Nationalism During The Romantic Era

During the Romantic era, nationalism proved to be a major influence of the relationship between composers and their music. The political unrest all over Europe provoked many forms of nationalism. The Romantic composers of this era expressed their sense of nationalism in many ways. One way that composers showed this was basing their music on the songs and dances of their people, such as Chopin in his mazurkas. Also, composers wrote dramatic works based on folklore and symphonic poems or operas celebrating a national hero, historic event, or their beautiful country. For example, Bedrich Smetana exploited the scenic beauty of his countryside of Bohemia with his famous piece, The Moldau. However, these were not the only ways that composers