Composers on the Romantic period wanted to their their pieces to have a large structural harmonic planning, which was earlier demonstrated by composers such as Haydn and Mozart, however they wanted to show the advancement in chromatic modifications. Composers were also influenced by the technological advances at the time, for example, the increase in the range and power of the piano and improved chromatic abilities and more dynamic power.
The main characteristics of Romantic music in solo piano included a freedom in forn and design, empasis on lyrical, songlike melodies, adventurous modulation, richer harmonies with striking use of discords, bold dramatic contrasts, exploring a wider range of pitvh, dynamics and tone-colours. There was a vast variety of types of piece, ranging from songs and fairly short piano pieces to huge pieces which were very long in time structures because of recurring themes, that had dramatic and dynamic climaxes. The technical virtuosity from pianoist increased dramatically.
Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher. He became famous throughout Europe during the 19th century for his skill as a performer. It was said that he was the most technically advanced pianist of his age. He was also a very important and inspiring composer, piano teacher etc, that contributed vastly throughtout the development of the piano. Liszt was very natural when playing the piano. He played according to his feelings. Liszt's piano works are divided into two; there are his 'original works', and his 'transcriptions', 'paraphrases' of 'fantasies', which were works by other composers.
In some of Liszt's piano pieces he supported a programatic style of music. Program music particularly peeked in the Romantic era. Liszt wrote many Romantic pieces for solo piano, for example, twelve Etudes d'exécution transcendante, three Caprices-Valses, six Lieder von Goethe, by Beethoven, Concerto Pathétique, Fantaisie sur l'opera hongroise Szép Ilonka de Mosonyi and Liebestraum No.3, etc.
The Liebestraum No.3 is the last of the three that Liszt wrote and is thought to be the third of three pieces split into three sections, each devided by a fast cadneza requiring tremendous fingerwork and a high degree of technical ability. The rythme inclues many underlying triplets. The melody is a flowing line of quarter and eighth notes and is always in the mid/upper range of the piano. The supporting triplet rhythms are always in the mid/lower range. The chord progression is very advanced, switching sometimes once every two measures. This shows how far Liszt was ahead of his time. The moving triplets and bright cadenzas give the piece a light, bubbly feel. The piece chows a Romantic love and gives the listener a window into Liszt's heart, which was a main characteristic of Romantic music.
In conclusion I find that Franz Liszt composed many Romantic pieces for piano, and was a massive contributer to the Romantic era.
