Romantic Period: History and Repertoire

For a discussion about Romantic Style and Interpretation, click on the highlighted link.

Here below is a timeline for the Romantic Period composers (with some curiosities on either side of this period). Click on the link for each composer to see what pieces of theirs are available:

Paganini    1782 …………………. 1840
Rossini          1792  ………… 1829 ………………. 1868
Schubert           1797 ……… 1828
Mendelssohn          1809 ……………  1847
Chopin                       1810 …………….. 1849
Schumann                  1810 …………………. 1856
Verdi                              1813 ……………………………………………….. 1901
Cesar Franck                        1822 …………………………………….. 1890
Lalo                                         1823 …………………………………….. 1892
Brahms                                           1833 ……………………………………. 1897
Saint-Saens                                      1835 …………………………………………………… 1921
Bizet                                                     1838 ………………. 1875
Tchaikovsky                                         1840 …………………………… 1893
Dvorak                                                  1841 …………………………………… 1904
Sarasate                                                     1844 ………………………………….. 1908
Elgar                                                                       1857 …………………………………………………. 1934
Puccini                                                                    1858 ……………………………………………. 1924
Strauss (Richard)                                                            1864 ………………………………………………………….. 1949
Rachmaninoff                                                                          1873 …………………………………………… 1943

Joplin                                                                                    1868 ……………………… 1917

Yes, isn’t it extraordinary that Scott Joplin, the creator of ragtime (which was the seed from which sprouted blues, jazz, pop, and rock) was born in the same year that Rossini died !

Of course, it’s not only a composer’s birth year that is relevant to their compositional style but also the age to which they lived (in other words, their death year). Mendelssohn, Chopin, Schumann and Verdi were all born within the same four-year period (1809-1813) but Verdi lived approximately 50 years more than his germanic colleagues. A timeline presenting the Romantic Period composers according now to their death dates changes their order significantly and probably gives us a better idea of their stylistic references, certainly with regard to their mature works.

Here then is a list of the same Romantic composers but now placed in order of their death dates:

Schubert           1797 ………… 1828
Paganini      1782 …………………. 1840
Mendelssohn          1809 ……………  1847
Chopin                       1810 …………….. 1849
Schumann                  1810 …………………. 1856
Rossini             1792  ……………………………….. 1868
Bizet                                                 1838 …………………. 1875
Cesar Franck                      1822 …………………………………….. 1890
Lalo                                      1823  ……………………………………  1892
Tchaikovsky                                         1840 …………………………… 1893
Brahms                                           1833 ……………………………………. 1897
Verdi                               1813 …………………………………………………. 1901
Dvorak                                                  1841 …………………………………… 1904
Sarasate                                                     1844 ………………………………….. 1908
Joplin                                                                             1868 …………………………… 1917
Saint-Saens                                        1835 …………………………………………………… 1921
Puccini                                                                    1858 ………………………………………… 1924
Elgar                                                                       1857 …………………………………………………. 1934
Rachmaninoff                                                                          1873 …………………………………………… 1943
Strauss                                                                               1864 ………………………………………………………. 1949