Song of the Lark, 1876
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)

Music and art from the Baroque and Classic periods were available only to an elite audience of educated citizens, but the Romantic era (1825-1900) ushered in a period when fine art and music could be enjoyed by a much larger segment of the population. Technological advances in instrument making made it possible for instruments to be heard in larger concert halls, and the size of the symphony orchestra expanded to nearly ninety musicians. Many middle-class households enjoyed having a piano in the living room, and composers and artists alike worked to find subjects that would appeal to a more middle-class public. Nature was the answer. Tchaikovsky provides the perfect sound tract to Winslow Homer's picture of man communing with nature.