies, I appreciate Schubert even more. He's emotional.
  • Mahler's Symphony No. 2 and No. 6: Some day I hope to hear these pieces performed live.
  • Shostakovich's Symphony no. 3 and no. 5 and no. 9: I plan to listen to more----I am not sure if I will listen to all 15 symphonies!
  •  Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique
  • Liszt's Dante Symphony (I know it's more of a tone poem, but I like it!)
  • Borodin's Second Symphony
Next week I will write more on the Romantic period.

Paula M.....