Other composers also injected new aspects into the symphonic form. More emotional content was often included. Liszt, for example, created the symphonic poem, which is a single, continuous movement that reflects a poem, story, or painting. The symphonic poem falls into the broader category of programme music, which is instrumental music that tells the story or gives the impressions of poems, literary works, and so on. Other composers added soaring melodies and chromatic harmony to the classical symphonic form.
The Ballet
You may already be somewhat familiar with another popular form of music during the Romantic period if you’ve ever seen a ballet such as Swan Lake or The Nutcracker performed live or on television. A ballet is a piece in which dancers tell a story through their movements and the music. Although ballet existed before the Romantic period, the music for ballets was often composed of pieces written for other purposes and cobbled together. Staff composers might add a few original sections in between the existing music, but largely ballet made do with music already composed.
The Romantic period would change this. Beethoven was one of the first composers to write music specifically for the ballet. His ballet Die Geschöpfe des Prometheus (The Creatures of Prometheus) was one of the first written for that purpose. Other composers would follow suit. Ballet companies began commissioning pieces that they could perform and composers began writing especially for the ballet. In keeping with the Romantic period, many of the ballets composed were light, airy, and free from some of the past constraints and guidelines.
Romantic Composers
Although the Romantic period did not really have any composers that can match the musical genius of composers like Mozart and Bach, there were a great many composers that left their mark on the period. In fact, the number of composers that are remembered and discussed from this period is perhaps more than any of the previous time periods. One reason for this is the relative recent time of the Romantic period. More of their music has been preserved through sheet music and musical scores which survived to the present. The rise of the middle class also produced an increasing desire for music, both music to be played at home and music performed in concert halls and other sites. Given the number of composers who were important in this time period, we will discuss only a few of these individuals. However, many composers not discussed here also played a role in shaping the music from this time period.
Johann Strauss I
Johann Strauss I and Johann Strauss II
During the Romantic period, there were two individuals named Johann Strauss who were composers. The older Johann Strauss (1804 – 1849) is also known as Strauss the Elder. He was the father of Johann Strauss (1825 – 1899), who was also known as Strauss the Younger or Johann Strauss II. Both men were well-regarded composers, although Strauss the Younger is slightly more well-known than his father.