Learn about the lives of famous Romantic era composers. Study the chronology of their works and discover how they became so important to the history of music.
Updated: 11/21/2023
Romantic Era Composers | Overview & List
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who were the main composers of the Romantic period?
Main composers of the Romantic period from 1815 to the end of the 1800s, include Beethoven, Schubert, Verdi, Wagner, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms and Tchaikovsky,
What common characteristics do romantic composers have?
Romantic composers typically demonstrate expressive melodies that rise and fall, along with chromatic harmonies and a sense of poetic emotion.
Table of Contents
ShowRomantic era composers are some of the most well renown and respected musicians of the times, boasting the works of Beethoven and Chopin. Developing out of a response to the Age of Reason, also known as the Enlightenment, the Romantic era focused on emotion and depth, as observed in the sometimes melancholy feel of its literature, music, and art.
One may wonder, when was the Romantic era and what movements proceeded and followed it. Although debatable, most historians pinpoint the origins of the Romantic Movement in the late 1700s and ending in the mid-1800s. However, like all eras, time is allotted for transitions. In the case of Romantic composers, we can observe this transition from Classical to Romantic music with the work of Beethoven. The Romantic era eases into Modern era music toward the end of the 1800s. Typically, Romantic era music spans from 1815-1930.
Life in Europe during the 1800s involved adjusting from the Napoleonic Wars and Age of Revolution. Romanticism evolved from a desire for individualism and expression of emotion in response to the more logical, methodical feel of the Enlightenment. There was a particular evolution of the piano and musical styles. During this era, it was typical for wealthy families to partake in private concerts, operas, and ballets. Although families of lower social standings did not attend these events, the advent of sheet music allowed for working-class people to play the music on their instruments at home.
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The Romantic era was a period of explosive creativity. While the Classical era lent itself to the genius of Mozart and Haydn, it remained formal and limited to what instruments were available and the quality of their construction. It wasn't until the 1800s that music was finally written specifically for the piano. Likewise, instruments from the piano to woodwind were made from better materials resulting in richer sounds. Orchestras became more sophisticated with the number of instruments played in each section. New instruments were added as well.
Key components of Romantic era music include:
- Chromatic harmonies
- Expressive melodies
- Sophisticated rhythms
- Use of crescendos and decrescendos (rise and fall of volume and tone)
The Romantic era involved the works of many different composers who will be highlighted in this article. A few of the most influential romantic period composers included:
Early Romantic Composers
Two of the most famous early Romantic composes are Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert and ironically, they both lived in Vienna for over 30 years. The younger Schubert greatly admired Beethoven's work, and the respect became mutual as Schubert progressed in his craft.
Beethoven was a piano virtuoso whose work bridged the Classical and Romantic eras. This can be observed in his work as he transitioned from the formality of the Classical age to the use of mood and expression during the Romantic age. Contrasting his early work, such as his Fifth Symphony, with his later work, Ode to Joy Symphony No. 9, showcases this dramatic change in his style.
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Important facts about Beethoven include:
- Born on December 17, 1770 in Bonn, Cologne, now in present-day Germany, and died March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria.
- Major life events include studying under the great Joseph Haydn who supported his talent. However, Beethoven's youth was not easy. His volatile father, who was his first music teacher, beat him for failing to practice the piano accurately. Plagued by lack of money, Beethoven relied on private donors to assist his musical endeavors. He proved himself worthy and timeless in the realm of musical composition.
- Famous works include 'Moonlight Sonata,' 'Symphony No. 5 in C minor,' and 'Ode to Joy.'
- Characteristics of his music included the use of prominent chords versus melody to create innovative rhythms. Beethoven's music often sounded like a lyrical story due to his ability to create themes. He gravitated toward writing and conducting for large orchestras, implementing the use of stringed instruments such as the cello to give a deeper and often melancholy sound.
- Beethoven's hearing began to decline in his 20s, leading to complete deafness, and yet, he was able to continue composing renowned compositions despite his disability.
Franz Schubert, like Beethoven, helped to bridge the Classical era with the Romantic era. Important facts about Schubert include:
- Schubert was born on January 31, 1797, near Vienna, Austria, and died November 19, 1828, in Vienna.
- Schubert grew up in a musical family, his first instrument being the viola. He would later master the organ, piano and violin. He also had an impressive vocal talent.
- Schubert attended Stadtkonvikt to train vocally, in particular with his teacher Antonio Salieri. His musical compositions included symphonies, operas, string quartets, and church works.
- Infamous works included his '9th Symphony' and his 600 lieders, or songs, which conveyed deep emotion and drama.
- His style of music closely resembled that of the Classical period due to his use of clean melodies and harmonic components, and yet he instilled a sense of poetic emotion that tied him to the Romantic era.
- The volume of work Schubert composed in a short time is phenomenal, including 20,000 bars of music in 1815 alone, as well as eight songs in one day.
Middle Romantic Composers
Toward the middle of the Romantic age of music, several gifted composers stand out. Chopin, Liszt, and Schumann all contributed greatly to the playlist of Romantic music. Below is a framework of each composer's contributions.
