Changes

In the early 1800s, art (including music) and literature underwent “revolutions” similar to the political ones.  Romanticism was the major artistic movement, reflecting an emphasis on thoughts, feelings and nature.  Lord Byron was a leading romanticist who fought for the independence of Greece.  This emphasis on feelings mirrored a political romanticism that promoted democracy and the needs of the “common man,” or everyday person.

In the early 1800s, art (including music) and literature underwent “revolutions” similar to the political ones.  Romanticism was the major artistic movement, reflecting an emphasis on thoughts, feelings and nature.  Lord Byron was a leading romanticist who fought for the independence of Greece.  This emphasis on feelings mirrored a political romanticism that promoted democracy and the needs of the “common man,” or everyday person.

In music, the greatest composer in the history of the world burst onto the scene in the early 1800s:  Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).  He revolutionized instrumental music and took it to new heights never before thought possible.  His achievement was all the more remarkable because he became totally deaf before the age of 40, and before he composed his greatest works.  A German like most great composers, Beethoven’s works capture an intensity and expressive emotion that surpassed even vocal music.  It was Beethoven’s great work that led an English critic to declare, “All arts aspire to the condition of music.”

In music, one of the greatest composers in the history of the world burst onto the scene in the early 1800s:  Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).  He revolutionized instrumental music and took it to new heights never before thought possible.  His achievement was all the more remarkable because he became totally deaf before the age of 40, and before he composed his greatest works.  A German like many of the great composers, Beethoven’s works capture an intensity and expressive emotion that surpassed even vocal music.  It was Beethoven’s great work that led an English critic to declare, “All arts aspire to the condition of music.”

In the late 1800s, impressionism moved [[painting]] further away from its traditions.  It began in France and continued into the 1900s.  The chief feature of impressionism was to paint the transient effects of color and light, and attempt to capture a fleeting image or “impression”.  The feeling of an image was emphasized more than the detail (see right).  Major impressionistic painters included Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne.  Manet, Monet, Renoir and others began emphasizing color and lighting as early as the late 1860s.  They often painted landscapes, and insisted on remaining outdoors until completion of the work, unlike predecessors who preferred to complete such work in the studio.  Renoir, for example, is known for brilliance of color, intimate charm in his subjects (some of which are not family-friendly), and a harmony of his lines.   

In the late 1800s, impressionism moved [[painting]] further away from its traditions.  It began in France and continued into the 1900s.  The chief feature of impressionism was to paint the transient effects of color and light, and attempt to capture a fleeting image or “impression”.  The feeling of an image was emphasized more than the detail (see right).  Major impressionistic painters included Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne.  Manet, Monet, Renoir and others began emphasizing color and lighting as early as the late 1860s.  They often painted landscapes, and insisted on remaining outdoors until completion of the work, unlike predecessors who preferred to complete such work in the studio.  Renoir, for example, is known for brilliance of color, intimate charm in his subjects (some of which are not family-friendly), and a harmony of his lines.