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
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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 songAn 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 EyesDark 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.The words were subsequently set to Florian Hermann's Valse Hommage Dark Eyes is a well-known example.
The
Oxford Dictionary of Music states that "generally it implies a specially personal or tender quality".
Georges BizetGeorges Bizet was a French composer and pianist of the Romantic era. He is best known for the opera Carmen.-Biography:Bizet was born at 26 rue de la Tour d'Auvergne in the 9th arrondissement of Paris in 1838...
's "Je crois entendre encore" from
The Pearl Fishers (1863) is labelled a romance in the score.
As for instrumental romances,
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as...
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 SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
was particularly fond of the title for lyrical piano pieces.
Some instrumental music bearing the title "Romance":
- Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He was a crucial figure in the transitional period between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western classical music, and remains one of the most acclaimed and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, of the Electorate of Cologne and...
's two Violin Romances (Romanze) for violin and orchestra, no. 1 G Major, Op. 40; no. 2 in F Major, Op. 50The 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 Violin romances by Beethoven, the other being Romance No. 1 in G major, Op. 40. It was written in 1798 but published 1805, two years later than...
takes the form of a loose theme and variations.
- Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of Romantic music, who employed the idioms and melodies of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. His works include operas, symphonic, choral and chamber music...
'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 Schumann
Clara 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 Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
's Drei Romanzen (for piano), Op.28. (1839)
- Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes given as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic...
's Drei Romanzen (for oboe or violin and piano), Op.94. (1849)
- Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity....
, Romances for piano Op 24, no. 9, Op. 78, no. 2.
- Johan Svendsen
Johan 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 Brahms
Johannes Brahms , German composer and pianist, was 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. 5The 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.The six pieces...
(1893)
- Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, OM, GCVO was an English composer. Several of his first major orchestral works, including the Enigma Variations and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, were greeted with acclaim. He also composed oratorios, chamber music, symphonies, instrumental concertos,...
's Romance for bassoon and orchestraThe 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 Vaughn Williams's Romanza, in his Concerto in F minor for bass tuba, no. 2 (1954)
- Anonymous
Romance Anónimo is a Spanish 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 authorship is currently in question, and it has variously been attributed to Antonio Rubira, David del...
"Romance/ Romanza" for the classical guitar, known variantly as Spanish Romance, Romance D'Amour, etc.
- Max Bruch
Max 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, one of which is a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he received his...
's "Romanze for Viola and Orchestra in F"
- Mozart's Romanze from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
The Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525, more commonly known as Eine kleine Nachtmusik , is a composition by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, written in 1787 while working on the second act of Don Giovanni in Vienna...
, the second movement.
Among Russian romances notable examples are
- Those Were the Days (song)
"Those Were the Days" was released on 30 August 1968. It was Mary Hopkin's debut single. It is credited to Gene Raskin, who put English lyrics to the Russian gypsy song "Dorogoi dlinnoyu" , written by Boris Fomin with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth...
- 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.The words were subsequently set to Florian Hermann's Valse Hommage Dark Eyes ' onMouseout='HidePop("28212")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Sergei_Yesenin">Sergei Yesenin
Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin was a Russian lyrical poet.- Early Life :Sergei Yesenin was born in Konstantinovo in the Ryazan Oblast of the Russian Empire to a peasant family. He spent most of his childhood in his grandparents' home...
romances (especially "I do not regret, and I do not shed tears")