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General characteristics of melodies in the Romantic period

• The range of the melodies was larger than in earlier periods.
• Composers would use extreme ranges of instruments to make their music more expressive. The introduction of extended instruments - eg a piccolo - also encouraged melodies with wider ranges.
• Melodies were generally diatonic but chromatic passages became much more frequent than in earlier periods.
• Melodies were lyrical and had longer phrases over more advanced harmonies than in the Classical period.
• Leitmotif was used in programme music and operas to represent a theme, character or mood.
• The rise of the virtuoso encouraged fast and exciting melodies.

Examples

Prelude in D flat major Op.28, Section A, by Frederic Chopin

• The melodies in the opening section are fast, enabling the pianist to demonstrate his or her virtuosity.
• There is a lot of chromatic movement in the melodies, although the music is clearly in a minor key.
• The slow middle section boasts the long lyrical melodies that are associated with Frederic Chopin and the Romantic period.

Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz

In Symphonie Fantastique, Berlioz uses an idée fixe to frame and structure the movements. This musical idea appears in different forms. At the beginning, it appears as a poet’s thought of his beloved as an ideal. Later on the idea changes into a nightmarish vision of his beloved taking part in the witches’ Sabbath.