Top Romantic Artists on Rhapsody Online

Ludwig van Beethoven

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:42:37 -0800

From the poise of "The Moonlight Sonata," to the bombastic euphoria of "Ode To Joy," to the intricate architecture of the late string quartets, few forces in Western music so keenly translated the drama of human experience into sound as well as German-born Ludwig Van Beethoven. Fine praise for the most widely recognized member of the "Three B's" (with Bach and Brahms), but the notoriously disheveled, cantankerous genius would likely repay such a compliment by tossing an inkwell at your head -- if he heard it at all.

Born in December 1770, Beethoven's body of work is divided into three eras: the early period, where he emulated great predecessors Haydn and Mozart, the middle period, where his encroaching hearing loss led to large-scale, defiantly heroic orchestral works including the famous "dun-dun-dun-dah!" Fifth Symphony, and the late period, which yielded works of immense intellectual depth from a composer who existed in a world of near-total silence. Beethoven ushered out the Classical period with the back of his hand and fathered the Romantic era. By his death in 1827, he had left an indelible mark on the history of Western music. - Nate Cavalieri

Frederic Chopin

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:44:22 -0800

In the early 1830s Parisian salons were abuzz with the name Fredric Chopin (1810-1849), the delicately attractive, gently mannered, frightfully reclusive pianist, teacher, and composer who recently fled political repression in his Polish homeland. It wasn't just that Chopin was highly praised by Liszt and Schumann; his performances -- often enraptured improvisations that were spectacular for both their sensitivity and power -- were delicately genius and wholly unconcerned with the showboating pianism that was so popular in Paris. A celebrated recitalist in his early 20s, Chopin composed while playing, and had difficulty capturing ideas on paper. Much of his work can be sorted by its professional function: his four concert-giving years (1828-32) produced virtuosic pieces and music for piano and orchestra, where his pedagogy yielded volumes of moderately difficult studies, waltzes, preludes, and mazurkas. After the demise of an alleged affair with novelist George Sand, Chopin's emotional and physical problems hastened his death. Then and now, Fredric Chopin is cherished for his towering originality and resourcefulness in exploiting the expressive possibilities of the piano. - Nate Cavalieri

Andre Rieu

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 10:53:10 -0800

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:51:04 -0800

Though Tchaikovsky's name conjures the dancing sugar plum fairies of The Nutcracker, pirouetting ballerinas of Swan Lake or strident themes of his violin concerto, it's the Russian composer's bitterly pessimistic final symphony that lends insight into the distressed emotional state which plagued him throughout his life and led to his rumored suicide.

Born in 1840, he was a prodigiously talented child performer and taught music as a young man. Due to the fervent nationalism popular with his early peers, his compositions took longer to catch on, though his First Symphony was well received in Moscow in 1868. By incorporating Ukrainian folk tunes, his Second Symphony faired better, and, bolstered by its success, he wrote a daring piano concerto. In 1875 he produced the careful Third Symphony and Swan Lake, before battling mid-life depression stemming from his sexual identity. He produced the monumental violin concerto in the late 1870s and two important ballets, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, a decade later. He died nine days after the performance of his Sixth Symphony in 1893. - Nate Cavalieri

Johannes Brahms

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:42:37 -0800

While his contemporary Richard Wagner symbolized the progressive dissonances of one German school, Brahms represented the link to tradition. In many ways his music was a culmination of all traditional classical music that came before him, particularly the early Romantics such as Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann -- the latter helped spark Brahms' career with his favorable words. Brahms' style may have been conservative, but the detail and beauty of his output was extraordinary -- he could take the smallest fragment of a theme and extrapolate entire sections from it. His pieces also drew on local traditions, often bringing Hungarian folk rhythms into lively piano pieces. He mastered many classical forms, from rich, texturally inventive piano pieces to pastoral symphonies and chamber music, and his compositions still stand as the most enduring of the repertoire. - Jessy Terry

Edvard Grieg

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:16:20 -0800

Edvard Grieg is to Norway what Bartok is to Hungary or Dvorak to Czechoslovakia: he endeavored to introduce and implement the music endemic to his own country into the works he composed. Significantly however, it is not as a nationalist that he is mainly known, for his most popular works -- the two Peer Gynt Suites and the Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16 -- are more akin to the lush and overtly romantic compositions of Tchaikovsky. In many circles where "serious" music is appreciated, Grieg has unfortunately been dismissed as dated -- a writer of classical pop and not much more. This ignores both his lesser-heard, more difficult works, not to mention the undeniable charm in his more well-known pieces: the "Adagio" movement in the aforementioned Piano Concerto, for example, begins with a lovely and moving section for the strings that possesses a stately grandeur and develops at an unhurried pace. When piano finally enters, it brings along with it a truly stirring, yet understated melody that compliments the orchestra wonderfully. A precious moment among many from an underappreciated composer. - Will Lerner

Giacomo Puccini

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:49 -0800

Writing music was a family tradition for the Puccini's of Lucca and little Giacomo was the fifth in a line of composers, playing organ and writing masses for local churches at 14. It was Verdi's Aida that inspired him to follow his instinct for composing opera; he entered his first one-act opera in a competition while a student at the Milan Conservatory. It failed to win, but brought interest in a second, which led to Puccini's life long association with the publishing house of Ricordi.

