The most instantly recognizable feature of Romantic music is its melodic style. Melody in the Romantic era was more emotional, effusive, and demonstrative than before. Often the melodic lines ranged more widely than the orderly, restrained tunes of the Classical era; often, too, they built up to more sustained climaxes. Melodies became more irregular in rhythm and phrase structure, so as to make them sound more spontaneous.

A fine example is the so-called Love theme of Tchaikovsky’s Overture-Fantasy, Romeo and Juliet (see page 279). It begins with a great outburst — a climax, at the very start, shaded blue in the music below — and then sinks down an octave and more, in melodic curves whose yearning quality grows more and more sensuous. Especially striking is the second part of the melody, where a rhythmic figure surges up in sequence, seven times in all, in preparation for a free return of the opening climax, now ff (also shaded blue):

When one thinks of Romantic melody, what comes first to mind is this kind of grand, exaggerated emotionality. Some Romantic melodies are more intimate, however — and they are no less emotional for sparing the tears and handkerchief. Each in an individual way, Romantic composers learned to make their melodies dreamy, sensitive, passionate, ecstatic, or whatever shade of feeling they wished to express.