"Life is a shipwreck but must we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats." VoltaireThese piano solos are expressions of the mid to late R omantic period in Western culture.The Romantic period began in the early nineteenth century, evolved well into the twentiethcentury, and clearly left its stamp on today’s culture. The Romantic aesthetic encompassedmusic and all the arts. It was aptly described by the French poet Charles Baudelaire;“Romanticism is precisely situated neither in choice of subject matter nor exact truth butrather in the way of feeling.”For the Romantic composers, personal and subjective feeling was far more compellingthan all the forms, attitudes and traditions of the past. Their journey, initiated by Beethoven,can be described as the intensive inward exploration of the imagination, intuition andthat most powerful of forces, human emotion. They struggled to free themselves fromthe conventions of society, reaching new heights of individuality and self-expression. Theprevailing social sentiment among the Romanticists is poignantly expressed by Chopin’spronouncement: “I am a revolutionary. Money means nothing to me.” itted against anincreasingly industrial and commercial society, the Romanticists felt that their music wasa “peoples” music and a source of personal enlightenment leading the way to a more idealworld. In the words of the early Romantic composer Robert Schumann, “To send light intothe darkness of men’s hearts - such is the duty of the artist.” The Romantic movement washumanist, developing hand-in-hand with the progression of democracy in Europe.Composers of preceding periods were mainly employees of the aristocratic class hired toentertain and empower the elite. In contrast, Romantic composers elevated themselves tothe status of independent agent, and were often seen as social heroes — even superstars.They forged the image of the soul searching, free-spirited musician/artist embraced today.It could be said that the entire musical output of the romantic era is one, unfinished songof the human soul. It is a timeless chronicle of our longings, dreams, hopes and aspirations.In our age of faceless technology and unrelenting commercialism, it signifies a neverending search for the beauty and meaning in our world. Romanticism is one of the highestexpressions of the greatest treasure we universally possess — the human spirit.