Romantic Music

When you talk about the history of music you will probably hear about the era's that music history is divided up into. The medieval era lasted from 1150 to 1400. From 1400 to 1600 was the renaissance era . After 1600 came the Baroque period and lasted until 1750.The classical period spans 80 years until 1830 until the Early Romantic period came along and lasted until 1920.

I would have to say that the Romantic period is the best of all. The music was ahead of its time. Beethoven served as the bridge from the Classical to the Romantic era. His later works were harshly criticized because they were just completely different and music was changing. Many pieces of popular classical music were not accepted at the time they were written.

One of my favorite romantic composers is Hector Berlioz who is considered one of the only true romanticists because of his life. Hector Berlioz fell in love with a woman who did not love him back. Because of this he decided to kill himself by overdosing on opium. Instead of dying he fell asleep and had a dream about being marched to the scaffolding because he killed the woman he loved. This dream drove him to write his most famous work Symphonie Fantastique. People didn't believe that someone could have written something so horrible. Some critics are quoted saying that "it was not music".

Music from the Romantic area has many specific characteristics that set it apart from all other music. It tends to contrast the extremes of the keyboard by playing on the lowest octave and moving up to the highest. The pieces are usually written in a minor key. Most romantic music starts out slow and beautiful, but can sometimes turn very fast and vigorous.

I believe in the preservation of classical music and I think that it's great that it is still being played today in concert halls for many people. I think it will take hundreds of years for the classical music that is popular today to be forgotten.