What is “Late Romantic” music?
2nd question first. Opus is simply a designation for a piece that you’ve written. It is not a specific form or anything. If a piece is known as Opus 35, or Op. 35, then that is simply the 35th piece that this composer has written. The late romantics really bridge the gap between the romantics and the modern composers. Late romantic music is known for still being driven by a strong melody and full of emotion, but more complex in both form and chord structure than early romantic music. Chromatics and non-chordal tones were also much more common in late romantic music. Late romantic music was also the most grand in scale of any music to this date, both in orchestration and in length. From the epic Wagner operas to the massive Mahler symphonies, BIG was very much in. To get a basic idea of the sound of late romantic music, here are a few links to some very well known pieces: Mahler’s 2nd Symphony “Resurrection”; the last couple minutes of the 5th and final movement. (I get to perform this
