trumental, even when the composer is writing only for an orchestra or a solo instrument. As Levy puts it, romantic melodies "seem to want to be sung" (1983, p. 198). Second, romanticism uses a more sophisticated chromaticism than does classicism, in the last great period musically before composers began to explore atonality and the 12-tone scale. Finally, romantic composers wrote for much larger orchestras and more sophisticated instruments; the piano, in particular, became one of the most important instruments of romantic music as the instrument itself evolved from its early 18th century design. Gerald Abraham points out (1990, p. 49) that the expansion of instruments within the orchestra began in the opera and gradually moved during this period into the general concert hall. He notes, "Orchestration was becoming far more obviously than ever before a matter
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