Glossary

Absolute and program music	Music created for its own sake without extramusical connotation. It is characteristic of such genres as the sonata, symphony, concerto, and string quartet as well as preludes, fugues, etudes, and other works whose titles depict only form or function. Program music depicts images, moods, stories, characters, and other nonmusical associations. It includes all music with text and many instrumental forms common during the romantic period, including the symphonic poem and some symphonies that were created with programmatic associations.



Ballet	Stage production featuring formal, stylized dance performances with story or unified theme. It has, at times, been part of opera, but also developed popularity as an independent genre in the nineteenth century.



Chamber music	Works for solo instruments performing together in small ensembles, such as a string quartet, a woodwind quintet, or a piano trio. Each part is played on one instrument (no doubling). In the classic era, the string quartet (first and second violins, viola, and cello) became the standard chamber music genre. The quartet typically was a four-movement work with a fast-slow-dance-fast pattern, although many exceptions to this pattern exist.



Libretto	The words to an opera or other musical stage production. The person who writes the story is the librettist.



Art songs: Lied and Lieder	The art song (commonly known by the German work, lied, or its plural, lieder) is exemplified by the songs of Schubert that he set to German poetry.



Opera	A dramatic stage production that involves soloists who sing arias and recitatives, solo ensembles, choruses, dancing, dramatic action, costumes, staging, and orchestral accompaniment. It began at the beginning of the baroque era and evolved into a genre that continues in popularity throughout the Western world, particularly in Italy.



Piano music	The one-movement character pieces, exemplified by the solo piano works of Chopin, are expressive, at times lyrical, at times dramatic, and often technically demanding. These ballades, capriccios, impromptus, intermezzos, nocturnes, mazurkas, polonaises, rhapsodies, preludes, waltzes, and etudes have their own distinctive mood and character. They rank among the best of solo piano literature from the nineteenth century, remain in the repertoire of all concert pianists, and are studied by virtually all advanced piano students. The songs, known as art songs or lieder, are best exemplified in the works of Schubert, who wrote over 600 of them. The emergence of the piano in the nineteenth century as the primary keyboard instrument in concert halls and homes also contributed to the development of the art song.



Franz Schubert	Schubert is best known for his more than six hundred lieder. The outstanding qualities of his compositions are lyrical melodies, colorful harmonies, and sensitivity to the poetic expression of the texts. His nine symphonies reflect the classical ideals of form and structure yet are infused with the songlike qualities of Viennese romanticism.



Felix Mendelssohn	Mendelssohn's music had wide appeal. It was traditional and closely aligned to the classical ideals of form and structure. His classical spirit was reflected in his orderly, elegant, graceful expression; his romantic spirit showed through primarily in the emotional expressiveness and sentimentality of his melodies.



Frederic Chopin	Chopin is known almost exclusively for his short, one-movement piano compositions: etudes, preludes, mazurkas, waltzes, scherzos, impromptus, polonaises, nocturnes, and ballades. He also wrote three solo piano sonatas and two piano concertos. His piano "miniatures" included stylized dances (not intended for dancing), pieces that reflected the spirit of the Polish people, and virtuoso pieces with beautiful melodic invention. He expanded the concept of pianism chromaticism by creating more elaborate, decorative melodies, particularly in subsequent repetitions of a theme. He incorporated bold, colorful harmonies with daring dissonances, unresolved tension, and unusual modulations. He freed himself from the pulse by increased application of rubato, and he developed new uses of the pedal that allowed a smooth, sustained quality. He also enhanced the harmonic texture through innovations in left-hand technique.



Johannes Brahms	Brahms worked mostly as a freelance composer and pianist. His music is passionate. It is often introspective, mellow, and full of rich, dark sonorities. His melodies are lyrical, even when they have complex rhythms or intricate polyphonic textures. His phrases can be irregular, at times conflicting with the prevailing meter. He was a romantic in his emotional expressiveness but a classicist in his formal organization--he was devoted to the principles of the sonata form. His orchestral music was full and massive. He was interested in absolute music, writing little program music except for his songs and choral works.



Richard Wagner	Wagner was a German composer of opera who was caught up in the revolutionary movements of his time. Active in the revolution of 1848, he was forced to flee his country and took up exile in Switzerland. While there, he set forth his theories about art, describing an ideal art form in which music, drama, poetry, and stagecraft would all have equal emphasis. He called this form music drama rather than opera. Wagner's music dramas were symphonic in nature, with strong emphasis on orchestral color, notably the powerful brass instruments. Wagner used chromaticism, dissonance, vague cadences, and unresolved tension. Much of his music had virtually no sense of tonality and no sense of symmetry or balanced phrase structure. He made extensive use of the leitmotiv, a recurring musical motive associated with a character or a mood. Wagner was his own librettist, further contributing to his ability to fuse the arts into a unified whole.



Giuseppe Verdi	Verdi was the greatest figure of Italian opera. He composed for a population whose main source of musical enjoyment was opera. He maintained the traditions of the aria and recitative and included choruses and ensembles as in earlier operas. Conventional harmonies and predictable rhythms and meters characterize most of his music, but he enriched his operas with superb melodies and a strong theatrical sense.



Pyotr I'yich Tchaikovsky	Tchaikovsky was the most famous Russian composer. He music is both nationalistic and international, capturing the spirit of Russian folk song but also influenced by Italian opera, French ballet, and German symphonies and songs. His music has remained tremendously popular to this day. It has a wide range of emotional expression. This is music full of beautiful melodies, striking contrasts, powerful climaxes, and passionate emotions.



Other important composers	Other important composers of the romantic period included Hector Berlioz, Aleksandr Borodin, Anton Bruckner, Antonin Dvorak, Edvard Grieg, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Franz Liszt, Gustav Mahler, Modest Mussorgsky, Giacomo Puccini, Serge Rachmaninoff, Nicolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Gioachino Rossini, Camille Saint-Saens, Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann, Jean Sibelius, Bedrich Smetana, and Richard Strauss.

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