FROM ROCOCO, THROUGH STURM UND DRANG, TO ROMANTICISM SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT VOL. 180 – A TWO-CENTURY ARTISTIC JOURNEY

The flow of European music from the 17th to the 19th century represents a continuous aesthetic evolution, in which each period both inherits from and reacts against what came before.

BAROQUE
During the Baroque era (1600–1750), European music focused on complex polyphonic textures—multiple interweaving melodic lines—and often sustained a single emotional state throughout an entire movement (as exemplified by the works of J.S. Bach). At the same time, music was closely tied to rhetoric, aiming to depict narratives or programs, as in Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons.

ROCOCO
By the mid-18th century, however, Western taste began to favor a lighter, more elegant, and more immediately appealing beauty. This gave rise to the Rococo style (c. 1730–1770), which emphasized grace, refined melodic lines, balanced phrasing, and simple harmony. This aesthetic was associated with the calm and harmonious life of the aristocratic court. Its clarity, concision, and symmetry also paved the way for the emergence of Classicism, which embraced the optimism and rational ideals of the Enlightenment.

STURM UND DRANG
After becoming accustomed to such refined harmony, German-Austrian intellectuals felt the need to express the darker, more turbulent aspects of their inner world. The Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) movement emerged as a reaction against Rococo. In literature, this is exemplified by Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther; in music, by works such as Haydn’s Symphony No. 44 and Mozart’s Symphony No. 25. Sturm und Drang expanded the emotional range of Classical music, introducing more personal and introspective expression. It laid the groundwork for Beethoven’s spirit of freedom and later inspired the profound lyricism of Romantic composers such as Tchaikovsky.

CLASSICISM & ROMANTICISM
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor simultaneously adheres to the rational structural principles of the Classical symphony while unfolding as a dramatic emotional journey centered on the theme of fate.

A NOSTALGIA FOR ROCOCO
Interestingly, even as Romantic composers explored a world of turbulence and emotional struggle, many still felt a sense of nostalgia for the simplicity and elegance of Rococo.

Tchaikovsky, while capable of writing deeply moving works filled with sorrow—reflecting on human fate and love for his Russian homeland—was equally adept at employing a contrasting style. In Variations on a Rococo Theme, he created a work for solo cello and orchestra based on a Rococo-style theme, which he then transformed through a series of variations. The style is clearly rooted in the past, yet newly composed—at once elegant and nostalgic, while also rich in personal expression characteristic of the 19th century.

Haydn’s Symphony No. 44, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, and his Symphony No. 5 in E minor—three works by two major composers of the 18th and 19th centuries—together embody the finest qualities of Rococo, Sturm und Drang, and Romanticism. Through these pieces, one can clearly trace the aesthetic transformation from balanced, decorative beauty to the deeply introspective and dramatic world of the European symphony.

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Audiences will accompany the Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra (VNSO) on this artistic journey through Haydn’s Symphony No. 44, Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme, and Symphony No. 5 in E minor in Pre-booked Concert No. 180.

The concert will take place at 8:00 PM on March 28, 2026, at the Grand Concert Hall of the Vietnam National Academy of Music, featuring Japanese conductor Sado Yukata and cellist Phan Đỗ Phúc as soloist.

Mai Hạnh, March 2026.