Classical and Romantic

The Pelican History of Music #3

by Alec Robertson (Editor), Denis Stevens (Editor)

This third volume of the Pelican History of Music is mainly concerned with the 18th and 19th centuries, but works by Mahler, Bloch, Bax and others are discussed in a coda.
Even in the age of enlightenment a patron's 'good taste' was something that composers had to content with and the so-called style gallant forms the background to the achievement of CPE Bach , Mozart and Haydn. But Beethoven scorned conventional taste, and the great classical composers owe their boldness to the style bourgeois.
19th century romantic composers, such as Wagner and Verdi, were aware of the enormous material expansion and adventure of their age. And unlike previous composers they were conscious of their kinship with writers and painters; some of their greatest musical triumphs are to be found in opera.

Genres: History, Music, Reference

251 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1968