romanze [Ger.]

(1) Ballad. The term was often used interchangeably with *Ballade. Examples from the 18th century were similar in character to the French *romance and include two collections by Johann Adam Hiller (1762 and 1767). The Romanze was often folklike and was frequently found in *Singspiel (e.g., Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and opera (e.g., Weber’s Der Freischütz). (2) In the 18th and 19th centuries, an instrumental work of lyrical character in a slow tempo, often in ABA, rondo, or variation form and sometimes part of a symphony or other multimovement work (e.g., Haydn’s La *reine, Mozart’s Piano Concerto in D minor, K. 466). In the 19th century, the term was often taken as a title for *character pieces in a variety of forms (e.g., Schumann’s Drei Romanzen op. 28 and Albumblätter no. 11).