Gothic Revival Music
During the Victorian era, the Gothic movement in literature, theater, opera, and music focused on the history and legends of Northern Europe with dramatic action and highly-charged emotion. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Bram Stoker's Dracula entertained a growing number of people who read novels for pleasure, while composers such as Ludwig van Beethoven captured listeners' attention with dramatic music that communicated joy and loss, conflict and romance.
Opera and orchestral music became increasingly popular for wealthy and middle-class audiences.
Dramatic legends of Northern Europe received a powerful boost in Richard Wagner's orchestral scores for native language operas.
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Ludwig van Beethoven published sonatas and solo pieces for small groups of listeners in private homes as well as larger symphonic works.
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