the 19th century is called the romantic period. composers were particularly interested in conveying their emotions through music. an important instrument from the romantic period was the piano. some composers, such as frederic chopin wrote subdued, expressive, quietly emotional piano pieces. often music described a feeling or told a story using sounds. other composers, such as franz schubert wrote songs for a singer and a piano player called lied (the german word for "song"). these lieder (plural of lied) told stories by using the lyrics (words) of the song and by the imaginative piano accompaniments. other composers, like richard strauss, and franz liszt created narratives and told stories using only music, which is called a tone poem. composers, such as franz liszt and johannes brahms used the piano to play loud, dramatic, strongly emotional music.