The Romantic Era

1820-1900

This time is known as the Age of Inventions –

The world was changing very quickly.

First photographs

In 1826, French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, took this photograph,

titled ‘View from the Window at Le Gras’, at his family’s country home. Niépceproduced his photo—a view of a courtyard and outbuildings seen from the house’s upstairs window—by exposing a bitumen-coated plate in a camera for several hours on his windowsill.

First Dictionaries – Noah Webster

• 1828 Edition

First Steinway Piano

One of the first Steinway pianos, built in the kitchen of master cabinet maker Henry Engelhard Steinweg in Seesen, Germany in 1836.

• Died at the Alamo 1836

• Texas was not a state was yet. It was at war with Santa Ana, President of Mexico.

Davey Crockett

Pullman sleeping cars on trains

• 1838 photo

• If you traveled

by train, this was

the “1st class” way To

sleep. In “coach”

class, you slept

sitting up in your

seat.

Charles Dickens

• 1843 – This English author published “A Christmas Carol” – the story of Scrooge and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.

Saxophone - invented in 1846• Adophe Sax invented them.

California Gold Rush 1848

• Gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, sparking a rush of people looking to make their fortune.

Edgar Allen Poe dies 1849

• An American poet and writer, Poe specialized in mysteries and horror stories.

• If you want to stay awake at night, read his story, “The Telltale Heart.”

First railroad tunnel• Walk through 1,477

feet of railroad and Civil War history at the Western and Atlantic Tunnel, completed in 1850. It was the first major railroad tunnel in the South.

Singer Sewing Machine 1851

You operate this machine by rocking the foot pedal back and forth. It was not electric. You could sew even stitches more quickly than by hand.

Moby Dick published 1851• Herman

Melville wrote this story of Captain Ahab and his epic battle with the great white whale, Moby Dick.

By the time the American Civil War broke out in 1861, chloroform had been in use for several years as a method of surgical anesthesia. Developed in the 1840s, chloroform was non-flammable. During the Civil War, chloroform became an essential tool for military doctors, who performed tens of thousands of amputations and other types of procedures for wounded Union and Confederate soldiers.

James Simpson developed Chloroform

Jack Clements, a player on the Philadelphia Quakers, poses at a photography studio in Boston in the days before players carried mitts onto the baseball diamond.

Baseball becomes popular in 1860s

The first British Open was played on Oct. 17, 1860, at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. A field of eight professionals played three rounds of Prestwick’s 12-hole course in one day. Here is the trophy that is now given each year.

Famous Golf Tournament Starts –The British Open

Pasteurization

• Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist who was one of the most important founders of medical microbiology. He discovered that microorganisms cause fermentation and disease; originated the process of pasteurization; saved the beer, wine, and silk industries in France; and developed vaccines against anthrax and rabies.

Lincoln abolishes slavery 1863The 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially abolished slavery in America, and was ratified on December 6, 1865, after the conclusion of the American Civil War. The amendment states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

• Lincoln was assassinated in 1865. This is a drawing for newspaper stories that was done after it happened.

• First typewriters – 1867 – Now typewriters have been replaced by computer word processors.

Sitting Bull – Lakota Nation Chief

This is a modern poster against discrimination. It quotes Sitting Bull.

Mark Twain• In 1869 “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” was

published. It told the story of Tom Sawyer and his friend Huckleberry Finn.

The First Telephone Call - March 10, 1876

• What were the first words ever spoken on the telephone? They were spoken by Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone, when he made the first call on March 10, 1876, to his assistant, Thomas Watson: "Mr. Watson--come here--I want to see you." What would you have said?

Bell on the telephone in New York (calling Chicago) in 1892

1878 - Phonograph

• Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, the first machine to make it possible to record and play back sound.

Electric Light

• On December 31, 1879, after years of work and thousands of experiments, Edison gave the first public demonstration of the incandescent light bulb at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. An incandescent light has a thread-like object, or filament, that gives off light when heated to incandescence (hot enough to emit light) by an electric current.

Einstein born 1879

Einstein is known as one of the world’s great mathematical geniuses.

1883 1st

skyscraper – 10 stories high in

Chicago

Now the Willis Tower in Chicago is the tallest building there at 108 stories. It used to be called the “Sears Tower.”

Treasure Island 1883

• Robert Louis Stevenson

1894 – X-rays

• On 8 Nov, 1895, Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen (accidentally) discovered an image cast from his cathode ray generator.

• A week after his discovery, Rontgen took an X-ray photograph of his wife's hand which clearly revealed her wedding ring and her bones. The photograph amazed the general public and caused great scientific interest in the new form of radiation. Röntgennamed the new form of radiation X-radiation (X standing for "Unknown"). Hence the term X-rays

Charles Darwin

• Darwin developed the theory of evolution. For some people this is still a controversial theory.

Audobon – Bird Studies

• This artist studied and drew birds around the country. His publications became important guides to bird species.

Program Music – A New Style

• Music in the Romantic Era often tried to tell a story or communicate an emotion or a mood. This was called “Program” music.

• Music also tried to have “National” sounds, and composers tried to write music that would sound like specific country’s styles, for example “Spanish”, or “Russian”.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Paul Dukas – French composer. He was famous for this “symphonic poem”.It tells the story of a young assistant to a magician who plays with his master’s magic and gets in trouble. Disney used the music as the basis for a cartoon starring Mickey Mouse. Later Disney made a movie with this name that used the same music in this scene from the movie advertisement.

The Nutcracker

• Peter Tchaikovsky –Russian composer.

• He is famous for this ballet story of a girl’s dream after being given a nutcracker doll as a Christmas gift.

