+-?Z

Regarding the article, Edward F. Kravitt, "Romanticism Today", The Musical Quarterly, (Spring 1992): pp. 93-109

These are my thoughts.

+: I liked that it kept an open attitude, that the definition is open to interpretation.

-: Of course this could also be read as a cop-out because some things are romantic, some are not, and loosely defining something makes it difficult to decide what is defined by it, and what is not.

?: What possible grounding do they have to say there was grand unified pessimism?

Z: It mentions that changes in social life edged on the change, and that is a second layer of art imitating nature.

Romanticism from the top.

To begin the semester, it is important to define what romanticism is on the way in. Based on past experience, I'd define Romanticism as a period in all art and literature that focused on emotion. In music specifically, it showed a trend toward greater chromaticism, loosening of the stricter rules of the Baroque and Classical periods, and use of innovations in instrument technology to create very powerful music. Because of the creation of new instruments, (id est Tuba) Romantic is the first period from which I can get repertoire that was written specifically for tuba, as opposed to other bass instruments. That is to say, I like it best.