The Symphonic Golden Age and the Romantic Breaking Point

By Thomas Erma Møller (Translated from Norwegian by Sarah Osa)

If you enjoy the music to sweeping, epic films like Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, music composed between 1850 and 1900 will be to your liking. Operas and orchestra music from this period often features the same dramatic expression on the same epic scale as the most grandiose film music of our time. Composers writing for film have used many of the effects and drawn much inspiration from Wagner’s operas, Bruckner’s symphonies and other music from this period. This is a far cry from being background music, but if you do take the time to listen with concentration to a symphony, a tone poem or a solo concerto from this period, you’ll open yourself up to what might be a great experience.

If you were to pick a single golden age in the history of orchestra music, it has to be the second half of the 19th century. This was the period when many renowned composers wrote a great deal of the music which still sounds through concert halls of the world today. In reality they were continuing to build on what the earlier Romantic composers had already created, but they wanted more of everything. The orchestras got bigger, the symphonies longer, the melodies more beautiful, the harmonies more advanced, and the status of instrumental music reached new philosophical and existential heights. This was no entertainment for the upper classes, but an opportunity for the ordinary citizen to engage in deep self-reflection and get a glimpse into something beyond this world. Terms such as Full Romantic, Late Romantic and National Romantic are blurred, but all three will seduce music lovers.

Two composers who further built on the idea of the symphony were Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner. They adhered to the division of the work into four major parts, and to the patterns for fast and slow tempos, but broke new ground in terms of what each movement could contain. Brahms developed smaller melodic ideas in advanced ways, while Bruckner developed both the harmonies and the musical flow. Both created magnificent symphonies with a strong unity between the movements and far-reaching developments towards mighty climaxes. So did Gustav Mahler, who in the transition to the 20th century challenged genre conventions even more by breaking down the four-part division, including choir and soloists, innovative use of sound and references to folk music. Both Bruckner and Mahler’s symphonies can last a full hour, and Mahler captured the spirit of the times when he said that “a symphony should contain the whole world”.

During this period, the German, Austrian and French symphonies were supplemented by music from other parts of Europe. Two of the most prominent composers in this regard were the Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky and Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. Their symphonies were written as an extension of the central European tradition, but they distinguish themselves in terms of melodic form and character of the music. Both have attained a lasting popularity in the orchestral repertoire. Symphonies were also composed in the Nordic region, even though Carl Nielsen and Jean Sibelius’ famed contributions were largely written after the turn of the century. The leading Norwegian symphonist during this time was Johan Svendsen, who wrote two symphonies.

The same development can be traced also within other musical forms. Composers continued to write virtuosic solo concertos as a showcase for the soloist’s technique. However, the concertos which have achieved longevity are still not purely bravura pieces, but contain a nuanced interplay between soloist and orchestra, with a content equally rich to that of the symphonies. Both Brahms and Tchaikovsky wrote famous concertos for violin and piano with orchestra. Also Nordic composers created renowned masterpieces within this form, particularly Edward Grieg’s world-famous Piano Concerto in A minor.

The philosophical debate about to what extent music could contain and express more than only itself raged on. In parallel with the production of symphonies — which primarily did not have any explicit explanation of their content — the tradition of “programme music” by Berlioz and Liszt was carried on by Richard Strauss, among others. He wrote epic, dramatic tone poems such as Don Quixote and Also sprach Zarathustra and the programme symphony Eine Alpensinfonie where you can follow the musical alpine hike to the minute. Also Sibelius wrote tone poems — for instance inspired by the Finnish national epic poem Kalevala — and Claude Debussy set music to erotic fantasies and symbolistic ideas in Afternoon of a Faun. Another variety of music which directly indicates something external to itself were collections of theatre music, for instance Grieg’s suites to the music of Peer Gynt.

Some of the most important premises for the musical development between 1850 and 1900 were innovations spearheaded by opera composer Richard Wagner. Not only did he use the orchestras’ sound potential in new ways and granted the brass instruments new roles, but he challenged the very core of music, and tonality itself. In operas such as Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal, Wagner used so many tones outside the traditional framework that it can be difficult to determine where the starting point is, or where the music is headed towards. This made it possible to construct longer passages without losing the musical tension and finally allowed composers at the beginning of the 20th century to leave tonality behind completely. Wagner’s new ideas blended into Bruckner and Mahler’s symphonies, Strauss’ tone poems and Debussy’s orchestra works, and orchestral extracts from his operas are performed regularly also outside the opera house.

