Abstract
The nineteenth century is a radical turn in music history. Not only because of purely musical elements (the Romantic style), but also because of important changes in the musical life. This evolution could be summed up as a change of scale compare to the Classical era. On the one hand the musicians were not considered anymore as a homogeneous social category: composers were becoming individuals, unique personalities with their own musical style, newly respected as real creators. The focus was moving from the group to the individual. On the other hand the geographic musical scale was also changing: the location of official music shifted from court to city. In fact it was linked to a more general social shift through the emaciation of bourgeoisie. In the second half of the century, the cultural patrons were more often rich merchants than aristocrats in contrast to the Classical and early Romantic eras.