The third time was a charm though, and Puccini found huge international success pairing with the librettist team of Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa for the 1893 production of Manon Lescaut. With the help of Illica and Giacosa, Puccini's widely-performed masterpiece La Bohem followed in 1896, and another work of consequence, Madam Butterfly, was produced in 1904. Late in life he developed throat cancer, leaving the masterful Turandot unfinished at his death in 1924. He died a widely celebrated Italian hero and has left a number of enduring operas that weave passion, pathos, despair, and sensuality with singular savvy. - Nate Cavalieri

Franz Schubert

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:42:38 -0800

None of Schubert's symphonies were performed during his lifetime (1797-1828), and in many ways he lived behind the immense presence of Beethoven for most of his life -- the two greats are even buried next to each other. But Schubert's music remains one of the most important links between the Classical and Romantic periods. His symphonies explored more progressive harmonies and orchestration than earlier composers had dared try, using brass instruments in a fashion that was later taken up by such figures as Brahms. He was also a master at writing lieders (songs) which perfectly matched emotions to music, placing novel chords at specific moments to exactly convey the mood of the text. - Jessy Terry

Giuseppe Verdi

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:10 -0800

When nearly 30,000 people lined the streets of Milan in January of 1901 to mourn the funeral procession of Verdi, it must have had the epic quality of one of his famously grand operas. Born in 1813, he had his first success with the 1842 production of Nabucco, which demonstrates Verdi's ample gifts for matching expressive melodies with human tragedy and heroism. These were embraced as theme music for Italy's struggle for national unity, though there is little evidence of political motives within Verdi's music.

The so-called "Galley Years" of the 1840s produced nearly a dozen monumental operas, including Ernani, Macbeth, and Luisa Miller, all with strong, somber stories and vigorous vocal writing. Despite constant trouble from censors, this period ended with his three immense works from 1851 to 1853: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and his most intimate, La Traviata. His Aida was produced at the Cairo Opera House in 1871 to mark the opening of the Suez Canal. Because he left stage-writing for other musical pursuits, his last operas came with 1887's Othello and 1893's Falstaff, his only comedy. - Nate Cavalieri

Franz Liszt

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:21 -0800

Liszt redefined for the nineteenth century what was possible for the piano. He learned that if you played powerfully enough, beautiful women would literally pass out from the emotional exhaustion and hero worship. His sphere of influence went much further than his instrument. He devised the Symphonic Poem form, which is a sort of one movement work inspired by a non-musical subject, such as a famous person or a literary work.

Richard Wagner

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:10 -0800

Richard Wagner's idea for "Gesamtkunstwerk" (literally "total artwork") demonstrates the scale on which the German composer operated: with 18-hour operatic cycles, orchestras that were more powerful than any ever assembled, and librettos examining the tragedy and heroism of existence, his legacy is utterly titanic. Born in 1813, Wagner was introduced to the theater by his stepfather and, after brief musical training, began composing operas. Dissonant chromaticism and expansive orchestral technique resulted in mid-career triumphs including 1845's Tannhauser and 1848's Lohengrin. After finding a benefactor in King Ludwig II, Wagner wrote his masterwork, Der Ring des Nibelungen (known commonly as "The Ring Cycle"). A set of operas based loosely on Norse mythology, the Ring birthed the stereotypical marriage of Viking helmets and stout sopranos, included the "Flight of the Valkyries," and was appropriated by Nazi ideologues for its heroic depiction of the German nation. After finishing Parsifal, Wagner died of a heart attack on February 13, 1883. While striving for Gesamtkunstwerk, Wagner made profound achievements in his creative expression. - Nate Cavalieri

Georges Bizet

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:06 -0800

The name Georges Bizet is synonymous with his brilliant opera Carmen. This work embraced both beauty and vivid ultra-reality and managed to shock even Paris' sophisticated audiences in the 1870s. While Carmen cast of crooks and killers seems tamer by today's standards it remains a compelling and richly romantic work. Sadly, Bizet died not long after its debut and we can only guess in what ways he would further enrich the musical world had he lived a longer life. A renown pianist, his other orchestral works, solo pieces, and operas all show the richness and vibrancy of Carmen, but none can match its artistic triumph. - Nick Dedina

Felix Mendelssohn

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:51:32 -0800

Mendelssohn, a musical prodigy, came to prominence in his native Germany before he officially began to study music. He became one of the nineteenth century's biggest composers with his "Violin Concierto" and "A Midsummer's Night Dream" (which contains the evergreen "Wedding March"). A master of symphonic structure, Mendelssohn became a major public figure in Great Britain and spent considerable energy reacquainting the public with Bach's work. - Nick Dedina

