 There were no restrictions on the length of a piece or instruments used  Operas sometimes last 6 hours like those of Richard Wagner  Beethoven’s 9 th Symphony had an oversized orchestra, choir and vocal soloist (all new the time period)

 Most band instruments came in to being as they are today  Invention of valves on trumpets French horns, tubas, baritones changed the instrumental abilities  Composers were now more interested in composing for these instruments

 3 main types of orchestral music were developed:  the Romantic symphony  the tone poem  the concert overture.

 Many more instruments and a fleixble number of movements than the Classical Symphony  They were examples of program music  Program music is music that tells a story  An example if Hector Berlioz’s Fantastic Symphony

 Tone poems are long, one movement works that tell a story.  An example would be Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks by Richard Strauss

 Overtures typically began operas and set the mood for the audience  Romantic period composers began writing overtures and not attaching them to operas known as concert overtures

 Until now, composers always borrowed musical styles from other countries  Romantic composers started a new trend called Nationalism: incorporate native folk songs and styles into their music  Russia was the leader in this new trend of music.