Increased Interest in Nature the Supernatural

• Romantic artists saw nature in a less idealized way than the artists of the Classical period had.
• The natural world was considered less a model of perfection and more a source of mysterious powers.
  
• Romantic composers gravitated toward supernatural texts and stories. Schubert’s Erlking and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique are two good examples.
  

The Rise of Program Music

• Music began to be used to tell stories, or to imply meaning beyond the purely musical.
  
• Composers found ways to make their musical ideas represent people, things, and dramatic situations as well as emotional states and even philosophical ideas.
  

Nationalism and Exoticism

• Composers used music as a tool for highlighting national identity.
  
• Instrumental composers such as Bedrich Smetana made reference to folk music and national images (as in The Moldau), while operatic composers such as Giuseppe Verdi set stories with strong patriotic undercurrents.
  
• Composers took an interest in the music of various ethnic groups and incorporated it into their own music.
• Composers also wrote works based on stories of exotic lands and people.
  

Changing Status of Musicians

• A composer was no longer dependent for income on the steady employment by nobility but relied instead on the support of the public and the patronage of individuals.
  
• Music was seen less as an occupation and more as a calling.
  
• Specialized training institutions (conservatories) replaced the apprentice system of the church and the court.
  
• Women found more opportunities for musical expression, especially as performers, but social and cultural barriers still limited their participation as composers.