Robert Schumann

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:28 -0800

Though he struggled with drinking, depression, and venereal disease, a single sentence in Robert Schumann's diary on May 8, 1832, signals the German-born composer's tragic demise as a pianist: "The third [finger] is coming on reasonably well through the use of the cigar mechanism." While the mysterious mechanism wrecked havoc on his hand, the loss of Schumann's performance career may have enabled his broader contributions to the romantic era, not only as a composer, but as the co-founder and music writer in the influential journal Neue Zeitschrift fÃ¼r Musik. Born in Zwickau, Germany, on June 8, 1810, he took lessons with Friedrich Wieck while attending law school in Zurich and married Weick's prodigiously talented daughter, Clara. After losing the ability to perform, Schumann gravitated to works for intimate ensemble; highlights can be found in his short works for piano, stunning piano quintet, and remarkable song cycles, which embody the poetic goals of the romantic ideal. After he began to suffer hallucinations in 1854, he attempted suicide and was institutionalized in Endenich, where he died two years later in the care of his wife and young Brahms. - Nate Cavalieri

Jean Sibelius

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:28 -0800

Though Jean Sibelius is rightfully regarded among the most significant composers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries for fusing traditional elements of the Romantic era with radical experimentalism, his orchestral works should be labeled first and foremost as Finnish, as his seven symphonies are a veritable soundtrack to Finland's national identity. Born to a Swedish-speaking family in 1865, he studied composition in Germany with Albert Becker, though a significant portion of early pieces show the clear influence of Wagner and Tchaikovsky. Early signs of nationalism can be heard in Karelia Suite for Orchestra (Op. 11), a set four tone poems he completed as a student, the rousing orchestral poem Finlandia, and his first two symphonies. The 1903 Violin Concerto was a well-timed departure from19th-century Romanticism, and received wide international recognition. Though he completed few works after World War I, they included his a elusive, masterful sixth symphony and the dark symphonic poem Tapiola. While his effect on Scandinavian composers is paramount, his radical approach to nationalism had influence far beyond Finland's borders. - Nate Cavalieri

Fernando Sor

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:13:55 -0800

(born: Barcelona, bap. 14 Feb 1778; died: Paris, 10 July 1839)
Spanish composer and guitarist. After leaving Spain he lived in Paris (1813-15 and from 1826) and London (1815-26) and visited Russia (1823). He was a famous concert performer and wrote over 60 guitar works (sonatas, studies, variations etc) and an important method (1830). His guitar music is notable for its part-writing. He was also admired for his songs and eight ballets (1821-8); other works include an opera (1797) and chamber and keyboard pieces.

AntonÃn DvorÃ¡k

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:22 -0800

One of the premier composers of the Romantic era, Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904) shares the distinction of pioneering a uniquely Czech style of orchestral composition and fearlessly appropriating the music of other nations. Beginning his career with inspiration from Schubert, Brahms, and Beethoven, Dvorak's unique voice became fully developed with his discovery of Czech folk music. The exuberantly nationalistic Symphony No. 6 incorporated a Czech folk dance into an elaborate four-movement work. Later, a three year visit to the United States broadened his musical scope even further: his Symphony No. 9, the world-famous "New World Symphony," drew on folk melodies and rhythms from Amerindian and African-American culture. Dvorak's symphonies paint in great detail upon wide canvasses; his passion, his flair for drama, and his impeccable ear for development lead the listener through a breathtaking diversity of moods, textures, and themes. - Noah Enelow

Gustav Holst

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 11:16:56 -0800

Born in Cheltenham, England, on September 21, 1874, Gustav Holst's reputation today rests on his powerful 1916 work for orchestra, the Planets. He studied at the Royal Conservatory where he began a lifelong friendship with Vaughan Williams. Like Vaughan Williams, much of his work shows interest in traditional English folksongs, but, as a professional trombonist, Holst's orchestral scores also favor forceful brass writing in the style of Wagner, Strauss, and Stravinsky. His eclectic output also includes concertos written in confident neo-classical style, impressionistic operas and the widely-performed 1917 cantata the Hymn of Jesus. He died in London on May 25, 1934. - Nate Cavalieri

Gioachino Rossini

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:55:51 -0800

Though it's his galloping overture to Guillaume (William) Tell that's widely known today, Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) was an enormously influential Italian opera composer, admired by both Beethoven and Verdi and known for his supremely elegant operatic comedies, especially Il barbiere di Siviglia and La Cenerentola. He began his opera career when, at 18, he wrote a one-act comedy for Venice and first tasted success when La pietra del paragone was a hit at La Scala in 1812. Over the next three years he wrote over a dozen operas, many of them comedies, and won international acclaim. His ability to fuse lyrical expression and dramatic need, his crystalline melodies, and delicately shaded orchestral writing only increased his reputation. Among the mid-career works of note are Maometto II (1820) and, Semiramide (1823). Guillaume Tell followed as the composer moved to Paris. At 37, he retired from opera composition, soon left Paris, and suffered a prolonged illness in Italy which led to a significant decline in his productivity. Returning to Paris late in life he wrote a quantity of pieces for piano and voice, and died, universally revered, in 1868. - Nate Cavalieri

