Only two Classical-period composers are widely known: Mozart and Haydn. His early works are from the Classical period and are clearly Classical in style. But his later music, including the majority of his most famous music, is just as clearly Romantic.

5 Characteristics of Romantic Music Key characteristics of the era include: New genres: In addition to standby forms like the sonata and the symphony, Romantic composers wrote in new musical forms including the rhapsody, the nocturne, the concert etude, the polonaise, the mazurka, the overture, and program music.

Instruments. During the romantic period, the orchestra had become a great force due to its increasing size including the following: woodwind – flutes and piccolo, oboes and clarinets, bassoon and double bassoons. brass – trumpets, trombones and French horns (tuba added later in the period)

Guiseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (Italian: [d͡ʒuˈzɛppe ˈverdi]; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian Romantic composer primarily known for his operas. He is considered, together with Richard Wagner, to be the preeminent opera composer of the nineteenth century.

The Romantic period was one of the most innovative in music history, characterised by lyrical melodies, rich harmonies, and emotive expression.

• Hector Berlioz (1803-69)
• Fryderyck Chopin (1810-49)
• Robert Schumann (1810-56)
• Franz Liszt (1811-86)
• Richard Wagner (1813-83)
• Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
• Anton Bruckner (1824-96)

Casa di Riposo per Musicisti, Milan, Italy

Giuseppina Strepponim. 1859–1897

87 years (1813–1901)

Italian

Giuseppe Verdi was born in Italy in 1813, prior to Italian unification. Verdi produced many successful operas, including La Traviata, Falstaff and Aida, and became known for his skill in creating melody and his profound use of theatrical effect. Verdi died on January 27, 1901, in Milan, Italy.

The Messa da Requiem is a musical setting of the Catholic funeral mass (Requiem) for four soloists, double choir and orchestra by Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist whom Verdi admired. The work was at one time referred to as the Manzoni Requiem.

Under the influence Verdi’s predecessors who influenced his music were Rossini, Bellini, Giacomo Meyerbeer and, most notably, Gaetano Donizetti – pictured – and Mercadante. With the exception of his operas Otello and Aida, it is said that Verdi was free of Wagner’s influence.

His writing was influenced by two nineteenth-century operatic giants – Verdi and Wagner. Like Wagner, Puccini often uses musical ideas – leitmotifs – to denote characters or ideas.

Rigoletto is set in Mantua, Italy, in the 16th century.

August 29, 1859 (Giuseppina Strepponi)

Violetta understands that her status as a courtesan and her relationship with Alfredo could compromise the young girl’s future. Grieved, she decides to give up Alfredo and asks Germont to promise her that after she dies, he will explain to his son the reason why she leaves him now.