The Romantic era in western music can be seen as a direct legacy of Ludwig van Beethoven’s latter compositions, and the ideals attributed to his compositional thinking. 

 

Beginning in the early 1800s, Romanticism in music came into being when a new generation of composers expanded on the musical structures of prior eras (in terms of length, complexity, and instrumentation),  creating compositions that sounded more passionate and emotionally expressive than their Classical and Baroque predecessors. 

 

In keeping with the aesthetic of the artistic and literary movements of the time, music of the Romantic period was often characterized by reference to outside subject matter, such as a dramatic narrative plot or a pictorial scene from nature. 

 

Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, nick-named the ‘Scottish’ Symphony, is one such programmatic composition. Mendelssohn, born in 1807 in Hamburg, was known as a child prodigy performer on the piano and organ, and later created a name for himself as a composer of youthfully exquisite, yet stylistically conservative symphonic music. 

 

Over the course of his short life (he died aged 38), Mendelssohn became quite a musical celebrity in the UK, eventually visiting the country 10 times, and even performing for Queen Victoria. Symphony No. 3 was inspired by the composer’s impression of a ruined church in Edinburgh, Scotland, and while it does not source any actual Scottish music, the music does seek to evoke the atmosphere of the cold ruins and misty natural surroundings of the region, possibly giving the listener some insight into the composer’s own feelings towards the Scottish landscape.

 

Of course, the Romantic era also had its own Pop music, offered in the form of light-hearted theatrical song-and-dance spectacles (sort of the 19th-century equivalent of the modern Broadway musical or the mainstream Hindi movie).  

 

Following the trend set by the Italian composer Rossini, and the French composer Offenbach, Franz von Suppe (1819-1895) was an Austrian composer of light operas. Highly popular in their day (Suppe himself wrote over a hundred operettas), many of these titles are only known to us today through their introductory orchestral overtures (which nowadays tend to make appearances in comedy movies and animated cartoons).

 

The Czech composer Antonín Dvořák spear-headed another trend of the Romantic era, that of incorporating folk melodic influences into concert music. Influenced by the German Romanticism of Brahms, and the Czech Nationalism of Smetana, Dvorak’s compositions often consisted of original melodies in the style of folk songs, dressed up in rich orchestral textures. This approach would go on to influence other schools of nationalist composers, including the first of generation of American composers.

 

The Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka is proud to present Suppe’s Overture to Poet and Peasant,  Dvorak’s Seranade for Strings in E Major,  and Mendelssohn’s  Symphony No. 3  at their upcoming ‘Romantic Masterworks’ concert. 

 

Conducted by Dushyanthi Perera, ‘Romantic Masterworks’ is on Saturday, 19 May, 7pm at Ladies College Hall. 

 

Tickets are available at the Lionel Wendt Box Office (tel: 011-2695794)