Romantic (1825-1900)

Romantic (1825-1900)

1. Music Events

   • 1827 Berlioz sees Harriet Smithson in Hamlet and falls in love.
     • 1830 Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) writes "Symphonie Fantastique" in Harriet's honor.
   • 1802 Beethoven writes the Heiligenstadt testament and almost gives up on music because of his deafness.
     • 1824 Beethoven writes his "9th Symphony" which pushes the bounds of symphonic writing in both scope and content.
   • 1896 Sousa hears of the death of David Blakely, manager of the Sousa band, on his way home from Europe.
     • 1897 John Phillip Sousa (1854-1932) premiers "Stars and Stripes forever in honor of David Blakely. It is received warmly.
   • 1821 Sebastian Erard introduces a faster action to the piano allowing for more virtuosic music.
     • 1827 Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) publsihes his "Seven Character Pieces" which were fairly virtuosic to match his own skill level.
   • Late 1820's Franz Schubert falls ill. He lets his friends know that he is near death.
     • 1827 Franz Schubert (1797-1828) writes his song cycle "Winterreise". It reflects on death and journey in true lieder fashion, and is his final large work.

2. Historic Events

   • 1838 Queen Victoria succeeds the British throne.
     • 1838 Johann Strauss (1804-1849) "Huldigung der Königin Victoria von Grossbrittanien" Written for Queen Victoria's Coronation ball.
   • 1830 Revolution begins in France and Belgium
     • 1830 Alexandre Dechet (1801-1830) supposedly wrote La Brabançonne" September of 1830 during the revolution and read the lyrics at a revolutionary meeting. The song later became the Belgian national anthem.
   • 1850 London firm of Broadwood making 2,00 pianos per year increasing availability to amateur pianists.
     • 1817-1826 Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) publishes a series of 100 études of increasing difficulty. Amateurs were able to purchase the études and increase their abilities.
   • 1804 Boneparte crowns himself emperor of France
     • 1803 Ludwig van Beeethoven (1770-1827) writes the Eroica Symphony in honor of Napoleon but changes the name up hearing that he has crowned himself emperor.
   • 1800's the fall of the aristocratic partronage caused composers and musicians to do more freelancing.
     • 1802-1817 Nicolò Paganini's (1782-1840) "24 Caprices" were written for his own performance. He was a virtuosic violinist so he often wrote himself pieces to be solo on. The pieces are notoriously hard and not for the amateur player.