Romance (music)
Encyclopedia
The term romance has a centuries-long history. Applied to narrative ballads in Spain, it came to be used by the 18th century for simple lyrical pieces not only for voice, but also for instruments alone. During the 18th and 19th centuries Russian
composers developed the French variety of the romance as a sentimental category of Russian art song
. "Ochi Chyornie" (Black Eyes
) is a well-known example.
The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that "generally it implies a specially personal or tender quality".
Georges Bizet
's "Je crois entendre encore" from The Pearl Fishers (1863) is labelled a romance in the score.
As for instrumental romances, Mozart
subtitled the second movement of his piano concerto no. 20 in D minor (K.466) "Romanze" and his Horn Concerto has a romanze and Rondo. Robert Schumann
was particularly fond of the title for lyrical piano pieces.
So many composers in the French tradition wrote Romances sans paroles, "Romances without words", from the 1840s onwards that the radical poet Paul Verlaine
in turn published a collection of his impressionistic poems as Romances sans paroles (1874).
Some instrumental music bearing the title "Romance":
Among Russian romances notable examples are
British singer Marc Almond
is the only western artist to receive acclaim in western Europe and well as Russia, for singing English versions of Russian Romances and Russian Chanson on his albums Heart On Snow and Orpheus in Exile (the songs of Vadim Kozin).
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
composers developed the French variety of the romance as a sentimental category of Russian art song
Art song
An art song is a vocal music composition, usually written for one voice with piano or orchestral accompaniment. By extension, the term "art song" is used to refer to the genre of such songs....
. "Ochi Chyornie" (Black Eyes
Dark Eyes (song)
Dark Eyes is a Russian song.The lyrics of the song were written by a Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka. The first publication of the poem was in Literaturnaya gazeta on 17 January 1843....
) is a well-known example.
The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that "generally it implies a specially personal or tender quality".
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's "Je crois entendre encore" from The Pearl Fishers (1863) is labelled a romance in the score.
As for instrumental romances, Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
subtitled the second movement of his piano concerto no. 20 in D minor (K.466) "Romanze" and his Horn Concerto has a romanze and Rondo. Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
was particularly fond of the title for lyrical piano pieces.
So many composers in the French tradition wrote Romances sans paroles, "Romances without words", from the 1840s onwards that the radical poet Paul Verlaine
Paul Verlaine
Paul-Marie Verlaine was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the fin de siècle in international and French poetry.-Early life:...
in turn published a collection of his impressionistic poems as Romances sans paroles (1874).
Some instrumental music bearing the title "Romance":
- BeethovenLudwig van BeethovenLudwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's two Violin Romances (Romanze) for violin and orchestra, no. 1 G Major, Op. 40; no. 2 in F Major, Op. 50Violin Romance No. 2 (Beethoven)The Romance for Violin and Orchestra No. 2 in F major, Op. 50 is a piece for violin and orchestra by Ludwig van Beethoven, one of two such compositions by Beethoven, the other being Romance No. 1 in G major, Op. 40. It was written in 1798, four years before the first romance, and was published...
takes the form of a loose theme and variations. - Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...
's Romance in F minor for violin and orchestra, Op. 11 (1873/1877) - Camille Saint-Saёns' Romance in D for violoncello and orchestra, Op. 51 (1877)
- Clara SchumannClara SchumannClara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
's Drei Romanzen for violin and piano, Op. 22 (1853) (link) - Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
's Drei Romanzen (for piano), Op.28. (1839) - Robert SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
's Drei Romanzen (for oboe or violin and piano), Op.94. (1849) - Jean SibeliusJean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
, Romances for piano Op 24, no. 9, Op. 78, no. 2. - Johan SvendsenJohan SvendsenJohan Severin Svendsen was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Christiania , Norway, he lived most his life in Copenhagen, Denmark....
's Romance for violin and orchestra, Op. 26 (1881) - Johannes BrahmsJohannes BrahmsJohannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
' Romanze in F major for piano, Op. 118, no. 5Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118 (Brahms)The Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 118, are some of the most beloved items that the composer Johannes Brahms wrote for the solo instrument. Completed in 1893 and dedicated to Clara Schumann, the collection was the second to last composition to be published during Brahms' lifetime. It was also his...
(1893) - Edward ElgarEdward ElgarSir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
's Romance for bassoon and orchestraRomance (Elgar)The Romance, in D minor, Op 62, is a short work for bassoon and orchestra by Edward Elgar. It exists also in a transcription for cello and orchestra made by the composer. Both the bassoon and cello versions date from 1909-10...
, Op. 62. (1910) - Ralph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan WilliamsRalph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
's Romanza, in his Concerto in F minor for bass tuba, no. 2 (1954) - AnonymousRomance (song)"Romance Anónimo" is a piece for guitar, also known as "Estudio en Mi de Rubira" , "Spanish Romance", "Romance de España", "Romance of the Guitar", "Romanza" and "Romance d'Amour" among other names.Its origins and authorship are currently in question...
"Romance/ Romanza" for the classical guitar, known variantly as Spanish Romance, Romance D'Amour, etc. - Max BruchMax BruchMax Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
's "Romanze for Viola and Orchestra in F" - Mozart's Romanze from Eine Kleine NachtmusikEine kleine NachtmusikThe Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 was written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in 1787. The work is more commonly known by the title Eine kleine Nachtmusik. The German title means "a little serenade", though it is often rendered more literally but less accurately as "a little night music"...
, the second movement. - Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 Second Movement
- Shostakovich's Romance from The Gadfly SuiteThe Gadfly SuiteThe Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a, is a suite for orchestra arranged from the composition by Dmitri Shostakovich for the 1955 Soviet film The Gadfly, based on the novel of the same name by Ethel Lilian Voynich .The Suite known as Op...
Among Russian romances notable examples are
- Shine, Shine, My StarShine, Shine, My Star"Shine, Shine, My Star" is an acclaimed Russian romance.The authorship of the song was uncertain for some time, being ascribed to various people, including Nikolay Gumilyov and Ivan Bunin...
- Those Were the Days (song)Those Were the Days (song)"Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" , written by Boris Fomin with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism...
- Dark Eyes (song)Dark Eyes (song)Dark Eyes is a Russian song.The lyrics of the song were written by a Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka. The first publication of the poem was in Literaturnaya gazeta on 17 January 1843....
- Sergei YeseninSergei YeseninSergei Alexandrovich Yesenin was a Russian lyrical poet. He was one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century but committed suicide at the age of 30...
romances (especially "I do not regret, and I do not shed tears")
British singer Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
is the only western artist to receive acclaim in western Europe and well as Russia, for singing English versions of Russian Romances and Russian Chanson on his albums Heart On Snow and Orpheus in Exile (the songs of Vadim Kozin).