Important information about the Polish composer Fryderyk Chopin:
- Born on March 1, 1810, in the small village of Zelazowa, located in present-day Poland. He died on October 17, 1849 in Paris at the young age of 39 due to declining health caused by Tuberculosis.
- Another child prodigy, Chopin began playing the piano and composing at the age of 6.
- Major events included moving to Vienna for music instruction and performing for the first time in 1829. He eventually moved to Paris where his music was supported by various benefactors.
- Chopin is known for 'The Revolutionary Etude' which was composed in 1831 and dedicated to his friend Franz Liszt. Furthermore, the composition endured and was published during the Polish-Bolshevik war of 1919-1920. Chopin is also famous for 'The Minute Waltz,' 'Waltz in D-Flat Major,' and 'Nocturne No.2 in E-Flat Major'. He was also known for his variety of etudes, waltzes, sonatas, polonaises, and mazurkas.
- Chopin's style was emotional and poetic. Although he didn't possess the intensity of Liszt when performing, his expressive and incredibly complicated compositions defined him. He wrote specifically for the piano.
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Important information about Hungarian composer Franz Liszt include:
- Born on October 22, 1811, in Raiding, Hungary, and died July 31, 1886, in Bayreuth, Germany.
- Child prodigy and performance pianist by the age of 9, Liszt was taught by his father, Adam. The family eventually moved to Vienna where Liszt studied under Czerny and Salieri.
- Major events in life included his first concert tour in 1824 which evolved into decades of concerts around Europe. In fact, Liszt was the 'rockstar' of the ages due to his flamboyant performances in which he did not hold back, but put his entire body and soul into the playing.
- Liszt is known for his Hungarian Rhapsodies and his beautiful 'Leibistraum'. He produced numerous choral and orchestral works, songs and chamber music.
- Liszt's style was intense when performing, but he is also known for great improvisation and excellent technique. Regarding composition, he is known for creating the symphonic poem which is similar to the opera in its dramatic form, although there is no singing.
- Liszt was a benefactor of Chopin and the two were friends.
Important information about German composer Robert Schumann:
- Born June 8, 1810 in Saxony, Germany, and died on July 29, 1856 in Cologne, Germany.
- Schumann studied the piano and dreamed of performing. However, he suffered a career ending injury to his hand which prompted him to focus on composing music. Schumann was also a music critic.
- Famous works include 'Piano Concerto Op. 54,' 'Kreisleriana,' and 'Symphonic Etudes Op. 13.'
- Schumann greatly impacted composers of the later Romantic period with his innovative use of harmony and rhythm.
Late Romantic Composers.
During the latter part of the Romanic era, two composers demonstrated extreme depth and genius. Below is an examination of the lives of Brahms and Tchaikovsky.
Important information about German composer Johannes Brahms:
- Born on May 7, 1833, in Hamburg, Germany and died May 20, 1896 in Vienna.
- Brahms began learning the piano at age 7.
- Brahms' fame may be attributed to critic Robert Schumann's high praise of his ability.
- He is known for his composition 'Opus 49, No. 4,' also known as 'Brahms Lullaby.' He also wrote 'Symphony No. 1' and 'A German Requiem'.
- Brahms' music was considered to be the antithesis of the Classical era. He utilized freedom in structure and harmony and was inspired by literature to express himself through his music.
Interesting information about Russian composer Peter Tchaikovsky:
- Born on May 7, 1840, in Votkinsk, Russia and died in 1893 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- Began piano composition and playing at the age four.
- Tchaikovsky's style incorporated literature, in particular the work of Shakespeare. His melodies are memorable and timeless, as well as his use of the orchestra to convey emotion.
- Famous works include the 1812 Overture, as well as the ballets, 'Sleeping Beauty,' 'Swan Lake,' and the 'Nutcracker.' However, he would not live to see the longevity and success of these works. He also produced symphonies, concertos, and operas.
- Tchaikovsky demonstrated his artistic versatility through the writing of choral work including the divine 'Hymn of the Cherubim' which is an excerpt from the 'Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op.41,' composed for the Eastern Orthodox Church and still used today.
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In addition to the composers discussed, the following is a list of other significant Romantic composers:
- Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
- Hector Berlioz (1803-1869)
- Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
- Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
- Richard Wagner (1813-1883)
- Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)
- Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880)
- Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
- Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
- Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881)
- Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904)
- Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
- Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924)
- Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1857-1919)
- Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
- Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
- Claude Debussy (1862-1918)
- Richard Strauss (1864-1949)
- Rachmaninoff (1873-1943)
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The Romantic Era boasts some of the greatest composers of all-time including Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Brahms. At the beginning of the era, Beethoven and Schubert were known as transitional composers due to the fact that they bridged the Classical and Romantic eras. During the middle Romantic era, Liszt prevailed as the rock star performer of the ages. However, not all composers were able to continue their dream as performers, such as the case of Robert Schumann who suffered a hand injury and forced him to focus on composing and not performing. Chopin wrote primarily for the piano including one-piece character pieces such as polonaises and mazurkas. Tchaikovsky and Brahms are two of the greatest composers who were influential during the late part of the era. the Romantic composers contributed vast talent and genius in their created compositions, evoking emotion and depth for all listeners.