Wilhelm Kempff

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:44:30 -0800

Any serious discussion of the German Romantic piano repertoire demands mention of Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991). Over his seventy year career at the keyboard, he helped set the standard for how these works are to be interpreted in the modern era. Graced with immaculate fluidity and aching passion, his playing took every opportunity to enhance expressive nuances while totally avoiding needless displays of virtuosity. His critics blasted him for taking too many expressive liberties with the scores, but his fans held up his style as a profound reflection of the Romantic spirit. While he will forever be known as a pianist, his work away from the keyboard also deserves attention. In addition to an impressive body of Bach transcriptions, Kempff also wrote a considerable amount of original works. While none approach the brilliance attained while occupying the role of interpreter, his own works do contain the depth of emotion characteristic of a true Romantic. - Doug Russell

Gabriel Faure

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:52 -0800

One of the most important late/post-Romantic composers to come out of France, Faure was the bridge between Frederic Chopin's delicate melodic sensitivity and Claude Debussy's coloristic, impressionistic flourishes. Though he wrote a few operas, including Penelope, Faure was most known for his beautiful songs (over a hundred of them) written with refined clarity. Songs like "La Bonne Chanson" burst with innovative harmonies and luscious, transparent melodies floating above. Faure's melodic mastery came out of years of historical study: more than most of his contemporaries, Faure had a musicologist's knowledge of plainchant and other ancient forms, combined with a grasp of the music of Bach, Chopin, Mendelssohn and other masters, most notably his teacher Camille Saint-Saens. Outside of France, Faure has been considered a lesser composer due to his lack of orchestral expertise, but his quiet piano songs speak louder than many symphonies -- and his influence can be felt in the music of his pupil Maurice Ravel, as well as any other composers interested in the art of lyric song. - Jessy Terry

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:33 -0800

Along with Mussorgsky, Borodin, Balakirev and Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov belonged to a group of Russian composers known as the Mighty Five. Like his contemporaries, his work was strongly colored by national idioms, incorporating the polyphony and scales of Russian folksongs. Also typical of the Russian Five, Rimsky-Korsakov's musical training was considered by the standards of the day to be grossly inadequate. To the contrary, his limited training made him more willing to experiment with form and orchestration. Pieces such as "The Russian Easter Overture" and "The Golden Cockerel" utilize bright, fanciful orchestral color and modal scales of regional character that plunge the listener into dramatic, fairy-tale worlds. Though his compositions alone are enough to ensure him a lasting legacy, his teaching also had a profound impact on twentieth century music. One of Rimsky-Korsakov's leading students, Igor Stravinsky, was profoundly influenced by his teacher's orchestral style, incorporating it into many of his early works. - Doug Russell

Camille Saint-Saens

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:37 -0800

Saint-Saens is one of the most famous composers France has produced. A successful and widely renowned child prodigy, he was a master of form possessed of an acute intelligence. Many of his works stand out for their lush instrumentation, strong melodies and sweeping, grand musical statements. "Bacchanale" from the opera Samson et Dalila, is an exotic, at times steamily erotic, evocation of this Biblical saga (imagine Ravel's Bolero with the volume turned up to eleven). His Carnival of the Animals is even more delightful: fourteen sonic "portraits" of all manner of beasts, including the majestic lion, the awkward and comical hen, and the slow, sad, yet noble tortoise. Saint-Saens masterfully used the orchestra, piano and organ to make exuberant and colorful music, leaving vivid impressions upon the minds of his listeners. - Will Lerner

Alexander Scriabin

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:44:26 -0800

The musical language of Alexander Scriabin was unique and exotic from the outset, and over the course of his career became even more so. This Russian pianist/composer born in 1871 was deeply influenced by the spiritual mysticism of his day, and explored an otherly world through his music. Compositions such as his Third Symphony, The Divine Poem deal with subjects like pantheism vs. monotheism, and late in life his intentions were to create holistic religious events, not unlike ancient Mediterranean pagan rites, infused with music, dancing, colors, and smells. Part of his eccentricity was his claim to experience synesthesia, the bleeding of one sensory experience into another; thus he equated colors, as in red, blue, or yellow, with certain tones and key relationships. F sharp, for example, he experienced as blue, and C major as red. This experience inspired the creation of a color organ, a keyboard type device that projected colors upon a screen, depending upon the chords played. However, it wasn't until the 1970s that a similar device actually succeeded at a performance, due to the necessary technology involved. His influence upon the Western tradition is perhaps felt mostly in spirit, rather than in his unique and fascinating harmonic language. - Henry B.

Johann Strauss, Jr.