In the 2017-2018 season the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra will perform the following works from this period:

Wagner: Parsifal suite. Wagner’s last opera is as powerful as it is politically controversial, but the music doubtless belongs to that of the greatest in musical history. 

Strauss: Don Juan. Let yourself be swept away when Strauss evokes the greatest seducer of all time in a powerful and colourful tone poem with a strong Late Romantic flair. 

Strauss: Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche. The trickster Till Eulenspiegel is up to no good in Strauss’ inventive tone poem, but a gruesome fate awaits him. 

Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder. Mathilde Wesendonck is said to have inspired Wagner in a great variety of ways. These songs steam with the same sensuality as Tristan and Isolde. 

Bizet: L’Arlesienne, Suites 1 and 2. Do you need a break from Late Romantic extravagance? Then join Bizet on a fresh and rustic trip to the countryside. 

Strauss: Don Quixote. Strauss puts his best musical devices to use in this portrait of the anti-hero Don Quixote and his battle with windmills and his own sanity. 

Mahler: Symfoni nr. 1. Mahler exploded onto the scene with his “Titan” symphony. Here you can hear both the song Frère Jacques and Jewish klezmer music.   

Strauss: Vier Lieder. Strauss’ songs were indescribably beautiful. These four were first written for voice and piano, but were later orchestrated by the master himself. 

Bruckner: Symfoni nr. 6. If you would like to challenge yourself with a real Late Romantic milestone, you might try listening to Bruckner’s brusque sixth symphony. 

Strauss: Death and Transfiguration. This tone poem must count among the richest and most overwhelming depictions in the orchestral repertoire of an artist’s death. 

Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”. Inspired by America, Dvořák wrote one of the 19th century’s most melody-rich and well-known symphonies. 

Brahms: Violin Concerto. If you think a solo concerto should be more than just a showpiece you should listen to Brahms’ symphonically constructed masterpiece of a violin concerto. 

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4. Tchaikovsky’s symphonies are filled with outstanding melodies, but in this one, a merciless fate constantly comes knocking. 

Sibelius: Symphony No. 1. Follow the clarinet deep into the Finnish forests to Sibelius’ symphonic sound world of melancholy melodies, pathos and primal energy. 

Debussy: Fantaisie for piano and orchestra. This atmospheric, rich work has been more or less forgotten, but is now finally being brought to light again. 

Brahms: Symphony No. 1. The dramatic hammering in the opening is testament to the overwhelming power of Brahms. This is a Romantic symphony at its most powerful. 

Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2. Brahms’ solo concertos were not written only for the soloist. This is just as much a symphony with a soloist as it is a virtuosic showpiece. 

Listening tips:

Brahms: Symphony No. 4. This is Romantic symphonic writing at its very best. Let yourself be overwhelmed by its power or dive down into the advanced play lurking just under the surface.

Grieg: Piano Concerto. The highlight of Norwegian National Romantic music is also one of the most famous piano concertos of all time. Not to be missed!

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique”. Tchaikovsky was capable of conjuring up wondrous melodies, yet he was deeply unhappy as a person. This is his gripping symphonic farewell.

Wagner: Prelude to Tristan and Isolde. You’ll feel thwarted love viscerally as Wagner’s music struggles and longs for resolution.

Mahler: Symphony No. 2. The “Resurrection” symphony transports you into Mahler’s magical world from the very first note and contains the wondrous fourth movement “Urlicht”.

Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra. Arguably the most famous and powerful opening in music history, featured in the film 2001 - A Space Odyssey.

Bruckner: Symphony No. 7. If you take the time to wait for Bruckner to fully develop his long melodies and mighty orchestral blocks, a great experience awaits you.

Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto. The violin concerto composed by the melodic master presents an enchanting and exceptionally beautiful journey into the heart of Russian Romanticism.

Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”. Dvorak’s meeting with America resulted in this symphony, full of memorable melodies and boasting an immortal popularity.

Bizet: Ouverture from Carmen. One of the grandest and most festive overtures in the operatic repertoire. This is the introduction to the drama involving Carmen, the Toreador and other characters.

Selected composers

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Anton Bruckner (1824-1896)

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Richard Strauss (1864-1949)

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)

Bedrich Smetana (1824-1884)

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)

Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)

Aleksandr Scriabin (1872-1915)

Serge Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)

Georges Bizet (1838-1875)

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)

César Franck (1822-1890)

Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)

Clara Schumann (1819-1896)

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)

Max Bruch (1838-1920)

Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)

Leoš Janáček (1854-1928)

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)

Edward Elgar (1857-1934)