There's Neoclassical, there's Romanticism, and there's Impressionism. And the cool thing is they all have a logical flow. And I just like to show you a little bit about what what it's all about.

Think of Baroque. Before, Renaissance was cerebral, and they said, I want to let my heart just go crazy. So Baroque is a chance to be emotional and ornate. Think about this. In 1685, the three great Baroque composers were all born. Scarlatti, Bach, and Handel in the same year. And if you think about that, Baroque is kind of like controlled exuberance. Here's a good example. You got two melodies working together. This is a Bach invention.

Baroque likes a lot of trills. Have you ever noticed that? And it's just overwhelmed with trills. A good example of that is it's when I think about it's kind of like Bernini, you know, visual arts. Bernini for your ears. Here's a little bit of Scarlatti. You know, it's if you're going to play Baroque, you really should have ruffles on your sleeves. Now, I was just doing Bach and Scarlatti, but I just don't know any Handel. Oh, does anybody know Handel?

Elisabeth: I do! I do! So, I have ruffles on my sleeves. Handel. He's the guy that wrote...[plays piano]

[Tess sings] Hallelujah!

Elisabeth: Yeah!

Tess: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Ha-lle-lujah!

I love that one. You know, Elisabeth and I have actually been working on an aria or a song from Handel's opera "Semele" and you can hear all of those trills and that controlled exuberance and we're just going to simmer in one big powerful emotion. In this case, endless pleasure.

[Tess sings] Endless pleasure, endless love!

Semele enjoys above!

Endless love!

Rick: Oh man. No, no, no, no. Don't tell me that. That's too many. There's too many trills. Just too many trills. Look at the French Revolution. Everything is subjected to the test of reason. The Enlightenment. Okay, this is... We need something a little more cerebral, please. Now, when we think about Neoclassical and music, we call it Classical, but art Neoclassical. It's 1850 to 1750 to 1800. Um, this is where everything is subjected to the to the test of reason. Mozart... Haydn... Classical, concise, balance. Here's an example. It's Mozart's "Turkish March."

[Rick plays Mozart's "Turkish March"]

You know that is just a strong presence and it's so...They say they say if if if music is like architecture, well, Neoclassical is the ultimate of that. Do you guys have have something that that can kind of kind of make that point?

Elisabeth: Yeah, by Mozart...

Tess: Absolutely.

Elisabeth: That's what you were just saying. It's symmetrical. It's mathematical.

Rick: Perfect.

Tess: It's all dealing with the messiest subject of all: teenage love. So this is from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" [ __ ]. And in this aria there are so many big complex emotions but it's so symmetrical and balanced.

Rick: Perfect!

[Tess sings Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro"]

Elisabeth: I'll translate.

Your experience with love.

Is that what I'm feeling?

Help me understand what's happening.

So many new sensations.

I'm really confused.

I'm so excited!

Full of desire.

I'm so happy... I'm so sad.

I shiver.

I love thunder!

I will never be the same.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Rick: That was...That was sweet. There's just too much metronome. Come on. I mean, be be romantic. You know, the next movement, Romanticism. That's the ism of the 1800s, right? We got this pendulum. We got the emotional Baroque, the cerebral Neoclassical. I'm tired of that. Let's go back [ __ ]. That is Romantic. Romantism loves nature. It loves drama, national struggles, ethnic struggles. Think of Wagner and his German anthems, right? Brahms and his lullabies, Strauss and those waltzes. Think about, you know, all of that. You just don't want a metronome. Bach, Mozart, you want a metronome. Throw that metronome out the window. Unleash your heart! Now, Romanticism is not always sweet. It's romantico. Here's a good example. A Chopin prelude. I'm just gonna play the last line of it here, but the indication is to play it "molto agitato"... very agitated.

[Rick plays piano]

Oh yeah, baby. Maybe you want some dreamy romantico...dreamy...Hey,  Schumann is one of the great Romantic composers, isn't he? And his most popular song for piano players might be a song called actually "Dreaming." Now, when we think of dreaming, this is like [ __ ]. It's shaping phrases. That's what what Romantic's all about. No more metronome. You crescendo. You you you accelerando. You peak and then you decrescendo and you [ __ ] down. Shaping the phrases. Here it is: a little bit of Schumann's "Dreaming."

[Rick plays Schumann's "Dreaming"]

Oh my goodness. When you do Romantic music, your heart becomes the conductor. But you know, I need a little more passion. Can you guys give me a little more passion?

Elisabeth: Passion? Well, no one does passion...

Tess: Oh, and anguish like...

Both: The Russians!

Rick: Oh, the Russians!

Tess: And the king of Russian Romanticism is really Tchaikovsky. So Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin," his opera, there's a scene where young Tatiana stays up all night long writing this letter confessing her love to this man that she just met...

Elisabeth: At a party.

Tess: And the whole scene is is is the decision: Will she or won't she take that big plan? Will she send that letter? And you can hear these beautiful romantic melodies and this swelling orchestration and and a tempo that changes with the mood.

[Tess sings Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin"]

Elisabeth [translating]: Maybe this is all meaningless.

Just the delusions of a naive soul.

Fate holds something different for me.

Then a decision.

She'll risk it all for love!

She's completely alone.

No one understands her pain.

This might be the worst mistake of her life.

Rick: Oh my goodness!

Tess: Are you okay?

Rick: No! No! I need something more subtle. I need Impressionism. Impressionism. This is the ism of 1900, okay? And when we think impressionistic, we think moody. We think atmospheric. Think Ravel, Erik Satie, Debussy. Unlike Mozart, we got blurry lines. I mean, when you listen to Debussy and you close your eyes, you could be walking with Monet through a garden. I mean, really. Debussy is water lilies for our ears. Here's an example. This is called "Arabesque." Arabesque is a shape that's a great name for an Impressionist piece. And it's got a little bit in it that has eighth-notes with triplets, two on three. It's just a delight for somebody doing Impressionism.

Oh yeah. Now what I dream of...like fantasize about...is floating across the sea into a sunset. I mean, can you do something like that?

Elisabeth: Oh, your favorite, Debussy?

Tess: Yes. Yes. We have a song for you.

Rick: Perfect!

Tess: This is exactly an impression of a sunset.

Elisabeth: And in the music, you're going to hear every color and change of the water and the sun setting over the water. You hear me shifting chords and then always coming back where I started.

[Tess sings Debussy's "Beau Soir"]

Elisabeth [translating]: When the sun is setting

The water turns pink.

A warm breeze flows across the fields.

Something rises to my troubled heart.

It tells me to be happy,

To taste the charms of being alive in this world

While we are young.

Because we must all depart

As the river runs to the sea.

And we

To the earth.

Rick: Tess and Elizabeth. Some more...Clap later. Tess and Elizabeth. The more you know about art...

Tess: The more you'll enjoy it.

Rick: Remember, you'll see it...

Elisabeth: And you'll hear it as well.

Rick: Oh, baby. Tess Altiveros and Elisabeth Ellis. Thank you.

Tess: Rick Steves!

Rick: Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that music. That was cool.