• Next is a video of one of the most popular dances from the story –“The Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.”

1812 Overture

Tchaikovsky also wrote this major piece. It uses musical melodies to tell the story of the war between Russia and France that occurred in 1812. He planned for there to be real cannons firing at certain points in the music. Now, in the USA, this music is popular at 4th of July fireworks displays. Check out this TV broadcast of a 4th of July celebration in Washington, D. C., using this music.

Ride of the ValkyriesRichard Wagner• German composer and

conductor.• He wrote operas and was

famous for “Ring Cycle” – Set of 4 operas about Norse

gods– Developed the Leitmotif –

theme for a person. This idea has been copied in our modern music – think of the Darth Vadar theme in Star Wars, or the Indiana Jones theme.

Ride of the Valkyries

The Valkyries were magical creatures that would come after a battle to take the souls of the best warriors to Valhalla (The Norse home of the gods.) Here is a scene from an opera showing this. Notice how the set is designed to represent the horses as the women fly through the air. You may recognize the theme music in the brass section.

Pictures at an Exhibition

• Modest Mussorgsky – Russian composer

• The piece consists of musical descriptions of 10 paintings by Hartmann – a friend of Mussorgsky.

• Next is one of the descriptions, “The Great Gate of Kiev”, about entering this Russian city through it’s main gate. This gate is still there as a historical monument.

Night on Bald Mountain

Mussorgsky wrote this piece to tell the musical fictional story of a group of witches having a party on a mountain. Today this music is especially popular around Halloween. Listen to it next.

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov

• Russian composer–Capriccio

Espagnol• This piece

was designed to make the audiences think of Spain. You can listen to it next.

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazde

Bedtime stories took on a new meaning for

Scheherazade. Her husband, the Sultan, had the nasty

habit of marrying a woman at night and killing her in

the morning. So Scheherazade thought up a plan.

Every night she would tell him a story, and leave it

hanging. 1001 captivating stories later, he decided to

keep her and her life was spared.

These “Tales of the Arabian Nights” inspired Russian

composer Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov to compose a

symphonic suite called Scheherazade in 1888.

In the example you will see and hear next, the violin

solo represents the beautiful Scheherazade.

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov

– Flight of the Bumblebee– This piece was designed to make the listener imagine a

very busy, very fast bumblebee. Watch this performance and see if you can see why people think the music does show a bumblebee.

Johannes Brahms

• German composer

• Wrote in all musical forms except opera

• “Hungarian Dances” were designed to make the listener imagine gypsy dances in Hungary.

Words to Brahms “Lullaby” –one English version

Roses whisper good night 'neath silvery lightAsleep in the dew they hide from our viewWhen the dawn peepeth through God will wake them and youWhen the dawn peepeth through God will wake them and you

Slumber sweetly my dear for the angels are nearTo watch over you the silent night throughAnd to bear you above to the dreamland of loveAnd to bear you above to the dreamland of love

Listen to this piece played on piano and see if you recognize it.

Franz Schubert

• Shubert was a German composer of art songs – music of accompaniment in piano is designed to illustrate the story of the song. He wrote over 600 of these songs.

Gretchen am SpinnradeGretchen at the Spinning Wheel

• Gretchen am Spinnrade tells the story of an unhappy scholar, Faust, who makes a deal with the devil. The agreement states that Faust will be served by the devil until the moment when he reaches the peak of his happiness and then he will die and serve the devil in Hell. Faust falls in love with and starts to spend time with Gretchen. The song tells the story of Gretchen at her spinning wheel thinking about her time with Faust and his presence.

• In this performance listen to how the piano represents the constantly moving spinning wheel.

Shubert’s “Erlkonig” (Erl King)

• The poem tells the story of a boy riding home on horseback in his father’s arms. The boy is frightened when he sees the Erl-King, a powerful and creepy supernatural being. The boy’s father, however, cannot see or hear the creature and tells the boy that his imagination is playing tricks on him. The boy grows increasingly terrified by what he hears from the Erl-King, but his father tells him that the things he thinks he sees and hears are only the sights and sounds of nature on a dark and stormy night. When the Erl-King eventually seizes the boy, the father spurs on his horse, but when he arrives home his son is dead.

• Here is the song sung in the original German. The pictures tell the story.

“Carmen” - “Toreador song”

• Georges Bizet – French composer

• The opera tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a young soldier who is seduced by the Gypsy, Carmen. José abandons his childhood sweetheart and deserts from his military duties to be with Carmen, yet loses Carmen's love to the glamorous toreador (bullfighter) Escamillo, after which José kills her in a jealous rage.

• In the scene you will see here, Escamillo is arriving at a tavern after a bull fight and singing to his fans.

• Claude Debussy was a French composer who helped to develop a kind of Romantic music called impressionism. Here is an animated version of a piano piece he wrote called “First Arabesque”. You can imagine a ballet dancer moving to this music.

Debussy

The “Sunken Cathedral”

Debussy wrote this piano piece to tell the fictional story of a Cathedral (Large church). The people of the congregation were so bad that God made their church sink into the sea. Every morning it would rise from the sea, and they could see it, but not go to it. Every evening it would sink back to the sea.

See if you can identify when the piano imitates the church bells, and when the cathedral rises and falls in the next piano performance of this piece.

Johann Strauss Jr.

Johann was one of four men in the Strauss family who were world famous for their beautiful music, especially waltzes. Each year, in Austria, the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra presents a concert of the Strauss family’s music on New Year’s Day. Here is a piece from the 2013 concert called “On the Beautiful Blue Danube.” Strauss wrote this in 1867 about the Danube River. Notice this beautiful concert hall in Vienna, Austria in this performance.