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:05:40 -0800

Ah, Strauss, the Waltz King. One might accuse his timeless works -- "On the Beautiful Blue Danube," "Tales from the Vienna Woods," "Emperor Waltz" -- of being a bit too timeless and ubiquitous, and certainly much too sentimental and downright happy for our cynical age. After listening to the overwhelming operas of Wagner, the revolutionary ballets of Stravinsky and Webern's serial works, why still listen to Strauss? Because his work is lovely, and because you can lose yourself in this flowing, elegant, Romantic and wonderfully crafted music. Strauss is not schmaltz for the musical neophyte; his are singular works from a composer who understood how to blend the popular with "high" art, and who knew how to make the public dance. The waltz was the craze of Vienna, the craze of all of Europe. Richard Strauss (no relation) said of Johann: "Of all the God-gifted dispensers of joy, [he] is the most endearing." Not only did this "dispenser of joy" create wonderful dance music, but his operettas also enliven the repertoire, especially Die Fledermaus, which is easily accessible to the record-buying and concert-going public. - Will Lerner

Gustav Mahler

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:42:38 -0800

(born: Kaliste, Bohemia, 7 July 1860; died: Vienna, 18 May 1911).
Bohemian-Austrian composer. In autumn 1883, he became music director at Kassel; an unhappy love affair with one of the singers led to the composition of his first masterpiece, the song cycle Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, and the inception of the closely related First Symphony.
Early in 1885 Mahler secured the post of second conductor at the Neues Stadttheater in Leipzig. In January 1887 he took over the Ring cycle from Arthur Nikisch, who fell ill, and convincingly established among critics and public his genius as an interpretative artist. The following year he completed Weber's unfinished comic opera Die drei Pintos and fell in love with the wife of Weber's grandson. Another consequence of his friendship with the Webers was the discovery in 1887 of the musical potential of Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a collection of folk-like texts by Arnim and Brentano which provided Mahler with words for all but one of his songs for the next 14 years.
Disagreements with colleagues led to Mahler's resignation at Leipzig in May 1888; he secured a far more important appointment at the Royal Opera in Budapest. Though he was successful in bringing the opera house into profit and improving standards and repertory, he resigned and became first conductor at the Stadttheater, Hamburg. Mahler returned to composition and completed the Second and Third Symphonies. Now a conductor of international stature and a composer of growing reputation, he turned his attention to the Vienna Hofoper. The main obstacle was his Jewish origins; so he accepted Catholic baptism in February 1897 and was appointed Kapellmeister at Vienna two months later.
At Vienna Mahler brought a stagnating opera house to a position of unrivalled brilliance. Mahler was surrounded by radical young composers, including Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and Zemlinsky, whose work he supported and encouraged. His propagation of his own music, however, aroused opposition from a section of the Viennese musical establishment, and he was again forced to look elsewhere. This time he turned to New York, where he spent his last winters as conductor, first of the Metropolitan Opera and, from 1910, of the New York PO. He continued to spend the summers in Europe, where he undertook further conducting and completed the valedictory Ninth Symphony and Das Lied von der Erde.
Although as a conductor Mahler achieved fame primarily in opera, his creative energies were directed almost wholly towards symphony and song. Even in the early Das klagende Lied, there are stylistic features to be found in his mature music, for example the combining of onstage and offstage orchestras, the association of high tragedy and the mundane, the drawing on folksong ideas and the dramatic-symbolic use of tonality. In the 1890s Mahler was much influenced by the Wunderhorn poems, in his symphonies as well as his songs, for he often used song to clarify an important moment in the structure of a symphony. Parody, irony and satire are important in Mahler's thinking during these years, with popular invention (like the children's round in no.1 and the march tunes of no.3) and elements of distortion.
The largest-scale of Mahler's symphonies is no.8, the so-called 'Symphony of a Thousand', in which the second part is a vast synthesis of forms and media embodying the setting of the final scene of Goethe's Faust as an amalgam of dramatic cantata, oratorio, song cycle, Lisztian choral symphony and instrumental symphony. Mahler's extension of symphonic form, of the symphony's expressive scope and the use of the orchestra (especially the agonized timbres he obtained by using instruments, particularly wind, at the top of their compass) represent a pained farewell to Romanticism; different aspects were followed up by the Second Viennese School, Shostakovich and Britten. - MUZE

Leo Delibes

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:55:49 -0800

Frederick Delius

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:52:22 -0800

Edward Macdowell

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:49:53 -0700

Edward Macdowell (1860-1908) is an American composer who was born in New York, taught at the Darmstadt Conservatory in Germany, and moved to Boston in 1888 to pursue a performing career. In 1904, he moved to New York to teach music at Columbia University. His compositional style, while not innovative or widely influential, is informed by Schumann, Liszt, Wagner and Grieg. Today, he is best known for his second piano concerto and his "Woodland Sketches" piano suites, "Sea Pieces" and "New England Idyls." - Nate Cavalieri

Sharon Robinson

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:54:38 -0700

Modest Mussorgsky

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:55:32 -0800

Mussorgsky (1839-1881) is certainly the best-known and arguably the greatest of the Mighty Five (Mussorgsky, Borodin, Balakirev, Cui and Rimsky-Korsakov), a maverick group of Russian composers during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century. Dissatisfied with the existing state of musical training, these composers turned to Russian folk songs for inspiration. Although Mussorgsky rarely quotes these melodies directly, their tendency for repetition and unusual harmonies had a huge impact on his compositional style. Pieces such as the popular "Pictures at an Exhibition" for piano (later orchestrated by Ravel) reveal his concern with recurring themes and his remarkable ability for capturing single impressions. A true revolutionary, his unconventional vocabulary and seemingly simplistic progressions had an enormous impact on early Twentieth Century composers. - Doug Russell

