Most musicologists (those who study music history) classify Beethoven's 9th Symphony (Ode to Joy) as the beginning of the Romantic Period in music.
We'll begin with the work that really set the stage for the Romantic Period in music:
Symphony no. 9 (Choral), by L.v. Beethoven
Although known for the fact that he added a CHOIR to a symphony orchestra (which had never been done before), this symphony is INCREDIBLY over the top, and absolutely sublime in its beauty. Here is the entire work - about an hour long.
"Der Erlkoenig" by Franz Schubert
as performed by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, one of the most recorded voices of all time
This is an example of Lieder (German art song). The song is a conversation between a father, his sick son, and the Erlking (who has come to receive the son in death). The father is riding with the son on a horse - presumably to the safety of a doctor or bed. The father tells the son to hold on, but the son tells his father that the Erlking is nearer and nearer. Eventually the Erlking enters the conversation, convincing the son to come with him.
Note how the accompaniment figure actually sounds like a horse riding in the night, how the melody changes for each character, and how the music creates the panicked mood.
"Prelude", Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner
Wagner considered Opera to be the Gesamtkunstwerk (german for "complete work of art"), in that it included every element of artistic medium and interpretation, and as a result, focused mainly on it.
This piece is so wonderfully chromatic. Wagner does an amazing job of forcing dissonance, and resolving it differently each time to create unexpectedly beautiful results. It just makes your heart want to jump out of your chest - hence the term, romantic.
It should also be noted that Wagnerian Opera is some of the more difficult opera to sing for a few reasons.
1) It never repeats. Every time it does SOMETHING different, no matter how small. So it can really be a bear on the brain. But this was done in an effort to imitate our real existence... nothing is ever the same the second time around in the human experience.
2) His orchestration is INCREDIBLY full, and is basically a symphony orchestra in the pit. This was difficult for singers to match, which is why it takes a certain freak-breed of singers to be able to perform this music without spitting up blood afterwards. It is not recommended for those with lighter voices.
Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss
Although made famous again in the 20th century as film music in "2001: A Space Odyssey", this piece was actually written in 1896 as a tone poem.
What is a tone poem? I'm so glad you asked.
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another (non-musical) source is illustrated or evoked.
In this case, Strauss read a treatise by Friedrich Nietzsche of the same name, and based his work on what he read. I would summarize it here, but I am not smart enough to do this in less than 1,000 words.
Google it.
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