Romantic Period: Analysis of the age of revolutions and opera

The word "Romanticism" was used in England as early as in 1659. The admiration of English poets for the French Revolution is something that is known widely. English poets, who are the representatives of Romantic poetry used to live in the area called "Lake District" and they used to be mentioned by this place. The person who used the word "Romanticism" in the closest to its contemporary meaning, was Jean Jack Rousseau. In one of his works while depicting Bienne lake, Rousseau states that it was "a romantic place". Starting from this point, the French Academy defined the concept as follows; "Romantic means places that are typically described in poems and novels." And the first person to use the term "Romanticism" - which was not in use until the 19th century - was German writer and composer Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman. Hoffman who was famous for "Undine" which is considered to be one of the first operas of the Romantic Era, used the adjective "romantic" for the first time in 1813, in his article in which he analyzed the compositions of Ludwig Van Beethoven. It cannot be said that there is a consensus regarding the distinction of historical periods for the music of the Romantic Era. The Romantic Era music, the domination of which in general sense, could be said to be between 1830-1910 was studied by musicologists, particularly by musicologists of German origin, under the following headings; Early Romanticism (1800-1830) High Romanticism (1830-1860) and Late Romanticism (1860-1910). Feeling the need for explaining the fundamental reasons behind the emergence of the Romantic Era and its composers, particularly French opera, as well as the art and the spirit of that period, this study attempts to commentate on those artists, their works, on what they did that distinguished them from their contemporary artists, including certain events that occurred during the transition from neoclassic to romantic period. The importance of this study is that this study may serve as a resource in the researches to be conducted regarding this topic.