Romance

Two meanings that matter here

The word “romance” has three meanings. Two of them matter here: an epic poem in the manner of a folk song with ballad-like features, which tells of heroic deeds and love adventures, and, in music, a songlike, expressive instrumental or vocal piece. The word comes via French from the Spanish “romance”, a “poem in the style of a folk song”.

The Spanish romance was originally a form of narrative song comparable to the European folk ballad and can be regarded as its Spanish variant. The instrumental romance arose in France, as a movement of a larger work, mostly a slow middle movement, but also as an independent one-movement composition. As a piece of music the romance is a lyrical-romantic piece without fixed formal principles.

What the features mean in the archive piece

Typical qualities are named for romance middle movements. The table sets them beside the archive piece. Whether the “Spanische Romanze” meets them, the score shows only in part: a tempo marking is missing on the sheet, whereas the separation of melody and accompaniment can be seen.

The music example shows this texture with notes of our own. You can count the triplet groups as beats: each group fills a quarter note, three groups the whole bar.

A romance for guitar

Guitar

• Spanische Romanze Anonymous (19th century) according to the sheet · guitar · 1 page

  Subtitle “Romanza · für Gitarre” (“Romanza · for guitar”), 3/4 time, one sharp. In bars 1 to 15 and 17 to 31 every bar has three groups of three eighth notes; the figure 3 appears below only in bar 1. In the first bars there is also a bass in dotted half notes. Part 1 runs from bar 1 to 16 and ends with a repeat sign; from bar 17 the key signature has four sharps, and part 2 runs to bar 32 and is likewise repeated. Both parts end on E.

Distinction from the ballad

Both words denote narrative poems and songs and are often regarded as synonyms. Ballads were later associated more with “northern and gloomy”, romances with “southern, warm and mild”. There is more on this on the page Ballade. The archive piece is an instrumental piece with two parts of 16 bars each.

Common mistakes

• Playing the triplet like two eighth notes: Three notes are spread evenly over one beat; in bar 1 the figure 3 appears under each group, and after that the pattern continues.
• Overlooking the repeat signs: Both parts are repeated, the first one too, with the sign at the end of bar 16.
• Carrying the key signature of part 1 over to part 2: Part 1 has one ♯, part 2 four ♯. Check the key signature before you begin part 2.