Romantische Oper

Romantische Oper is the German Romantic opera of the first half of the nineteenth century, in which the number opera inherited from Singspiel was progressively dissolved into continuous music. Its subjects are drawn from folklore, medieval legend and the supernatural: haunted forests, demonic huntsmen, water spirits, vampires and wandering Dutchmen, set in a nature experienced as sublime and threatening. *Carl Maria von Weber* established the type with "Der Freischütz" in 1821, uniting folk-like melody, an orchestra used for atmosphere and local colour, and recurring motifs tied to characters and ideas. The genre extends from *E.T.A. Hoffmann* and *Louis Spohr* to *Richard Wagner*'s early operas.