Study Guides

Unit Summary

This unit builds on the Introduction to the WCT unit, exploring the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods in greater depth, assessing the development of key musical trends, and finishing with a look at developments in the 20th century.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to identify key features of music in the Romantic period and analyse a broad range of Romantic genres.

Key Notes

• In the Romantic period, composers often focused on creating dramatic, emotive and highly expressive music.
• It used complex chromatic harmony and varied textures, timbres and articulation to create vivid musical moods.
• Many composers wrote programme music, using techniques like leitmotif to tell stories or evoke images through music.
• The orchestra became larger and more powerful and, as well as symphonies and concertos, tone poems became a key genre.
• The piano was important, with composers like Chopin exploiting its expressive and virtuosic qualities in various genres.

Vocabulary To Learn

• Romantic period: the period of Western classical music between roughly 1820 and 1910
• programme music: music that tells a story or creates an image of something
• chromatic: notes that are from outside the key, creating more complex harmony
• leitmotif: a short musical idea that represents a character, place or idea
• virtuosic: music that shows off a performer's technical skill

Common Mistakes To Avoid

• Romantic music is related to love and romance.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

More Lessons In This Unit

• Classical music in the 20th century Study Guide
• Texture and harmony across the eras Study Guide
• The Baroque period Study Guide
• The Classical period Study Guide