After the restrictions felt by composers in the Baroque and Classical periods, when church and state dictated what the artist could or could not write, the Romantic period was a whirlwind of self-determination. Artists took more risks with their music, following their hearts and imaginations. Inspiration was also gleaned from the poetry and plays of the day, such as Hector Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, based on the epic poem by Goethe. Beethoven, a key link between the Classical and Romantic eras, guided young composers with his then-heretical belief that an artist was as good as (if not better) than any nobleman. Composers of this period are known for leading lives marked by both excess and tragedy, the latter exemplified by Frederic Chopin and Robert Schumann; Chopin was plagued with ill health, and Schumann spent his final years in a mental institution. Their struggles and those of their contemporaries enabled them to write some of the most beautiful and intensely personal music the world has ever known. Also during this time, virtuosos enraptured the public with their skill as well as their exploits: Franz Liszt could break a piano during a performance and Nicolo Paganini was rumored to be in league with the devil (the reason for his unusually speedy trills); both had numerous scandalous affairs. Significantly, the Romantic composers helped usher in modern music; for example, Richard Wagner's use of atonality and harmonic vagueness in his mammoth opera Tristan and Isolde was a harbinger of what was to come.
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1.
Fur Elise
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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2.
Moonlight Sonata, Opus 27, No. 2 - Adagio Sostenuto
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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3.
Moonlight Sonata
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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4.
Allegro con brio
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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5.
Ode To Joy (Beethoven: Symphony #9)
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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6.
'Morning' from 'Peer Gynt'
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Edvard Grieg
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7.
Symphony No.7 In A Major Op.92 - 2nd Movement
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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8.
Nocturne No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 9 No. 2
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Frederic Chopin
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9.
Pathetique Sonata
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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10.
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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11.
Waltz in A Flat Major Op.39/15
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Johannes Brahms
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12.
Overture to 'Egmont,' Op. 84
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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13.
No.1 in B flat minor, Op.9, No.1
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Frederic Chopin
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14.
1812 Overture
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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
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15.
'Unfinished Symphony' No. 8 in B Minor
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Franz Schubert
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16.
Prelude (Unidentified)
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Frederic Chopin
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17.
Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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18.
Andante from Sonata in A, Op. 120, D 664
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Franz Schubert
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19.
Piano Concerto In A Minor
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Edvard Grieg
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20.
12 Etudes, Op. 10: No. 12 in C minor, "Revolutionary"
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Frederic Chopin
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21.
1- Symphony No 9 - Allegro Non Troppo, Un Poco Maestoso
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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22.
Prelude, Op. 28 No. 7
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Frederic Chopin
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23.
Symphony No.5 In C Minor Op.67 - 1st Movement
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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24.
Overture
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Richard Wagner
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25.
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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26.
Prelude, Op. 28 No. 13
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Frederic Chopin
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27.
Fur Elise
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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28.
Moonlight Sonata: Adagio
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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29.
Impromptu No. 4 in C sharp minor
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Frederic Chopin
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30.
Song of the Gondolier
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Felix Mendelssohn
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31.
Fur Elise
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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32.
Piano Sonata No.14 In C Sharp Minor Op.27/2 - 1st Movement 'Moonlight
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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33.
Waltz from 'Maskarade
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Frederic Chopin
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34.
Andante Spianato
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Frederic Chopin
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35.
Toreador's Song from 'Carmen'
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Georges Bizet
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36.
Dreaming
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Robert Schumann
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37.
Lohengrin Prelude to Act III
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Richard Wagner
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38.
Tristan and Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod
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Richard Wagner
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39.
Symphony No. 3 in E-Flat Major, Op. 55, 'Eroica'
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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40.
My Heart Will Go On - Titanic
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Andre Rieu
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41.
Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125, 'Choral'
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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42.
Holberg Suite
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Edvard Grieg
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43.
Waltz in A flat
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Johannes Brahms
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44.
Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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45.
Carillon' from 'L'Arlésienne
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Georges Bizet
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46.
Peer Gynt - In The Hall Of The Mountain King
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Edvard Grieg
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47.
Ruins of Athens Overture
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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48.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in B Flat Major
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Ludwig van Beethoven
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49.
Nocturne In F Sharp Major Op.15/2
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Frederic Chopin
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50.
From Foreign Lands And People
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Robert Schumann
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Anton Bruckner
Bruckner was a Romantic
composer and organist
whose monumental, grand
symphonic writing was
largely influenced by Wa...
AntonÃn Dvorák
Along with Smetena, Dvorak
helped pioneer a uniquely
Czech style of orchestral
composition. This famed
nineteenth century comp...
Bedrich Smetana
Smetana's fiercely patriotic
and programmatic music
greatly influeced the young
Czech Antonin Dvorak.
Camille Saint-Saens
Saint-Saens wrote
conservative French
Romantic music, receiving
more acclaim abroad in
England and the Americas...
Cesar Franck
Franck spent his days
composing and teaching
organ in Paris in the middle
of the nineteenth century.
Clara (Wieck) Schumann
Concert pianist who
composed a small number of
subtle, significant works for
keyboard and voice.
Edvard Grieg
This Romantic and
nationalistic Norwegian
composer wrote Norway's
national anthem. Grieg was
the first internationally re...
Franz Liszt
Much of Liszt's music is
incredibly advanced; he
had a huge effect on the
post-Romantics and early
Contemporary composers...
Franz Schubert
Along with Beethoven,
Schubert is often seen as
the first of the Romantics.
Although mildly popular, it
wasn't until after his deat...
Frederic Chopin
Chopin is the most famous
composer for the
keyboard. His works have
remained in the repertoire
since they were penned....
Gabriel Faure
Faure was the bridge
between Chopin's delicate
melodic sensitivity and
Debussy's colored,
impressionistic flourishes....
Giacomo Puccini
Inspired first by Verdi's
Aida, Puccini's works also
combine rich, lush
orchestration with
intensely emotional libret...
Gustav Mahler
Best known in his day for
conducting, Mahler
composed large and
philosophically driven
Romantic era symphonic...
Hector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a
French composer of the
Romantic period. Berlioz's
orchestra had twice as
many instruments as Moza...
Jacques Offenbach
Offenbach composed light,
satirical operettas after
successfully resurrecting a
dilapidated theater in Paris
for his work.
Jean Sibelius
This nationalistic Finn drew
upon Nordic folklore and
contemporary Finnish
authors and poets for his
symphonic works. The fa...
Johannes Brahms
When compared to the
emotional excesses of
Wagner, Brahms was the
great conservative
composer of the nineteen...
Ludwig van Beethoven
Beethoven serves as the
bridge between the
Classical and Romantic
periods -- composers as
artisans v. composers as a...
Modest Mussorgsky
Mussorgsky's nationalistic
style is rougher, less trained
than his peers Tchaikovsky
and Rimsky-Korsakov.
Nicolo Paganini
Legend holds that he sold
his soul to the devil for both
fame and his blinding speed
on the violin.
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Rimsky-Korsakov, along
with Mussorgsky, was part
of a group of Russian
nationalist composers
known as the Five. The Fi...
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Tchaikovsky combined
European art music with
Russian folk song. His ballets
-- "Swan Lake," "The
Nutcracker" and "Sleepin...
Richard Strauss
Strauss maintained his
thoroughly Germanic,
Romantic compositional
style well into the twentieth
century.
Richard Wagner
Exclusively an operatic
composer, his works are
dramatic and long. The Ring
alone takes a week to
perform in its entirety. He...
Robert Schumann
Schumann was the first
composer to write with no
thought given to accepted
Classical forms. Schumann's
tragedy began after he ru...