Sound Off

Maybe I've been watching the World Series too much, but I see this weekend's Symphonic Hits Concert as a fast ball, right down the middle.  It's strong, it's exciting, and it doesn't pull any punches - no contemporary works, no difficult to understand rarity, just three masterworks from the heart of the ever popular Romantic repertoire.   We have an overture by Bellini inspired by Romeo and Juliet, THE quintessential Romantic piano concerto by Robert Schumann, and a fatalistic symphony by Tchaikovsky.

These works come from the idealistic 19th century, which was characterized by an interest in nature, the mysterious, and the rights of the individual. Artists looked for new forms of expression, as well as turned to the past for inspiration, and the artist emerged not only as a unique individual, but an agent for change.

You can see these sentiments in the incredible oil paintings of the era. Here are two of my favorites.

Casper David Friedrich's "Wanderer above the Sea of Fog"... 

...and in response to the revolutions sprouting across the globe at this time Delacroix painted "Liberty Leading the People."
 

The Romantic movement had its great poets, from Mary Shelley who created Frankenstein, to William Wordsworth, whose deep spiritual relationship with nature resulted in poetry like this:  

And I have felt

A presence that disturbs me with the joy

Of elevated thoughts, a sense sublime

Of something far more deeply interfused,

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,

And the round ocean, and the living air,

And the blue sky, and in the mind of man.

("Tintern Abbey")

Musicians followed suit, threw off the constraints of classicism, and reinvigorated old forms with new ideas, new harmonies, and a new sense of lyricism.  Bellini was the master of melody in Italy, even more so than the better known Rossini.  Bellini could write melody for miles.  Check this one out! 

Schumann was the epitome of the Romantic composer, passionate, moody, full of a desire for reform, and in the end, quite literally insane.  He took the traditional concerto form and modernized it with closer dialogue between soloist and orchestra, going beyond what even Beethoven had done.  

Then there is Tchaikovsky, a troubled figure if there ever was one, constantly hounded by his homosexuality, but never allowed to express it openly.  His attempt to conform to society and his brief marriage ended in disaster.  This emotional pain and angst is clear in his music. As Victor Hugo said, "Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." For me, this weekend's program is the perfect embodiment of this sentiment. Don't forget, I'll be discussing the tumultuous lives of these composers and how it affected their music at this week's Sound Off at 6:30PM, before both concerts. Hope to see you there.