Romantic, 1810-1849: In the Romantic Era, composers were no longer employees of the aristocracy; they composed for the people. This freedom was doubled-edged. Although it allowed the artistic genius of Berlioz, Liszt and Wagner to flourish, it also spawned a generation of composers who happily wrote crowd pleasing, disposable works for commercial success. Composers like Frederic Chopin rejected this “popularization” of music altogether by retreating from public performance and refusing to compromise his emerging artistic style. Ironically, Chopin’s music became (and has remained) extremely popular.