Romantic Era: Musical Styles

The nineteenth century was a new adventure in musical form as well. New forms were developed such as the program symphony, symphonic poem, concert overture, expressive piano works, bel canto operas, as well as the German music drama. Composers created more dramatic melodic styles, richer harmonies, and thrived on dissonance with the goal of creating emotional responses from their audience. They were much less concerned with the structural discipline so well established in the Classical forms, instead they expanded upon it to make pieces more passionate and expressive.

As more and more musicians were without patrons to support them, they were now hit with a new reality: composing music to please the middle class in order for them to survive with their art. Ticket sales were now the driving force. The impact that this had on the quality of music still remains true today. Whatever the masses enjoy is what other musicians try to replicate. Musicians in this era despised the old ways and the lives of the wealthy. They relished in the commoner’s life and wrote music to bring out more of the less pleasant realities of humanity. Virtuoso musicians emerged and so music was written to display their fine talents. Music was also written as a method of escapism from reality. Exotic locations found themselves to be the focal point for many operas and other new works.