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Blog #1 Sunny

In my opinion, the most interesting thing about the romanticism period is that music and art started getting emotionally intense and dramatic. I know that the period started using more dynamics in music in order to be more expressive. As well as the use of symphonies and harmonies had begun to become more common. According to the textbook, it says that the romantic period began in the 19th century, and artists had started perceiving the world in a “romantic aesthetic”. The composers used “poetic lyricism, dramatic contrasts and harmonic complexity”.  Which, eventually led to an increase in orchestra size. Although once the 20th century had begun many artists had tried to step away from the aesthetic of the romanticism period. I decided to look up Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and one of his most popular and well known pieces is a ballet called Swan Lake, which he wrote in the mid-late 19th century. In this particular piece he frequently uses a range of dynamics, going from a pianissimo directly into a fortissimo or fortississimo. Once the piece gets towards the climax of the story, the symphony in the background helps with engaging the listener and putting them on edge for dramatic effect as the music begins to sound deeper, slower and goes into a crescendo. While listening to this certain piece, I was able to visualize the story Tchaikovsky had put together through his music and I was able to hear the emotional intensity, the use of dynamics and articulations, as well as the use of harmonies. 

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