Gaetano Donizetti

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:23 -0800

(born: Bergamo, 29 Nov 1797; died: there, 8 April 1848).
Italian composer. He was of humble origins but received help and a solid musical education (1806-14) from Mayr, producing apprentice operas and many sacred and instrumental works before establishing himself at Naples with La zingara (1822). Here regular conducting and a succession of new works (two to five operas a year) marked the real start of his career. With the international triumph of Anna Bolena (1830, Milan) he freed himself from Naples; the further successes of Lelisir damore and Lucrezia Borgia (1832, 1833, Milan), Marino Faliero (1835, Paris) and the archetype of Italian Romantic opera, Lucia di Lammermoor (1835, Naples), secured his pre-eminence. Some theatrical failures, however, as well as trouble with the censors and disappointment over losing the directorship of the Naples Conservatory to Mercadante, caused him to leave for Paris, where besides successful French versions of his earlier works he brought out in 1840 La fille du rÃÂÃÂ©giment and La favorite. His conducting of Rossini's Stabat mater (1842, Bologna) and enthusiasm in Vienna for Linda di Chamounix (1842) led to his appointment as Kapellmeister to the Austrian court. Declining health began to affect his work from this time, but in Don Pasquale (1843, Paris) he produced a comic masterpiece, and in the powerful Maria di Rohan (1843, Vienna), Dom SÃÂÃÂ©bastien, roi di Portugal (1843, Paris) and Caterina Cornaro (1844, Naples) some of his finest serious music.
Donizetti's reputation rests on his operas: in comedy his position has never been challenged but in the tragic genre, though his work sums up a whole epoch, no single opera can be considered an unqualified masterpiece. His works survive through the grace and spontaneity of their melodies, their formal poise, their effortless dramatic pace, their fiery climaxes and above all the romantic vitality underlying their artifice. Like Bellini, Donizetti epitomized the Italian Romantic spirit of the 1830s. Having imitated Rossini's formal, florid style for ten years (1818-28) he gradually shed heavily embellished male-voice parts, conceiving melodies lyrically and allowing the drama to determine ensemble structures. From 1839 his style was further enriched by fuller orchestration and subtler, more varied harmony. If he contributed nothing so distinctive to the post-Rossinian tradition as Bellini's 'heavenly' melody, he still showed a more fluent technique and a wider-ranging invention, from the brilliant to the expressive and sentimental. He was particularly responsive to the individual qualities of his singers, including Persiani (Lucia), Pasta and Ronzi de Begnis (Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, Roberto Devereux), the baritone Giorgio Ronconi and the tenors Fraschini and Moriani (Lelisir damore, Lucia). Although his practical facility and readiness to adapt scores themselves constructed of 'spare-part' set forms once brought criticism, since 1950 revivals and reassessment as well as a fuller understanding of the theatrical practices of his day have restored Donizetti to critical and popular favour. - Henry B.

Edward Elgar

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:42:41 -0800

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Sir Edward Elgar was important in establishing a voice for English classical music. Taking his cue from the complex Romantic harmonies of composers such as Richard Wagner, Elgar developed these sounds, adding a personal sense of zest and richness of melody. The orchestration of his pieces was thick but not excessive, creating a myriad of new tonal textures with novel instrument combinations. His most famous work was the lively Pomp and Circumstance, which established his popularity at home and abroad. Elgar mastered many forms, from his melancholic Cello Concerto to the choral oratorios Dream of Gerontius. - Jessy Terry

Pietro Mascagni

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:23 -0800

Hector Berlioz

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:42:39 -0800

The legacy of French composer and conductor Hector Berlioz can be gleaned from his towering Symphonie Fantastique. First performed in 1830, it flaunts the composer's visionary orchestral techniques and its dynamic, sometimes volatile, use of the ideee fixe (a musical theme representing his beloved) hints at his polar personal temperament. Born December 11, 1803, he was a self-taught flautist, guitarist, and composer, and wrote small chamber pieces in his youth. He entered for the Prix de Rome four times before winning, which is an all too representative example French society's life-long disregard for the composer. Among his most important influences were Shakespeare, whose plays inspire three major works, the Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson, whom he wed after a fantastically bizarre courtship (which included composing Symphonie Fantastique), and Beethoven. Widely underappreciated, he relied on journalism and criticism for a living, producing the scathing satire of musical life in 19th century France in Evenings with the Orchestra. Between1842 and 1863, Berlioz spent most of his time touring Europe. He died on March 8, 1869. - Nate Cavalieri

