The Romantic period started around 1830 and ended around 1900, as compositions became increasingly expressive and inventive. Expansive symphonies, virtuosic piano music, dramatic operas, and ...

Composers added chromatic notes to their chords and melodies to make their music more expressive. In the slow movement of Sergei Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2, the opening flute melody ...

although the music is clearly in a minor key. The slow middle section boasts the long lyrical melodies that are associated with Frederic Chopin and the Romantic period.

From failed revolutions in Hungary, France, and Austria (1848) to the formal establishment of Italy (1861) and Germany (1871), the Romantic period was one of both political upheaval and unforgettable ...

Described by Liszt as “the most poetic of composers,” Franz Schubert became the quintessential composer of the early Romantic period. He composed prolifically, writing music in almost all of ...