the Romantics sound their barbaric yawp
program notes for 4/12 and 4/13
Joaquin Malats: Piano Trio in b flat
Franz Schubert: Piano Trio #2 in e flat
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The term “Romantic” as it applies to music - or art, or architecture, or literature, Walt Whitman and his yawp included - can be confusing. It has little to do with the common definition of romance, with its hearts, flowers, candlelight, chubby babies with weapons, and so on. Instead, The Romantic period in the arts was a movement that focused on exploring the inner life of the artist. It embodied emotional expression, individualism, freedom from the formal rules of the preceding Classical style, and celebration of the common man rather than the aristocracy or ruling class.
As the Romantics rejected the formal rules and structure of the Classical period, they turned instead to long, flowing lines, lots of melodic development, the incorporation and representation of nature in their work, and longer compositions written for bigger ensembles. They also made great use of their imaginations and creative prowess. Artists explored mysterious, often gothic subjects, or focused on dramatic natural landscapes. Gone were the silk stockinged court employees in fancy short pants and buckled shoes. Appearing instead are dramatic, loose-shirt-and-scarf wearing artists dressed in earth tones. (And sometimes, as in Beethoven's case, in dirty earth tones. At least with the browns it wouldn't have shown quite as much.)
To give a visual example of the shift in styles, here are some great examples of Romanticism in visual art…
Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (1817) by Caspar David Friedrich
The Ninth Wave (1850) by Ivan Aivazovsky
Saturn Devouring His Son (1823) by Francisco Goya
If you compare them to earlier works (in fine art it's called the Neoclassical period), the difference is clear…
Parnassus (after 1761) by Anton Raphael Mengs
Oath of the Horatii (1784) by Jacques-Louis David
Cornelia, mother of Gracchi, (1785) by Angelica Kauffman
In music, the ideas and themes are similar. Composers focused on the natural world (beginning with Beethoven's 6th Symphony (Pastoral). Beethoven was the first Romantic composer and the bridge between Classicism and Romanticism in music). In addition to Beethoven, lots of other composers incorporated nature into their works. We must acknowledge Mahler's Symphony #3 as intensely important in this regard, but also contributing to the nature-fest are Dvorak, Chopin, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Grieg, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky - really, listing them all is a bit silly. I think we can safely say that most of them did it.
Other Romantic themes included the idea of heroism and the depiction of a genius or hero as a main character. The Romantics also liked to include philosophical ideas in their works. Composers would sometimes set literary works or use them as inspiration. In music, the piano became prominent - think here of Liszt, Chopin, both Schumanns, Schubert, and of course, Beethoven. And though not as well known, Joaquin Malats!
Malats was a Spanish composer and pianist. Actually, during his lifetime it would have been more accurate to put the "pianist" bit first. He was greatly successful as an internationally known concert pianist, although not so well known as a composer. Though he was not prolific, his works are starting to gain well deserved recognition. His surviving works include pieces for solo piano, a suite for orchestra, the piano trio, and probably his most performed work, the Serenata Española for guitar. His music displays the emotionally charged singing melodies typical of the late Romantics as well as many traditional Spanish influences and elements.
As for Schubert, probably most people who like chamber music have heard his second piano trio before. It was one of his last compositions, completed one year before he died. It was also one of the few of Schubert's late compositions that he had the opportunity to hear performed. Like the rest of Schubert's music, it is indicative of Romanticism in its early stages. The dramatic sweeping melodies of the later Romantics are not yet evident, but Schubert is one of the greatest composers at writing sweet, flowing melodies that develop beautifully over the course of a work.
Schubert wrote only 2 piano trios, but both demonstrate the expanded forms of the Romantic period in their impressive length. Along with Beethoven's Archduke Trio, the Schubert piano trios are the among the longest ever written. Clocking in at between 40 to 50 minutes for a complete performance, the Piano Trio #2 is a feat of chamber music writing. (Especially given that this run time includes 2 big cuts in the last movement that Schubert made to the score himself because he was worried that the movement was too long.)
Schubert was incredibly prolific during his short life, writing over 600 art songs, 7 complete (and 6 unfinished) symphonies, and a large body of chamber and piano music. Schubert is known for his accessible and emotionally captivating writing, his beautiful yet reserved long-lined melodies, and his penchant for melodic rather than harmonic development. The emotional resonance of his works make them among the most popular in all of classical music.