Final answer:
The Romantic era in music was influenced by the conservative approach of composers like Schubert and Brahms, who infused classical traditions with new levels of emotion. At the same time, composers like Schoenberg began to defy these conventions with atonality, while the later post-Romantic era saw a mixing of Romantic techniques with nationalistic elements from composers' native cultures.
Step-by-step explanation:
The major influences on the music during the Romantic era included a range of styles and approaches. Composers like Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, and Brahms took a more conservative approach, retaining the Classical conventions while embedding the Romantic emphasis on emotion and expression. This included themes such as love, nature, and national pride, as well as structural forms like symphonies and operas that carried forward the Classical tradition.
The opposite side of the spectrum featured composers like Berlioz, Strauss, and Wagner, who pushed the boundaries, challenging audiences with progressive music. Beyond Romanticism, composers also drew inspiration from their native cultures, leading to the post-Romantic era where composers like Mahler and Strauss expanded Romantic techniques to their extremes, while others like Schoenberg began to experiment with atonality and twelve-tone scales, defying traditional western music expectations.
Throughout the era, Romantic music echoed the drama of human emotion, which was also reflected in the literature and visual arts of the time. The Romantic era represents a period of rich cultural expression where emotion, nature, and individualism were greatly valued, influencing a diverse range of artistic output, including the music which was heavily tinged by the lyricism of traditional narratives and forms, as well as the local color of composers' native heritages.