Nicolo Paganini

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 09:48:57 -0700

With Nicolo Paganini, the age of the virtuoso truly began. Of course, Mozart was a consummate musician and undeniable virtuoso, but the climates of the Classical and Romantic periods were very different. Whereas Mozart and other composers of his age were servants to clergymen and the nobility, Paganini was considered a giant among men, a true magician, a superstar, and (although highly unlikely,) perhaps a devil-worshiper. That is what the superstitious believed, anyway, for his technique was simply too overwhelming to comprehend. And to this day this enigmatic, thin, lascivious and ostentatious Italian inspires everyone from Jascha Heifetz to Yngwie Malmsteen, his ghost pushing the musician to the outer limits of dazzling technical ability. Not many of his compositions are well-known today, but any aspiring violinist will certainly undertake the daunting task of performing from the Caprices, the hallmark of Paganini's craft. The twenty-fourth caprice, in fact, transfixed other composers as well: Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Rachmaninoff all wrote piano works based upon it. The Romantic era and Paganini will forever be comfortably married. - Will Lerner

Jules Massenet

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:10 -0800

(born: Montand, St Etienne, 12 May 1842; died: Paris, 13 Aug 1912).

French composer. His family moved to Paris in 1847 and he entered the Conservatoire at the age of 11 as a piano pupil of Adolphe Laurent. He later studied harmony with Reber and composition with Ambroise Thomas, winning the Prix de Rome in 1863. In Rome he got to know Liszt and, through him, Constance de Sainte Marie, who became his pupil and, in 1866 after his return to Paris, his wife. The following year his opera La grandtante was given at the OpÃÂ©ra-Comique, and in1873 Marie-Magdeleine at the ThÃÂ©ÃÂ¢tre de lOdÃÂ©on initiated a series of drames sacrÃÂ©s based on the lives of female biblical characters. Many of his secular operas, too, are in effect portraits of women.

In 1878 Massenet was made a teacher of composition at the Conservatoire, where he remained all his life, influencing many younger French composers, including Charpentier, Koechlin, PiernÃÂ© and Hahn. In his own music he began to move away from the suave, sentimental melodic style derived from Gounod and to adopt a more Wagnerian type of lyrical declamation. The change is apparent in Manon (1884), which placed Massenet in the forefront of French opera composers, and still more in Werther (1892).

But as early as 1877, in HÃÂ©rodiade, Massenet had begun to modify the symmetry and loosen the syntax of his melodies to give them a more speaking, intimate, conversational character. Repetitions are usually masked or transferred to the orchestra while the voice takes a lyrical recitative line in the Wagnerian manner; literal repetitions are carefully calculated to provide an insistent, emotional quality. Often his melodies have a swaying, hesitant character (9/8 or 6/8) - first and most effectively used in Act 1 of Manon to express a girl's hesitant yet delighted awareness of her own charms. By Werther, the relationship of voice and orchestra is more sophisticated, and that opera contains clear examples of Massenet's dissolution of formal melody into rhapsodic recitative-like writing as evolved by Wagner. Massenet's music is harmonically conservative, rarely venturing beyond modest chromaticisms; rhythmically, it is original in the variations he uses to give the melody a more caressing, intimate character. He had a characteristically French ear for orchestral nuance. Though primarily a lyrical composer, he was also a master of scenes of action, as for example at the opening of Manon.

Leos Janacek

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:48:36 -0800

Francisco Tarrega

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:55:54 -0800

(born: Villarreal, Castellón, 21 Nov 1852; died: Barcelona, 15 Dec 1909).
Spanish guitarist and composer. Hailed as 'the Sarasate of the guitar', he prepared the way for the rebirth of the guitar in the 20th century, giving concerts, teaching and composing for the instrument (78 original works, 120 transcriptions), notably Recuerdos de la Alhambra, Capricho árabe and Danza mora. - MUZE

Ottorino Respighi

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:00:28 -0700

John Philip Sousa

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:47 -0800

Like apple pie, bald eagles and capitalism, the trilling piccolo and brassy bombast of "Stars and Stripes Forever" is emblematic of America, just as the song's author, John Philip Sousa, wholly defines the military band march. The so-called "March King" was born the son of European immigrants in Washington D.C. on November 6, 1854. Gifted with a sense of perfect pitch, he was enlisted in the United States Marine Corps as an apprentice at 13 by his trombone-playing father and there learned to play all the wind instruments. After leaving the service, Sousa organized his own band which debuted in September of 1892 and toured internationally. Though he composed operas and assorted works for wind and string ensembles, his legacy is defined by his 136 marches, which include "Stars and Stripes Forever" (the congress-declared National March of the United States) and the ubiquitous "Washington Post" and "The Thunderer." He enjoyed a colorful adult hood, including a sideline career as a trap-shooting champion, and died a national hero in 1932. - Nate Cavalieri

Bedrich Smetana

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:55:20 -0800

As important as composers Dvorak, Janacek and Martinu were, they owed much of their style to the great Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. He performed in his first string quartet at the age of five, and wrote his first symphony at eight, displaying a deep talent that was only to grow over the years. The humorous Opera The Bartered Bride was perhaps his most important composition, combining folksy dances and melodies with music rich with nationalist tendencies. This approach became a hallmark of many Romantic composers -- exploring different harmonies while reaching back to their ancestral roots to create something altogether new. Unfortunately, as if summing up the fate of many Romantic composers, Smetana went deaf from a serious syphilis infection and finished the remainder of his life in an insane asylum. - Jessy Terry

