Romanticism in Music: Not About Major/Minor Harmony — It's About Dissonance & Emotion

False. The statement mischaracterizes Romanticism (c. 1820–1900).

Actual Hallmarks of Musical Romanticism

• Chromaticism & Dissonance: Expanded harmonic language (Wagner's Tristan chord, Liszt, late Beethoven) — tension over resolution.
• Extended Tonality: Remote modulations, mediant relationships, blurred key centers.
• Expressive Freedom: Rubato, tempo fluctuations, programmatic content (Berlioz, Strauss, Liszt).
• Orchestral Expansion: Larger forces, new instruments (valve horn, tuba, harp, celesta), coloristic writing.
• Form Flexibility: Cyclic form, symphonic poem, leitmotif, through-composed songs.
• Nationalism: Folk idioms (Dvořák, Grieg, Mussorgsky, Smetana, Sibelius).
• Virtuosity: Paganini, Liszt, Chopin — performer as hero.

Major/Minor System?

Romantic composers used major/minor but stretched them to breaking point. The "pleasing harmonic sound" describes Classical era (Mozart, Haydn) — balance, clarity, diatonic harmony. Romanticism sought the sublime, turbulent, infinite.

Key Figures

Beethoven (late), Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Liszt, Wagner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Mahler, Strauss, Wolf, Franck, Bruckner.

Romanticism = emotional intensity through harmonic adventure — not pleasant diatonicism.