It is the mid-19th century, and the Classical music era of Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert is being lost to the Romantic style of Beethoven and Wagner. Instead of simple and dance-like melodies, the Romantic composers used rich and complex harmonies to create a sense of idealism, emotion, and narrative in their works. The violinists, once revered for their clarity, articulation, and mastery of delicate melodies, were now associated with their ability to produce both brilliant and velvety textural qualities. Interestingly, this forms a critical part of music pedagogy, where students learning Classical repertoire would generally be encouraged to mimic the precise articulation and intonation. Meanwhile, later 19th-century works would encourage students to lean more heavily on emotional interpretation and are taught how to vary their use of techniques such as vibrato (small pitch modulation) or bowing length to add emphasis or expression.

Additionally, new manufacturing processes stimulated by the First Industrial Revolution made constructing brass and woodwind processes more efficient and thus, more accessible. Unlike the (what we call now, due to their smaller size) chamber orchestras of the classical period, string players were being grouped in ever-larger orchestral sections to match the growing sizes and substantially louder sections of brass, woodwind, and percussion players who now comprised a Romantic symphonic orchestra. The rise of the middle class during the period was driving music out of the intimate settings of courts and halls, where the upper classes would gather not just to listen to music, but dance and socialise. Instead, the growing demand for social and public entertainment venues resulted in the shift towards the construction of accessible concert halls.