Richard Strauss

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:44:58 -0800

Considered by many to be the last of the great romanticists, the thoroughly German Richard Strauss wrote in a style that early in his career was progressive and explorative, but during and after the World Wars came to be considered old-fashioned (a belief likely due to humanity's loss of innocence). As a youth, Strauss' hidden infatuation with Wagner later found full expression in his penchant for enormity and power. His Alpine Symphony, for example, requires a full 150 players for its portrayal of the Alps' heavy storms full of winds and snow. Humor is often present, as evidenced in his opera Feuersnot and his popular tone poem about a youth whose goofy antics hilariously lead to his untimely death, Till Eulenspiegels Lustige Streiche -- a work seen today opening many a concert program. Some of his music has even found its way into the collective consciousness of the masses: Thus Spake Zarathustra has, in recent decades, been revitalized by Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. - Henry B.

Enrique Granados

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:08:34 -0800

Few composers have incorporated nationalistic folk traditions into their music as successfully as Spanish composer Enrique Granados (1867-1916). Marked by pleasantly colorful tone and flamenco-inspired rhythms, his work is decidedly Spanish in flavor. As Grieg had in Norway, Granados quickly became a source of national pride, earning him enormous popularity as well as official commendation from the government. An internationally known concert pianist, Granados wrote most of his works for that instrument. Perhaps the most well known of his works is Goyescas, a series of piano pieces inspired by the paintings of Goya. The work's understated beauty, rhythmic vitality and remarkable resonance with Goya's style make it a classic of the early twentieth century. - Doug Russell

Vincenzo Bellini

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:55:24 -0800

You might be able to tell from his full name -- Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini -- that this Sicilian opera composer had a taste for sweeping melodic lines and dramatic flourishes. Thanks to works like La sonnambula and I puritani, Bellini is considered one of the quintessential figures in bel canto opera. - Nate Cavalieri

Adolphe Adam

Sat, 7 Nov 2009 11:26:29 -0800

Anton Bruckner

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:55:54 -0800

Given their complexity, great length, and harmonic density, Brukner's symphonic works might be the best representative of the magnificent, challenging endgame of Austro-German Romanticism.

There are two very different accounts of Brukner's reputation -- he was either a bumpkinly fish out of the cosmopolitan waters of Vienna, or a musical radical who chewed up tonal traditionalism and spit out the sharp harmonic modulations marking the death of Romanticism. Maybe Gustav Holst's attempt to reconcile this polarity was most accurate when he said, "Brukner: half simpleton, half God."

Brukner's lasting popularity is mostly from his symphonies, masses and motets, and his most popular works for orchestra include his breakthrough Symphony No. 4 in E flat major (1874, with a revision in 1878) the Overture in G minor and Symphonies No. 5, 7 and 9. - Nate Cavalieri

Charles-Marie Widor

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 10:45:20 -0800

Alexander Borodin

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:52:27 -0800

Russian-born Alexander Borodin (1833-1887) led a dual life as a composer and scientist, working as a researcher and lecturer at St. Petersburg's Medico-Surgical Academy for much of his adult life and composing some of the centuries most elegiac works for orchestra and string quartet. The culture of composers living in St. Petersburg at the time was great, and his personal relationships with Mussorgsky, Liszt, Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev inspired his compositional pursuits. But Balakirev proved to be the greatest influence, inspiring Borodin to focus on works of expressive Russian nationalism. His Second Symphony in B minor from 1876 is a greatly under-recognized symphony of the era, though his big hit in Europe was the short orchestral picture from 1880 On The Steppes Of Central Asia. His most substantial achievement is his brilliant opera Prince Igor, which he started in 1869 and was completed and partly orchestrated by Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov after his death. - Nate Cavalieri

Emile Waldteufel

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 11:07:12 -0800

Top Romantic Artists on Rhapsody Online

Ludwig van Beethoven

Frederic Chopin

Andre Rieu

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Johannes Brahms

Edvard Grieg

Giacomo Puccini

Franz Schubert

Giuseppe Verdi

Franz Liszt

Richard Wagner

Georges Bizet

Felix Mendelssohn

Robert Schumann

Jean Sibelius

Fernando Sor

AntonÃ­n DvorÃ¡k

Gustav Holst

Gioachino Rossini

Wilhelm Kempff

Gabriel Faure

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

Camille Saint-Saens

Alexander Scriabin

Johann Strauss, Jr.

Gustav Mahler

Leo Delibes

Frederick Delius

Edward Macdowell

Sharon Robinson

Modest Mussorgsky

Gaetano Donizetti

Edward Elgar

Pietro Mascagni

Hector Berlioz

Nicolo Paganini

Jules Massenet

Leos Janacek

Francisco Tarrega

Ottorino Respighi

John Philip Sousa

Bedrich Smetana

Richard Strauss

Enrique Granados

Vincenzo Bellini

Adolphe Adam

Anton Bruckner

Charles-Marie Widor

Alexander Borodin

Emile Waldteufel

AntonÃn DvorÃ¡k