Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from about 1830 to 1910.


Romantic music as a movement evolved from the formats, genres and musical ideas established in earlier periods, such as the classical period, and went further in the name of expression and syncretism of different art-forms with music. Romanticism does not necessarily refer to romantic love, though that theme was prevalent in many works composed during this time period, both in literature, painting or music. Romanticism followed a path that led to the expansion of formal structures for a composition set down or at least created in their general outlines in earlier periods, and the end-result is that the pieces are 'understood' to be more passionate and expressive, both by 19th century and today's audiences. Because of the expansion of form (those elements pertaining to form, key, instrumentation and the like) within a typical composition, and the growing idiosyncrasies and expressivity of the new composers from the new century, it thus became easier to identify an artist based on his work or style.


Romantic music attempted to increase emotional expression and power to describe deeper truths or human feelings, while preserving but in many cases extending the formal structures from the classical period, in others, creating new forms that were deemed better suited to the new subject matter. The subject matter in the new music was now not only purely abstract, but also frequently drawn from other art-form sources such as literature, or history (historical figures) or nature itself.

Originally Posted by RYM

Western Classical Music that was initially developed in the period from 1815-1910. While predominantly practiced in Europe in the 19th century, Romantic music possesses stylistic qualities that make it more than a mere geographical or chronological category. Romantic music can be characterized by its expressive and emotional qualities, especially in terms of melody.

The approach of Romantic composers was designed to break with the rigidities of the Classical Period. In his late works, Ludwig van Beethoven pioneered a new approach to utilizing orchestras, by varying instrumentation and timbre (e.g. his use of a chorus in the Ninth Symphony). Additionally, Beethoven inspired later Romantic composers through his advanced use of harmonies that modulated keys much more drastically than in the past, and through his use of melodic motifs that extended and evolved through lengthy pieces.

Expanding on those developments, Romantic composers frequently used techniques such as chromaticism, varying tempos, and increased dissonance to create an expressive, dramatic style, as can be seen in the symphonic work of Hector Berlioz and the Opera of Giuseppe Verdi.

The fusion of drama and music was promoted through the Tone Poem of Franz Liszt and Berlioz. Tone poems were designed to tell a story or advance a theme through music. This idea was extended by Richard Wagner, who used thematic melodies (leitmotifs) and an increasingly dramatic approach to composition.

Another key ingredient of romantic music was the influx of new melodic sources. This was primarily driven by the strengthening of nationalism in the late 19th century. Composers such as Antonín Dvořák, Johannes Brahms, Frédéric Chopin and Edvard Grieg all used elements of folk music (Czech, Hungarian, Polish, and Norwegian, respectively) in their work.

Romantic music has survived even beyond the Romantic period. Elements of romanticism can be found in the work of late-20th century composers such as Krzysztof Penderecki and John Williams.