Romantic
So finally we’re looking at the romantic period, where classical blossomed into this grandiose explosion of sound, with dramatic contrasts of dynamic and pitch, massive orchestras, and more freedom in writing.
So now lets talk about composers eh? I think I’d like to talk about Frédéric Chopin. Now this guy wasn’t all about the big orchestral pieces of the romantic period, but Solo Piano pieces, all of which embodied the huge sound of the period. Chopin was very unique in his sound, in a way that it kind of came out of nowhere. With Beethoven, you can hear the influence of Mozart… but not with Chopin.
It's said that Chopin revolutionized the sound, concept of touch and approach to the piano. He first recognized that each finger has a distinct character and personality. That was totally new — before him the concept was to equalize fingers. I think this is super cool, because it’s part of what gave his music such a different feel and energy than composers before him. It was special and unique.
Here’s Chopin’s “Waltz Op.64 No.2”, a piece that really encompasses his playing style and how it affected the romantic era. It was said that Chopin never played a piece the same way twice, which left his works open for interpretation by others, his playing still becoming hugely popular among new pianists to this day.
The Romantic Era of music had different raits than it's predecessors. The content was often to do with nature or the supernatural, and had big sweeping melodies. New instruments such as the contrabasoon, bass clarinet, and piccolo were introduced to the Orchestra, the conventional sound not being enough anymore. Percussion exploded in sound and size, with all sorts of new drums and percussive instruments, making the music of the period even more rich and grandiose.