Classical Humanites

Classical Humanites

Part I.

From the early 1800's through 1848-50, the Romantic era becomes the focus of the arts because of its unique characteristics and artists across in its many forms of art. It is expressed more as an attitude than a style; it is unpredictable. It's plays on the feelings and emotions of the artist. "Inexactitude and indeterminacy characterize this world and it can be discovered everywhere in this period" (256). Gone are the forgiving portraits that flattered the sitters, rather to be replaced with more true to life paintings. The images were becoming exotic, expressing death for the first time. Artists ranging from the painter and poet to the musical composer turned to the natural world for inspiration. Some artist began to experiment with drugs to enhance their own perceptions and ideas that influenced their works. Furthermore, during the Romantic era, artists Ð'-musicians, painters, and writers - were becoming famous during their lifetimes, making money and enjoying their fame.

Music

Romantic composers wrote music that "expressed individually and innovation, exalted nature, and broke new ground formally, harmonically, and stylistically" (274). Musical instruments were changing and adding to the development of new music and sound. The invention of the pianoforte brought a louder sound that could be played to a larger audience in bigger venues. Woodwind and brass instruments were also improved for better sound. Musicians moved out of churches and small halls to outside arenas. And because of the larger places to play middle class people could afford tickets to events, thereby exposing the music to more people and creating a demand for performance.

Several musicians, including Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827) and Fredric Chopin (1810-1849) became well known and wealthy during their lifetimes. Both had the opportunity to play for the large audiences, and both wrote music for the pianoforte.

Although Ludwig Van Beethoven was born during the "Age of Enlightenment" and was influenced by it's styles, he died while the Romantic era was in full bloom and his music reflected those new ideas. His compositions became more emotionally charged as he progressed through life. As a young boy, Beethoven began his musical training playing the viola. He later took up playing the pianoforte, which became his musical focus. He kept his compositions in musical notebooks that could be referred to later. He invented his own musical solo pieces that were played loud and fast. He liked to host competitions using his works against other pianists, and usually beat the other players. Beethoven began to lose his hearing when he was nearing forty years old. His compositions became even more emotionally charged, expressing his feeling of sadness over his hearing loss. He produced thirty-two piano sonatas and composed and conducted nine symphonies during his lifetime Ð'- most of the symphonies while he was completely deaf. Beethoven, who was often compared to the greatness of Michelangelo, died a wealthy man.

Fredrick Chopin composed his music exclusively for the pianoforte. He began his musical career at the very young age of four and was exposed by his father showing off his talent. As a young adult, he studied music at the Warsaw Conservatory in Poland where he "earned early acclaim as a piano prodigy" (275). He enjoyed his early fame and was quite the snob because of it. He prided himself on composing difficult, short, technical, hard-to-play pieces. He wrote several concertos and piano sonatas and two sets of etudes that were like exercises for the fingers. Chopin sold his music by playing as a guest at parties and people then purchasing the written sheet music. Because the majority of his music has such a similar sound and has his snobbishness, Chopin falls out of fashion during his time. His life was cut short by an on-going battle with tuberculosis.

Art

"The Romantic artists had a love for anything that elicits such feelings: the fantastic world of dreams, the exotic world of the Orient, the beauty of nature reveled in a sudden vista of hills exposed around a turn in an English garden, the forces of nature in a magnificent or unpredictable moment, such as a sunset after a storm" (256). Romantic artists sought to be original unto themselves and were "fascinated by the strange and marvelous, by dreams and the occult" (257), and they sought to get inside the dark side.

Francisco Goya (1746-1828) began his career as a court painter to Charles IV of Spain in 1789. In 1794, he acquired in illness that caused him ringing in his ears, and shortly thereafter, total deafness. The silent world he lived in caused him to become introspective. It was during the invasion of Spain by Napoleon that Goya painted the first of many powerful works, "The Third of May" in 1808. The painting is a depiction of an actual event of Napoleon's troop shooting the innocent townspeople in Madrid, Spain. It was to become a "social commentary" and was the first time this type of violence was shown in art. Following this, Goya then creates a series of eighty-two etchings called, "Los Desastres de la Guerra (The Disasters of War)" in which the atrocities of war, the dark side of men are depicted: decapitation, castration, and dehumanization. Goya's works, although very shocking, brought out the emotional side of those who viewed his works Ð'- the dark side of human nature and loss of control, strong characteristics of Romanticism.

Literature

Literature of the Romantic brought mystery and conflict stories, and poetry that was richly influenced by nature as a spiritual experience. The poets of the time thought that their poetry should be written for all people, that it should be read and understood by the average person and therefore it should also be about the experiences of everyday people. Two poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, very differently express their experiences yet keep with the ideals of playing on the emotions of their readers.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) along with Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) co-authored a collection of poems called Lyrical Ballads published in 1798. This collection was "probably the most important literary event in the Romantic eraÐ'... turning their backs on the sophisticated syntax and vocabulary of Neo-classical writing, they insisted that the language of poetry should by natural" (271). Wordsworth continued during his lifetime to express