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Video Transcript
What Was the Romantic Era?
The Romantic era was a European artistic movement that spanned the 19th century. Music of this era was exciting, passionate, and full of life, as were the composers who created it. This era championed individualism and innovation, and each composer wrote highly-acclaimed music in their preferred genres that is still popular with audiences today.
Early Romantic Era Composers
Ludwig van Beethoven bridged the gap between 18th and 19th century styles of music. His fiery passion is reflected in his powerful and evocative music. Beethoven's best-known works include the Moonlight Sonata, Für Elise, Ode to Joy, and his Fifth Symphony, all of which he wrote after he began to suffer from severe tinnitus, a condition that eventually caused total deafness. Despite this ailment, Beethoven continued to compose amazing works. After his death, he was idolized as a musical genius by later Romantic era composers.
Franz Schubert was like a 19th-century Billy Joel who is best remembered as a prolific songwriter whose career was cut short by an early death from syphilis. His favorite genre was lieder, which just means 'songs' in German, but is used in classical music to refer to German songs from the Romantic period for the piano and voice. Schubert loved to sing his lieder while accompanying himself on the piano at musical parties called 'Schubertiades'. In addition to writing over 600 lieder, he also composed many instrumental works, including his famously 'Unfinished Symphony'.
Middle Romantic Era Composers
Franz Liszt was a piano virtuoso who showed off his skills on trans-European concert tours. A fabulous performer, Liszt really knew how to work a crowd, incorporating flashy hand movements to dazzle his audiences and often tossing handkerchiefs and gloves to the crowd for fans to fight over. He was very popular, and started a craze nicknamed Lisztomania that swept Europe. As a composer, Liszt's music helped to form the New German School of music, which featured expanded musical forms and new harmonies. He also did a number of transcriptions, rewriting orchestral music so that it could be played on the piano.
Unlike Liszt, Frederic Chopin was very shy and hated to perform in public. Almost all of the music he wrote consists of short, one-movement works called character pieces that were created for home performance on the piano. Born and raised in Poland, Chopin used his music to support nationalistic sentiments that were sweeping Europe by incorporating Polish folk tune idioms into his compositions, which can be heard in his mazurkas and polonaises.
Giuseppe Verdi is known mainly for his operas. Several of his more catchy opera songs can be heard today outside the opera house in commercials, movies, and other pop culture reference media. These include 'La donna e mobile' from Rigoletto and 'the brindisi (drinking song)' from La Traviata.
Like Chopin, Verdi was also a nationalist. He used his opera music to help fuel the Risorgimento, an Italian political movement that sought to unify Italy. Verdi played an important role in Italian nationalism. Even today, Verdi's chorus 'Va pensiero' from his opera Nabucco is often regarded as the unofficial national anthem of Italy.
Robert Schumann's dream was to become a piano virtuoso like Liszt, but those hopes were crushed by a permanent hand injury. After that, Schumann focused on composition and started the New Journal of Music, a publication that critiqued new music, reviewed concerts, helped promote new composers, and revived interest in the music of older ones. Schumann married his piano teacher's daughter, Clara Wieck, who was a talented pianist and composer herself. The two had a happy life together until Schumann succumbed to a mental illness that eventually required him to be institutionalized.
Later Romantic Era Composers
Johannes Brahms was discovered by Robert Schumann, who became his mentor and guide. Brahms was more traditional than most romantics and was deeply inspired by the music of the two previous eras, especially that of Bach and Mozart. He was his own harshest critic, destroying hundreds of works that he believed weren't good enough to be performed. Over time, Brahms fell deeply in love with Clara Schumann, despite the fact that she was 14 years older and already married. This attraction caused Brahms a great deal of mental anguish as he struggled to reconcile his feelings with the respect he had both for Clara and her husband, Robert. Brahms never married and is often hailed as the musical successor of Beethoven.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is inextricably linked to the magical worlds he created for the ballet with music such as Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky has always been a crowd-pleasing favorite, and his music for The Nutcracker ballet is some of the most often-performed music in the world.
He was a master of orchestral music that extended beyond the ballet stage. Other notable works by Tchaikovsky include the 1812 Overture, the 'love theme' from the Romeo and Juliet fantasy overture, and his 'first piano concerto'.
Lesson Summary
The Romantic era was an artistic period that spanned the 19th century. Beethoven and Schubert helped music transition from the Classical to the Romantic era. Chopin loved the piano, Verdi excelled in operas, and Tchaikovsky is best remembered for his ballets. Music critics like Schumann challenged people to think about music in a new way, while touring virtuoso performers like Liszt helped to create the 'rock star' status of musicians that persists to this day. Others, like Brahms, helped to preserve the legacy of past composers by expanding musical innovations from previous eras.
Learning Outcomes
When you are finished, you should be able to:
- Recall characteristics of music from the Romantic era
- Name some of the major early, middle, and late Romantic era composers
- List the titles of some of the famous musical works produced during the Romantic era
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Romantic Era Composers | Overview & List
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