Romantic Piano Music

• cast iron frames as opposed to wooden frames which allowed for larger and stronger strings under increased tension

• felt instead of leather on the hammers

• seven octave range (as opposed to five)

• establishment of the sustaining and una corda pedals.

• a more sonorous tone offering a broader palette of colours

• a better sustaining power to support legato phrasing (of longer note values) and an espressivo cantabile

• a greater dynamic range with more sensitive gradations from ppp to fff and an ability to balance textures

• greater expressive direction given by the composer to the performer on the printed score

• pianistic techniques involving wrists and forearms (as opposed to a purely digital action).

• Slow tempo with regular rhythmical flow in the left hand creating a ,elancholic and reflective character

•  melody – dominated texture, above a largely unvaried homophonic accompaniment

• extensive ornamentation, somewhat improvisatory in feel and imitative of the ‘bel canto’ style

• very wide range of pitch (in the left hand arpeggio patterns as well as the melodic tessitura)

• significant rhythmic variety in the melody, including twos against threes and use of sextuplets etc

•  largely conjunct melodic shapes, full of yearning appoggiaturas

•  slow moving, functional harmony with chromatic inflexions

•  clearly designed tonal scheme

• overall arch shape with a quiet start, building to an impassioned climax before subsiding to a final repose

• Between 1830 and 1900
• Composers, artists and authors moved away from the formal restraint of the Classical period
• intense energy and passion
• greater emotional expression
• longer, virtuosic phrases with more varied pitch and dynamics
• New structures such as the rhapsody, nocturne and song cycle were introduced
• Used increasingly elaborate harmonic progressions
• Reflect the tension and nationalism of war and revolution throughout Europe
• The orchestra expanded in size and more instruments were added (Piccolo, contrabassoon, bass drums and triangles)
• Materials used to construct woodwind instruments also improved and expanded their musical quality and variability. 

• Bel Canto Style - lyricism (shown through the short, singable 2 bar phrases and the arched melodic contours) and fioroturas 
• Chopin’s Fioraturas in bars 31-37 use broken chords, chromaticism, trills, and highly complex cross-rhythms -makes the melody very technically challenging and help to create a climax for the listener.
• Structured into two main tunes, both of which are developed throughout the piece.
• Sometimes Chopin alters the rhythm of the original melody. For example, the melody from bar 2 is changed from straight quavers into triplets
• Bar 31, Chopin adds Fioraturas to the melody in bar 2, and towards the end of the piece, in bar 47, Chopin uses a version of the melody from bar 23 in the tonic major to modulate back to the home key. This creates variety and keeps the melody interesting.  

• Abridged sonata form (a sonata form without the central development section)
• Melody develops slightly every time we hear the recapitulation - adds intensity to the mood of the piece via new dynamics and fioritura’s in the higher tessitura of the piano. 

Introduction - Bar 1 - E minor

A Section: exposition - Bars 2 - 22 - E minor

B Section: exposition - Bars 23 - 30 - B major

A Section: recapitulation - Bar 31 - 46 - E minor

B Section: recapitulation - Bar 47 - 54 - E major

Coda - Bars 55 - 57 - E major

• Mostly diatonic harmonies moving at a slow harmonic pace - create a stable foundation for the melody.
• Most of the chords are tonic or dominant chords. ( Bars 1 - 4, only two chords are used- I and V7) - Calming mood which reflects the calm of the night
• Occasionally there are some more chromatic chords (Diminished chord in bar 5 - tension, 4-3 suspension in bar 8, Tierce de Picardie in the final bar of the piece)
• Chopin only uses chromatic harmonies at the melody’s climax, so overall the harmony is functional and extremely stable.
  

• Characterised by the triplet quaver ostinato in the left hand, which often creates cross rhythms with quavers or semiquavers in the right hand. 
• Steady andante tempo - steady rhythmic foundation throughout
• Use of rubato - Chopin implies through ritenuto and calando markings - pianist can highlight the more expressive moments of the piece and this helps to tell the story

• Melody dominated homophony throughout
• Occasional moments of polyphony
• Throughout the entire piece, there is a triplet, broken chord accompaniment in the left hand with pedal points with the melody in the right hand play extract - Texture inspired hugely by John Field.
• Field introduced Chopin to the use of ostinatos and pedal points, something that Chopin then continued to write in the rest of his pieces.